First there was a campaign to "Save Luna." Now a new campaign has spared another Connecticut dog from death row, but a judge must determine what happens next to the dog.
Buddy, a golden retriever from Milford, was sentenced to be put down after hurting a woman who tried to break up a fight Buddy was having with another dog. A judge decided the dog would not be destroyed, but it must move out of state.
On Tuesday, Buddy had his day in court to determine the terms of his release and Judge Richard Arnold accepted an agreement that will allow Richard Rosenthal, co-director of the Long Island-based Lexus Project, and animal defense group, to take the dog to Florida, where it will have to wear a muzzle while outside.
Here's what started the whole thing.
In October, Buddy got into a fight with another dog. When a person tried to intervene, Buddy hurt the woman. The dog was impounded, has remained so ever since, and was ordered to be killed by Milford Animal Control.
Since then, Buddy's owner, Victoria Stillings, had been appealing that decision.
"Buddy is a good dog and a great pet and I want him to live," she told The Connecticut Post.
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"The dog didn't even bite somebody. The dog is accused of biting another dog that had attacked him previously. They didn't take that into consideration and that's totally unfair," said Tina Zinn, who supports Buddy.
Rosenthal argued that the shelter impounded Buddy illegally and wants the dog to be released to the care of a Florida rehabilitation center.
“She has proper facilities to re-socialize him and she has pretty much acknowledged he will live out his life there,” Rosenthal said.
He also said there's concern that Buddy is being mistreated at the shelter because visitations have been denied
The director of the shelter where Buddy is being kept would not let NBC Connecticut see Buddy or any of the other dogs, but he promised Buddy was in good health.
“He's fine. What you hear is a disinfectant cleaning kennels. I think we're a landmark facility,”
Richard George, director of the Milford Animal Control, said.
George would not answer NBC Connecticut’s questions.
“I have to say no comment,” he said.
The Lexus Project, you'll recall, helped save Luna, the Tolland dog who killed some neighborhood chickens. A Facebook page has also been created called "Save Buddy From the Milford Dog Pound."
