The aggressive dog Mailo has attacked three children, including 10-year-old Luqman. Before that, he bit Milan Petrovic’s dog Kokos to death and he thinks Mailo should have been euthanized already then. But it is difficult to get euthanasia decisions through.
– Today, the court reconsiders our euthanasia decisions more often, says Joakim Johansson at the County Administrative Board.
Milan Petrovic’s dog, the Maltese Kokos, was only 1.5 years old. Amstaffen Mailo attacked Kokos in July last year on the Östra beach in Halmstad. Mailo bit Kokos so hard that his spine broke off, and was later euthanized by a veterinarian.
– I didn’t have time to pick up Kokos. The dog grabbed his back, then he didn’t let go, says Milan Petrovics, who himself was bitten on the hand in the commotion.
After the attack, the County Administrative Board decided that Mailo must wear a muzzle and a leash. Since then, he has bitten three children on different occasions. Now Mailo will probably be euthanized, says the County Administrative Board. But he should have been euthanized already this summer, thinks Milan Petrovics.
– I recommended euthanasia. That dog is very antisocial and dangerous. I told the County Administrative Board “what if he attacks a child on the beach next time?”, says Petrovics.
Euthanasia decisions are reviewed more often
It is rare that the County Administrative Board makes a decision on euthanasia, says Anders Svensson at the Linnaeus University. Instead, aggressive dogs may be returned to the owner, rehabilitated or relocated to a new home.
– These dogs have been in and out of the system for a long time. Society has difficulty protecting people from them, says Anders Svensson, docent in evolutionary ecology.
Joakim Johansson, head of the animal welfare unit at the County Administrative Board in Stockholm, says that a decision is made to euthanize when it is justified. However, it has become more common for dog owners to appeal the decisions, and be right.
– Today, the court reconsiders our killing decisions more often, as soon as there is the slightest hint that the dog could be relocated instead, says unit manager Joakim Johansson.