Polar Bear, Foxy Lady are put down, tested for rabies

AUGUSTA (AP) – Two look-alike wolf-hybrid dogs from the same litter, one of which bit a woman in the leg, have been euthanized following a two-hour hearing in District Court.

The 18-month-old dogs, a male and female, had been placed in quarantine last week after one of them bit Laura Charest of Sidney, who was unable to determine which was the attacker.

Judge Michael Westcott on Thursday ordered both dogs, Polar Bear and Foxy Lady, put down and tested for rabies.

The lawyer representing the dogs’ owner, Helen Minoty, sought to have them spared, saying it would be wrong to kill both animals when only one bit Charest.

“I want to see my dogs. I want to see my dogs,” Helen “Casey” Minoty, the dogs’ owner, said as she left the courthouse after Westcott’s decision.

The cream-colored malamutes were taken from Minoty’s home July 8 and placed at a Kennebec Valley Humane Society shelter.

The dogs were chained behind the Minoty home when one of the animals bit Charest on the inside of her knee.

Charest and her husband own the property where Minoty leases a trailer. Charest said she went behind the home last week to look for a trash can after Larry Minoty called to complain that trash was strewn around the front yard.

Charest, who received four stitches, a tetanus shot and antibiotics, said she did not immediate receive rabies vaccinations because she understood that the dogs would be put down for testing and she was concerned about pain, side effects and cost of the shots.

Dr. Robert Gholson, state public health veterinarian, said wolf hybrids do not have to be immunized with rabies vaccine prior to licensing. He explained that the vaccine’s effectiveness on wolf hybrids has not undergone sufficient study.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Rucha told the judge that state law explicitly states that “wolf hybrids must be euthanized and tested” when they bite. someone.

Roger Katz, the lawyer representing Minoty, said neither animal showed symptoms of rabies and that both dogs should not be put down.

“In the case of human twins, if you knew one of them shot someone and you didn’t know which one, no one would suggest we should be locking both twins up for the rest of their lives,” Katz said.

He said if the animals were destroyed, “We’ll know we’re euthanizing one innocent pet.”

AP-ES-07-16-04 0757EDT