25 pit bulls to be euthanized - very sad story all around

[undeterred]

The Dane County Humane Society will euthanize at least 25 of the 47 pit bulls it has been keeping since June after gaining ownership of 38 of the dogs, many of which were alleged to have been used in dog fighting, board President Cathy Holmes said Tuesday.

But attorney Charles Giesen, who represented Robert Lowery and his wife, Julie Dzikowich, in their effort to have the dogs returned, said killing the dogs would "violate the spirit" of an agreement reached Monday. Holmes said, "I think we've been very clear" that euthanasia was a possibility for many of the dogs, which behavior experts have found to pose a significant threat to public safety. "We will do it humanely and with care," she said.

The agreement reached Monday between the humane society, Dane County, the district attorney's office and Lowery and Dzikowich, dismisses three criminal counts of dog- fighting each against Lowery and Dzikowich, who will not have to pay for the shelter's costs of more than $200,000 for caring for the dogs.

Under the agreement, the humane society receives ownership of 38 of the dogs. Nine dogs will be returned to Dzikowich, with several stipulations and restrictions. Lowery, who will relinquish his ownership of the dogs, is at a federal prison hospital in Butsen, N.C., where he is being treated for cancer while awaiting sentencing for participating in a large-scale marijuana importation operation at the couple's property in the town of Dunn. The pit bulls were found there by police during a drug raid June 14.

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=116954&ntpid=1

It was a huge drain on the local humane society to care for these animals until a settlement was reached... what a mess.