Southern Utah Dog Ordered To Be Euthanized After Biting Three People
Dec 19, 2019, 9:31 PM
IVINS, Utah – Animal advocates are filing an appeal in Utah’s 5th District Court to protect a southern Utah dog after a city panel ordered the bulldog-pitbull mix be euthanized after biting multiple people.
Looking through photos of Clyde, animal advocate Les Balliet said you can see the dog’s personality.
Some photos show him begging for treats, others show him playing in the mud without a care in the world.
“He really is a good dog,” Balliet said. “Just a happy go lucky dog. He has been a very happy puppy for two and a half years.”
Balliet knows Clyde’s owner well but is worried about the dog’s future because of what Clyde did during some of his not-so-good moments.
“We’re in our second appeal, but we’re trying to get a hearing and get them to reopen the case,” said Balliet.
Court paperwork against Clyde’s owner Robert Whitbeck showed earlier this year that Clyde “bit a bicyclist on the ankle” in Ivins, which is about 10 miles northwest of St. George.
Then, on another day, he “bit a man without provocation on a public street.”
Clyde’s owner had to appear before the city to keep his dog and was able to do so when he, according to court documents, “signed an agreement in which he agreed to keep Clyde muzzled.”
That was on Sept. 24, 2019.
However, Clyde “bit a woman without provocation on public grounds” just three days later.
The woman needed stitches after the incident and Clyde wasn’t wearing a muzzle.
Clyde was then impounded at the Ivins Animal Shelter and a city review panel “determined Clyde did meet the definition of a vicious dog under the Ivins City Code and determined Clyde should be euthanized.”
“There’s no reason the dog should be a vicious dog. It’s just not,” Balliet said.
Now, Balliet is helping file the appeal to get Clyde released to another family.
However, Ivins city attorney Dale Coulam said two conditions must be met – one, to “ensure the safety of the public,” and two, “ensure Ivins City would not be held liable if the dog bites again.”
Balliet said all Clyde needs is proper training to be the happy dog in those pictures every day.
“And live a long life that he deserves,” Balliet said.
No date has been set on when Clyde, who has been in the Ivins Animal Shelter for three months now, would be euthanized.
Coulam said the city will wait for the appeals process to go through the 5th District Court and Balliet said his attorney was hoping to file that appeal Thursday afternoon.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Clyde’s legal expenses.
