County judge rules ‘dangerous dog’ be put down

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    OMAHA, NE (WOWT ) — A Douglas County judge saying no more. It’s all after a dog has repeatedly attacked people living in a Dundee neighborhood.

As the parents of some of the victims attacked by the Golden Doodle filed out of the courtroom, they expressed their satisfaction with this decision.

“We feel very relieved the kids can once again play safely in the neighborhood and it’s just unfortunate that another child had to be attacked for that to happen,” Tami Hauser said.

Three years after her own child and husband were attacked, a judge today ruled Hauser’s neighbor’s dog is dangerous.

“You really aren’t safe from a dog that is willing and determined enough to burst through a front door to attack children,” Hauser said.

She went on to say there is no winning in this situation. As a dog owner herself, she’s sympathetic with Mike and Kim Carter for the judges ruling to have their dog, Polo, surrendered to the Nebraska Humane Society to be put down.

“As my mother says, if a dog bites once, it’s likely to bite again,” Tiffany Regan said.

Regan’s 14 year-old-daughter was the latest to be attacked by Polo in mid-January.

“She had three pairs of pants on in anticipation of going sledding and it bit through all the pairs of pants. And left a bruise and broke the skin — and she still has a mark,” Regan said.

Photos of her daughter’s wounds and injuries inflicted on others were shown in court today by the prosecution. Mike and Kim Carter had character witnesses brought in on behalf of Polo.

The ruling today putting an end to what neighbors are calling a dangerous situation. One they feel could have been handled in a court in 2017.

“It was confounding and disappointing and we all left there wondering how a dog that attacked three people and a child, how does that dog maintain that status of being potentially dangerous,” Hauser said.

If the dog were labeled as dangerous back then, serious changes would’ve had to been made.

“A dangerous animal has to be spade or neutered, you have to have it microchipped, you have to have it included under a home liability insurance plan,” Kelli Brown, the director of field operations at Nebraska Humane Society tells 6 News. “And the dog has to be licensed as a dangerous animal.”

The dog would also have to wear a muzzle and be kept in a padlocked kennel if it’s outside.

Polo’s owners were upset at today’s ruling, they had no comment for us as they were leaving the courtroom.

They do have the chance to appeal the court’s decision and the dog will not be euthanized until the appeals process is done. Until then, the dog will be housed at the Nebraska Humane Society.

The City of Omaha’s ordinance regarding dangerous and potentially dangerous animals defines them as animals that attack people or pets unprovoked.

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