The Associated Press said in a report published on Yahoo! News that supporters of a dog who mauled and left a 4 year-old boy with facial injuries had been garnering pleas for mercy on Facebook ahead of the court's decision to decide the animal's fate. The global news wire have said that a municipal court judge could issue a ruling on a March 25 hearing to euthanize Mickey, the pitbull who attacked Kevin Vicente.
Doctors who have attended the little boy declared that he will be facing months to years of reconstructive surgeries to reduce the effects of the injuries on his face.
Supporters argued that the decision to ask for pleas for the dog does not necessarily mean that it belittles the action done on Vicente. Mickey has garnered over 40,000 likes and elicited an online petition for the court to spare his life since the attack happened on February 20.
Attorney John Schill, who is the dog's representative in court, said, "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."
Schill was quoted by AP as saying that he works pro bono for The Lexus Project, a non-profits organization that legally aids canines in danger of getting euthanized. Schill added that a legal trust for Mickey has been set up, and is currently at over $5,600.
Harold Herzog, a psychology professor at Western Carolina University and an animal expert, said about the overwhelming response for the dog, "I don't think this reflects that people like dogs more than they like kids. It's a reflection that ... this is yet another instance of their breed getting blame for something it didn't do. Blame the deed, not the breed.'"
Guadalupe Villa, who have witnessed the mauling, was the one who had filed a request to put the dog down, AP said. Villa, whose boyfriend's mother babysat Vicente the day of the mauling, said, "I just looked at all this as this could have been my son, and I don't want it to be someone else."
