Pit bull mix is back on canine death row after failed rehab effort
Saved by an agreement reached after a lengthy court battle from being euthanized earlier this year, a dog known as Gus is back on canine death row after a failed effort at rehabilitation.
The pit bull mix, originally from Texas, was held by Montgomery County animal control there for over a year after biting a woman who was fostering him as a favor to his owner, Jennifer Romano of Maggie’s House Rescue, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Romano and the Lexus Project, an animal advocacy group, successfully fought a euthanization order, and Cesar Millan’s Dog Psychology Center in Santa Clarita, California, agreed to take him for rehab. But Gus is now in the custody of the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control and executive assistant Patricia Learned says a destruction order will be sought.
Gus “had his second chance, and he didn’t make the best of it, and we will not allow him the opportunity to hurt anybody else,” she told the newspaper.
An investigation by Los Angeles authorities is still ongoing and details were not provided. However, executive director Robin Mittasch of the Lexus Project said they were told Gus had been removed from the Millan facility by Romano, who took the dog to her boyfriend’s home. “Everything was fine until they tried to get him off the bed,” Mittasch said, and then “he bit the boyfriend … and another woman.”
Romano did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. An email posted online, apparently by the Millan center, said Gus had been removed against trainers’ advice.
An earlier Houston Chronicle article provides additional details.
