MONROE - Two unleashed pit bulls that fatally mauled a smaller dog Monday morning were impounded by court order Tuesday and are awaiting a hearing next week to decide their fate.
A petition filed by the city in Green County Circuit Court says the dogs pose a significant threat to public safety. It asks for the "sale, euthanasia or other disposition of the animals" and for their owner, Lance G. Beutel, 26, to pay for related custody and treatment.
A court hearing is scheduled before Judge Thomas Vale at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Beutel may face further legal action. Police identify the dogs as 90-pound pit bulls named Kira and Hallie and say they have been involved in two similar incidents in Monroe - in October 2012, Kira and Hallie went after a dog but did not injure it, and in August 2013, they attacked another dog, causing puncture wounds to its right front leg and left ear.
After the second attack, Beutel was fined $175.30 for allowing the dogs to run at large.
On Monday, police say Kira and Hallie escaped from their backyard at 2416 7th St. and attacked an 18-pound bichon frise-shih tzu mix named Buddy as he was being walked on a leash by his owners.
The larger dogs grabbed Buddy, pulled him away and dragged him across the street. A deputy on scene rescued Buddy, and a neighbor helped get him to a vet clinic. A vet worked on Buddy about 30 minutes but was unable to save his life.
The mauling was violent enough to leave "a pool of blood on the driveway where the small white dog had been," according to a police affidavit in support of the court order to seize Kira and Hallie.
But the dogs may only be aggressive toward other animals and not humans. Fred Kelley, Monroe's chief of police, said Kira and Hallie went up to an officer Monday and licked him.
A petition filed by the city in Green County Circuit Court says the dogs pose a significant threat to public safety. It asks for the "sale, euthanasia or other disposition of the animals" and for their owner, Lance G. Beutel, 26, to pay for related custody and treatment.
A court hearing is scheduled before Judge Thomas Vale at 10:15 a.m. Tuesday.
Beutel may face further legal action. Police identify the dogs as 90-pound pit bulls named Kira and Hallie and say they have been involved in two similar incidents in Monroe - in October 2012, Kira and Hallie went after a dog but did not injure it, and in August 2013, they attacked another dog, causing puncture wounds to its right front leg and left ear.
After the second attack, Beutel was fined $175.30 for allowing the dogs to run at large.
On Monday, police say Kira and Hallie escaped from their backyard at 2416 7th St. and attacked an 18-pound bichon frise-shih tzu mix named Buddy as he was being walked on a leash by his owners.
The larger dogs grabbed Buddy, pulled him away and dragged him across the street. A deputy on scene rescued Buddy, and a neighbor helped get him to a vet clinic. A vet worked on Buddy about 30 minutes but was unable to save his life.
The mauling was violent enough to leave "a pool of blood on the driveway where the small white dog had been," according to a police affidavit in support of the court order to seize Kira and Hallie.
But the dogs may only be aggressive toward other animals and not humans. Fred Kelley, Monroe's chief of police, said Kira and Hallie went up to an officer Monday and licked him.