Top Nev. Court Grants 3rd-Party Animal Rights Group Petition, Stays Execution of Dog in Tot's Death
In a divided decision on Friday, the top court in Nevada granted a stay that prevents officials in Henderson from euthanizing a 120- or 130-pound dog that killed a toddler in their city until a New York-based animal rights group has an opportunity to appeal an adverse court ruling.
A state trial-court judge ruled earlier in the week that the Lexus Project Inc. had no standing to intervene in the decision to euthanize Onion, a mixed Rhodesian ridgeback and mastiff, according to the Associated Press and the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The group wants to send the dog, which it contends isn’t vicious and was provoked, to a sanctuary in Colorado.
Clark County District Court Judge Joanna Kishner held that the animal, known as Onion, was legally surrendered after he killed the one-year-old grandson of his owner.
The Las Vegas Sun says Jeremiah Eskew-Skahan was at his grandmother’s home on April 27 to celebrate his first birthday when he crawled toward the dog to pet him. The dog then grabbed the boy by the neck and began shaking him, authorities said.
