DENVER — A dog owner is facing criminal charges while fighting the city to keep his dog, Fred, from being euthanized after a fight with another dog in the same household.
"My wife tries to separate them unsuccessfully, and in last ditch effort, sticks her arm out right in front of Fred's face to try to prevent him from biting his brother. She gets bitten on her arm, breaks her arm," Francis Wilson explained to Denver7 "EMS gets called. EMS calls Denver Animal Control."
That's when Josh Rolfe with animal protection began an investigation. He told Denver7, the Wilsons didn't want to keep Fred and the agency deemed Fred to be 'dangerous.'
That's when euthanasia was suggested. When Wilson tried to fight it, he was given a criminal summons.
Denver7 is digging into how the City and County of Denver handles dangerous animals, after Wilson reached out directly with concerns.
"That's when it crossed the line for me, you're trying to coerce me into euthanizing a dog that shouldn't be euthanized simply under threat of criminal charges," Wilson said. "We truly don't believe that he was a dangerous animal."
Rolfe said they use a scale of 1-6 to make that determination: 1 being no scrapes during an attack and 6 being death.
Animal protection rated Wilson's wife's broken arm a 5. That rating recommends euthanasia.
"The fact that a dog that’s this large, caused this level of injury to it’s own owner who it’s been living with for several years, doesn’t create a good scenario for future incidents when the dog’s interacting with a complete stranger," Rolfe said.
It's a balance between the interest of the owner and keeping the community safe, according to Rolfe.
"In this types of situations when the animals, just in our professional opinion, dangerous to the community. It’s just not safe to adopt out or transfer to another rescue organization," Rolfe said.
For context, Rolfe said the shelter sees up to 700 dog bites a year and bites rated five or six, make up 5% of the bites the see.
Despite those concerns, Wilson won his case and Fred is now with a new family.
