Oregon Court Upholds Dog’s Death Sentence Animal Gets In Big Trouble For Chasing A Horse

A dog sentenced to die for chasing a horse moved a step closer to execution Wednesday when the Oregon Court of Appeals rejected its owner’s appeal.

Jackson County is obliged to put Nadas, a malamute-collie mix, to death now that county officials have determined the dog had chased livestock, the appellate court said.

But the lawyer for dog owner Sean Roach of Medford, Ore., says the ruling will be appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court.

“I think they misread the statute,” said attorney Robert Babcock of Lake Oswego, Ore.

State law requires that dogs be killed if county commissioners determine they have chased, injured or killed livestock.

Roach says that the day of the incident, he had chained Nadas outside his duplex before heading to work. The dog got loose, and a neighbor’s 13-year-old daughter saw it chasing the family’s horse and told her mother, who reported it to authorities.

Babcock argued that the county should not be able to kill the dog without proof that it had injured or meant to harm the horse.

But the appellate court said a dog need not injure livestock for the law to apply.