After 4-year old Kinley Newman was scratched by her grandmother’s dog, the judge ordered for the pup to be euthanized. However, the family of the injured girl are protesting the ruling, stating that the injury was a result of an accident. Staging a peaceful protest, they hope to overturn the ruling and be reunited with their dog.
Based in Posey County, Indiana, the accident happened after the young girl stood on the paw of the dog. The pooch then jumped up and scratched the face of the granddaughter, leaving her with deep cuts, which required surgery.
Despite this, the family state that the ruling is extreme for the otherwise well-behaved dog. Including the girl herself, who explains “Yeah. He didn’t bite me, he scratched me.” They are now staging a peaceful protest outside of Mount Vernon City Hall.
When the incident happened, on January 30th of this year, the dog – called Jager – was taken by Animal Control and treated as a dangerous dog. The family have not seen their dog since and are not allowed to visit the animal.
However, the previous history of Jager shows no indication of violent behavior, despite being over 8 years old. As such, the family state that the ruling is beyond reasonable punishment for the pup. They have launched an appeal, which is said to be moving forward. Regardless of this, it may still be many months before they get a final ruling on whether Jager is to be euthanized or not.
“I wish that I could pet him again,” said Kinley Newman. She and her grandmother, May Robinson, are doing everything they can to be reunited with their furry friend.
They are currently calling on the Mayor to let them visit the dog. But, at the time of writing, there has been no change in whether this will be allowed to happen.
“We want him released, but right now I just want visits. I just want to see him and know he’s okay,” May Robinson said.
The judge in charge of the ruling, Senior Judge Robert Aylsworth, has noted that the incident which occurred in January left Kinley with horrific injuries. For this reason, even though the dog doesn’t have a violent history, they believe the ruling was fair.
Jager was set to be euthanized in May. However, Robinson has since filed an appeal which is moving forward. Speaking to journalists on the scene, she says “[There’s] no telling how many more months before it’s over.”
However, the community are now beginning to take an active interest in the case, and are asking Mayor Bill Curtis to finally let Robinson visit Jager.
“We realize that it’s in the courts, but we don’t think it’s a lot to ask for his owner, who loves and cares for him, to be able to go see him. I mean he’s in a cell, hasn’t seen the sun or grass in already 128 days and he could be there for months,” said Tina Parker with the Posey Humane Society.
