Cheryl Whitfield’s beloved dog, Annie, was sent to dog jail for biting a lady at the park after being startled. Their journey has since gone viral.
There are few things more terrifying than your dog being punished for something they did by accident. It’s scary from the start- the accident which is harmful to someone else, the subsequent blame-game, and the resolution which more likely than not, will err on the side of the human. It’s every pet owner’s nightmare for this to happen.
Easier to punish a dog for a mistake than a human for a crime
This happens everywhere. Have you ever been friends with a neighbourhood stray dog? If so, chances are you might have noticed how misunderstood strays are by neighbourhoods in general. The dog might have been provoked into attacking any annoying element or threat. And it’s likely that the neighbourhood came together to try and get rid of this poor dog because nobody wants to deal with the unpredictability of a non-human being. (When did humans become predictable anyway?)
Annie, the wonder-rescue and her determined owner
Cheryl Whitfield, who had adopted Annie from a shelter just two years prior, took her to the neighbourhood park for her usual playtime. A woman startled Annie, and Annie bit her in retaliation. It was, according to Cheryl, a one-off incident and the first in the many times they visited the park together.
So Cheryl posted about this on social media to raise enough attention to Annie’s plight. The response from around the globe was overwhelming.
A gruelling journey for mama and dog
What happened next was tremendously difficult for both Annie and Cheryl. Annie was quarantined, locked up and was on trial to be euthanized. The bite-victim filed paperwork that asked for “dog termination”, which essentially meant that Annie would be put to death for an accidental crime under provocation.
Annie has no history of aggression. These things happen to the best people and gentlest dogs. And this is something the courts clearly realized! In the last week, Annie has been released and is now back to being considered “non-violent”. And take a look at her happy face!
Kudos to her parent for fighting so hard for her, and to the Texas courts for taking cognizance and preserving Annie’s life!
Source: Fox26 Houston, Facebook
