The fate of the dog that bit off a 4-year-old Layton boy’s hand has yet to be determined, but an online petition to save the animal’s life has gathered more than 144,000 signatures as of late Wednesday evening.
On Sunday afternoon, the boy — who had a sock over his hand — reached under a solid vinyl fence into the neighbors’ yard. One of two huskies there bit the boy’s arm with enough force to sever the arm above the wrist.
Jessica Nusz, who described herself as a “best friend” of the owner of the dogs, Polar and Bear, wrote that Bear “was playing with what he thought was a toy” and “didn’t see that there was a child on the other side of the fence” when he “bit down too hard.”
“There are fears that Bear might be put down, and he doesn't deserve to be put down for this freak accident,” she posted.
According to a spokesman for Davis County Animal Control, the two dogs are being held in a 10-day quarantine to determine if one or both has rabies — standard procedure when any dog bites a human and draws blood. Because of the severity of the injury, an investigation is underway to determine if the dogs are dangerous, and the possible outcomes range from no action to an order to euthanize the pets.
And that possibility concerns the tens of thousands of people who are signing and commenting on Nusz’s Care2 petition:
“This is an extremely tragic situation, but the dog is not to blame for this.”
“This kid had a sock on his hand and put it through the neighbors fence. Of course the dog is going to think it’s a toy. It should not be put down.”
“This animal is innocent! What do you expect a dog to do if a complete stranger comes near him?! This dog was not roaming around loose but in his OWN yard! Adults need to watch their kids more carefully and things like this won’t occurs simple as that! SAVE THE HUSKY!!!”
“When I was a child I stuck my hand through a fence and was bitten by a dog … my family never pushed to have that German Shepard put down because it was my fault for putting my hand through the fence.”
“This is a very unfortunate accident that is not the Huskies’ or the kid’s fault. The poor pup should not pay for this.”
“This was an accident. It was not like this dog climbed the fence to get to the child. It is very sad but the dog should not be put down.”
“That dog was in his OWN yard! a horrible accident. I feel so sorry for that boy, but not the dog’s fault.”
“The dog was just trying to play, does not deserve death.”
“There needs to be liability on the child’s parents. It’s an unfortunate event. The dogs do not need to be put to sleep. The dog owners are going to have to live with themselves for the rest of their lives. Parents need to watch their children. I own two Rottweilers and have an infant. It’s my job to make sure the baby is safe.”
“The dog was playing and was on his own property. The dog did not mean to hurt the little boy. The dog did nothing wrong and shouldn’t be punished.”
“No dog deserves to lose its life over an accident like this. There were two parties involved here. Is the kid in quarantine? Are they talking about euthanizing the kid? No? Then why just the dog? It wasn’t a vicious attack where the dog went out of his way to bite the kid’s arm off. He should not be losing his life over this. Send the dogs home to their family where the[y] belong.”
