Petition started to protect dogs that bit off part of boy’s arm

LAYTON – The dogs who reportedly bit off part of a little boy’s arm are getting a lot of support from all over the country. An online petition has been started to save the dogs in case they’re deemed as a danger to the public.

However, will the petition do any good?

Tens of thousands of people have signed the online petition to save Polar and Bear, started by Jessica Nusz, who is a friend of the dogs’ owners.  She’s known the animals for about a year and she says both dogs are very loving.

“Every time I would go over to their place, they would let me pet them and they would lick my face.  Whenever they would see someone walk by, they would want to be pet by that person,” Nusz says.

Investigators with Davis County say they’re still not at liberty to release the details of what happened, but initial reports were that the boy put a sock around his arm and stuck it under the fence around a Layton yard, which is when the bite happened.  Nusz doesn’t believe that the dogs or the child had any intention to harm or scare anyone.

“I’m hoping that people will realize that this is just an unfortunate accident, on both sides,” she adds.

Nusz says she understands a petition might not convince anyone that the dogs are safe to be around, and that the only people who can determine if Polar and Bear are dangerous work within the Davis County Animal Care and Control offices.

That decision, however, is still a while away.  Director Rhett Nicks says they have to finish collecting all of the information before they can discuss whether or not the dogs are dangerous.  Even if they are deemed as a danger to the public, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will automatically be put down.

However, unless the petition brings forward some new evidence, it can’t influence their decision.

“Every case, regardless of severity and who’s involved, who says what or whether it makes it to the media or not, it gets treated almost exactly the same,” Nicks says.

The information gathering process may last through the rest of this week, and shelter officials may start discussing the matter in the beginning of next week.

“Usually, it would take a day, or so.  Once we have all the information, it doesn’t take very long at all,” Nicks adds.