WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A woman in Warren is trying to make changes to the city's animal ordinance after her dog was viciously attacked and killed.
The attacker was another dog in the neighborhood and has since been removed from the home but not without a fight.
"Her spine was disconnected from her tail. She wouldn't be walking, she'd be incontinent," Jill Demeniuk said.
Demeniuk had to make a call that no dog owner wants to make. She put down her 10-year-old cockapoo Buttercup after she was viciously attacked by a Rottweiler in the neighborhood.
She says her daughter Faith witnessed the whole thing.
"She heard the dog barking. This dog was barking behind the fence and then, it came barreling out," Demeniuk said.
According to Demeniuk, the dog escaped from an opening in the bottom of the fence. She figured animal control would remove the Rottweiler from the home right away but instead, it took five days.
"This dog was going to go stay in the house for 10 days in quarantine when it literally annihilated and ripped apart our dog in front of our 15-year-old, bit another dog and a person and tried to bite this other person, and you're going to put him back in the house?" Demeniuk said.
Warren police said the owner of the dog was cited in the past for a similar incident.
A hearing is scheduled for the owner on May 16. This is to determine if they will face charges and whether the dog will have to be put down.
"This person actually made a comment to me directly. (They said) 'I wanted this dog for companionship and protection.' That's great — you protected yourself. You did not protect everybody else. You also didn't protect your dog because now look what might happen," Demeniuk said.
Councilman Jonathan Lafferty said the city failed to protect its citizens by not removing the dog from the home immediately. He says currently, the animal ordinance is being reviewed and changes could be made in the future.
"It already bit someone and a dog, but nobody checked the fence to make sure after that attack, it was taken care of," Demeniuk said.
Lafferty says council and the city attorney are gathering copies of the ordinance for review.
Demenek says she and her husband have filed a civil suit.
