Death-row dog in Whitehorse finds support
Thu Aug 6, 11:31 AM

CALGARY (CBC) - A Whitehorse animal shelter is receiving petitions and letters of support from around the world for Trevor, a dog that was adopted out by the shelter and that staff are now trying to save from euthanization.

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Stacks of documents in favour of the Rottweiler-shepherd cross were filed in the Yukon Supreme Court this week, in advance of a hearing Thursday on whether city officials can put down the dog, which they say is dangerous.

The hearing was scheduled to begin Thursday afternoon at the Whitehorse courthouse.

"A petition is happening and people have signed it from France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom. It's worldwide," Tracy Smythe, manager at the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"Phone calls from Ontario, Toronto, Winnipeg from the States, supporting Trevor."

The court will hear arguments from advocates, including the Humane Society Yukon, calling on Trevor to be spared from euthanization and given a chance to be rehabilitated.

City bylaw officers rescued Trevor early this year, after he was discovered with an undersized collar badly ingrown into his neck. Trevor was taken to the shelter, where staff and volunteers cared for him until he was adopted out in May.

The humane society, which runs the shelter, has argued that Trevor was never aggressive when he was in its care.

But a number of people say the dog randomly attacked individuals, including children. Some have sworn affidavits asserting that Trevor attacked and bit them.

Trevor's last owner, Matthew Allaby, surrendered the dog to the city pound last month, after Trevor bit a friend of his in the arm.

Shelter workers have disputed the reports about Trevor's attacks and demand an independent reassessment.

Smythe further argued that Allaby had no right to turn Trevor over to the city pound, since he was not stated as Trevor's owner in the animal shelter's adoption contract.

The shelter has said Allaby's sister signed the contract in May, promising to return the dog to the shelter if she could not care for it.

"We're trying to establish ownership here, that the person who released Trevor to the City of Whitehorse was not the owner," Smythe said.

City lawyers dismiss Smythe's claim, arguing that Whitehorse's animal control bylaw trumps any contract the shelter signs with adoption clients.