Dog Sentenced to Death After Biting Someone- It’s Who and Where That Has the Owner Crying Injustice

Dog Sentenced to Death After Biting Someone- It’s Who and Where That Has the Owner Crying Injustice

A dog faces an uncertain future as the legal system weighs whether or not to put him down. However, the facts of the case are far from simple:

ZSarge

There are many reasons why people choose to own dogs. One of them is for security reasons in case unknown visitors attempt to enter their property unannounced — like, say, a man walking through a gate into a fenced backyard while the owners are asleep.

Sarge, a pit bull mix who lives in Bay City, Michigan, bit an intruder on the hand last month, when faced with this exact situation.

Unfortunately for Sarge, the man was a police officer — and now, Sarge is facing forced euthanasia.

Officer Matthew Strunk responded to a neighbor’s complaint by knocking on the front door of Kristine Vanderberg’s home. Because Vanderberg was asleep, Strunk went around to the rear of the home and entered the fenced backyard.

When confronted by Sarge and eventually bitten by him, the officer used a stun gun on the dog to subdue him.

Here’s the problem: It’s the third time that Sarge has bitten someone. However, all three incidents have taken place on Vanderberg’s property.

Vanderberg claims that Sarge isn’t innately dangerous; in fact, her 15-month-old grandson often plays with the dog, according to her son:

“My 1-year-old son and I come over, and he just licks our faces,” said Vanderberg’s son, Justin Kilgore. “He just doesn’t like people he doesn’t know.”

Nevertheless, the county is taking legal action after this latest incident. According to mlive:

“We’re requesting that her dog, Sarge, be destroyed,” said Assistant Prosecutor Margaret Leaming. “It is the judge’s decision whether to do that.”

Sarge is now being held at Bay County Animal Control, and Vanderberg is trying to keep her beloved pooch from being put down. A SAVE SARGE Facebook page has been set up:

So, to recap: a man was in a place he shouldn’t have been and the dog felt obliged to protect his family. Admittedly, biting a police officer is typically a no-no, but a dog’s loyalty should be rewarded, not punished with death.

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