FAYETTEVILLE — Washington County officials said a pit bull that attacked a 4-year-old boy in April will be euthanized unless its owner wins an appeal in circuit court.
Eric Beal said the dog wasn’t involved in the attack, and he wants his dog back. Beal filed a lawsuit against the county June 22. Joseph Wood, the county judge, upheld a sheriff’s office decision to designate the dog as dangerous.
A dog that seriously hurts a person or kills livestock can be labeled dangerous, according to county ordinance. If the circuit court agrees with the designation, the dog will be euthanized. No date for a court hearing has been set.
The label comes with a list of restrictions, including that a dangerous dog cannot be given away or sold.
Beal’s dog, named Aries, is being held alone in a pen at the Washington County Animal Shelter and is “doing fine,” County Attorney Brian Lester said in email.
The county took the dog because Beal couldn’t obtain liability insurance, one of the restrictions required by the ordinance. To get a dangerous dog back, an owner must get the animal sterilized and microchipped and keep it in an enclosure, according to the ordinance.
Authorities said Aries and another pit bull owned by Beal attacked the 4-year-old and seriously injured the boy’s face. The other dog was euthanized.
Beal’s attorney Erin Sudduth said in an email Tuesday that she doesn’t typically answer questions about ongoing litigation.
Beal appealed the sheriff’s office designation to the county judge as part of the process required before taking the case to circuit court.
About eight people wore T-shirts that said “Save Aries” at the May 11 hearing.
Sudduth said Aries wasn’t involved in the attack and should be returned to Beal.
Wood’s decision upholding the designation was filed June 20.
Dustin Guess, the father of the boy, told Wood at the hearing that he saw both dogs attack his son and thinks Aries will attack again.
“That dog has a death mentality,” Guess said. “The next time there will be death, and only death, to stop him.”
The sheriff’s office doesn’t routinely label dogs as dangerous, according to office records. Two dogs have been designated as dangerous so far this year and there were none in 2017, sheriff’s office spokesman Kelly Cantrell said in email Wednesday.
Beal’s appeal is the first involving the dangerous-animal ordinance, which the Quorum Court adopted in 2016 after two pit bulls attacked a bicyclist near Hogeye. Those dogs were euthanized.