Though a legal deadline has apparently passed, the owner of an American Staffordshire Terrier who assaulted a police horse this summer and was sentenced to death, still doesn't know the fate of his pet, Charlie.
"I just don't know," David Gizzarelli told NBC Bay Area on Monday, the day that a judge in San Francisco was supposed to have issued an order deciding the dog's fate. "I'm waiting very nervously. Charlie doesn't have much time left. I haven't seen him in four months."
Gizzarelli's attorney, John Mounier, also wasn't available for immediate comment. According to the online court filings, the judge hadn't made a ruling on Monday morning.
The city of San Francisco has been arguing to euthanize Charlie because of what happened on Aug.6. That's when Charlie was off-leash at the dog run area of Crissy Field in San Francisco. According to a report by Police Capt. V. Guldbech, Charlie "ran directly" at Stoney, a horse ridden by Officer Eric Evans of the United States Park Police department.
Though Gizzarelli called out to Charlie to stop, the dog bit the officer's leather riding boot and also sank his teeth into the horse's left leg. Stoney then reared up and threw the officer to the ground. Evans testified he was knocked unconscious.
Charlie, according to police, ran after the horse for about 1.6 miles before another U.S. Park police officer riding a motorcycle scared Charlie away. Stoney had several bite marks and bleeding gashes to his legs, thighs and stomach, the report states.
The hearing officer, John Denny, then deemed Charlie "vicious and dangerous," and recommended that Charlie should be "humanely destroyed."
Local
According to Mounier, this was Charlie's first offense. To garner support from animal lovers near and far, Gizzarelli has set up a Causes.com petition that has received more than 100,000 signatures from people pleading for the dog's life.
To see a video of Charlie, click here.
