Mickey is a 5-year-old pit bull terrier who is currently on the euthanize list with Maricopa County Animal Control. Several weeks ago, Mickey had attacked Kevin Vicente, a 4-year-old boy who had decided to try and take away a bone that Mickey was chewing on. Thankfully, Vicente lived, but he was severely injured. Did Mickey purposely attack the little boy or was it a natural reaction? That is the current debate.
Unfortunately, pit bull attacks are not uncommon in Phoenix. The breed has a really bad reputation that haunts each dog resulting in many people being terrified of these gorgeous animals. I, myself, am not a huge pit bull fan — but only because of their looks. I love dogs and feel that when a dog attack happens, we shouldn’t be so quick to condemn them and put them down. Mickey’s case is one of those special cases where he might have a say in what happened through humans.
I first learned about this story through a community Facebook page that is promoting petitions to save Mickey. Mickey’s story has drawn so much attention through the media that over 41,000 people are following this page for updates and the petition to stop him from being euthanized has 45,000 signatures.
Each new update that I find about Mickey has some “new evidence” about his past history of aggression and all attention is on him as the attacker. Why did that young boy have access to Mickey while eating? Mickey was in the backyard and chained up. When I was a child, I was taught to never take food away from a dog — no matter what breed. Apparently, the boy was being watched by the babysitter. Who is the real victim here?
Phoenix attorney John Schill, who is representing and fighting for Mickey, said it best, "This is not Kevin versus Mickey. … Having Mickey killed is not going to take away Kevin's pain or injuries. The only thing this is going to do is kill a poor, innocent dog."
Mickey deserves a chance and should not be put down over this innocent attack. It was a natural canine reaction to Kevin's actions.
I hope that Maricopa County can take a step back and look at this situation again from an outside perspective with Mickey and Vicente in thought. Mickey deserves a chance to be adopted by a loving home and have a fresh start for his remaining doggy years.
To review Mickey’s situation and to sign the petition, please this website.
Reach the columnist at ceacret@asu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @chelsieeacret
