Dog owner asks Supreme Court to spare pooch from execution
The owner of Bruce asked the U.S. Supreme Court to save him from being euthanized. (Photo from A Dog Named Bruce Facebook page)
It’s not unusual for the U.S. Supreme Court to receive last-minute appeals seeking to halt the execution of an inmate sentenced to death. Earlier this month, however, the high court received an emergency request for something highly unusual: Please save my dog Bruce from being put to death.
Bruce, a 3-year-old Great Pyrenees/German shepherd mix, was condemned to die in April after biting three people, including a child, in California, according to the New York Times and SCOTUSblog. Friends created a Facebook page for Bruce, as well as a petition drive to save his life.
Bruce, who weighed about 120 pounds, also knocked down a man “pushing his wife in a wheelchair,” according to the Ventura County Animal Services, which asked a state court for permission to euthanize Bruce. A judge agreed, saying Bruce was “vicious” and posed “a significant threat” to the community, according to SCOTUSblog.
After exhausting appeals, owner Claire Birgy and the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, from which she adopted Bruce, went to the Supreme Court with an emergency docket application. By the time that the Supreme Court could consider, it was too late. Bruce was euthanized Aug. 12.
Bruce’s case is the second this month in which the owners of a dog sentenced to death sought mercy in court. The Michigan Court of Appeals spared an American bulldog named Chance from execution last week. Chance attacked a woman at a friend’s home, but the owner said the attack was provoked. The case is scheduled to return to a state district court for reconsideration.
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