AURORA, Colo. — A new law in Aurora will require animal services to wait at least a week before euthanizing a dog surrendered into city custody.
According to court documents, in January, Aurora Animal Services euthanized the dog, Blu, two days after a court ordered his owner to surrender him to the city.
On Tuesday, Blu's former owner, Tracey Prim, was once again in the Aurora courthouse for a hearing. She is still fighting charges, accused of owning a dangerous dog.
"I felt my rights were violated, and they didn’t even care about what they were doing to a family," Prim said. "They just took it upon themselves to do whatever they thought was right in their eyes but it wasn’t right at all."
According to notes from Aurora Animal Services, Blu was euthanized because of a "history of a severe bite with multiple wounds" and an "attempt" to "bite staff in the face."
Prim wishes she had time to appeal the decision, and Ward 4 Council Member Charlie Richardson agreed.
“Two day period is unconscionable, unacceptable every other adjective I can think of," Richardson said.
On Monday night, Aurora City Council passed a law Richardson introduced that delays killing animals surrendered to the city by at least seven days.
The ordinance also requires the court to advise the owner they have a right to appeal the surrender and ask for a behavioral assessment.
After the seven days, if a $100 appeal bond is paid, the court's surrender order will be stayed for 30 days.
“Yes the death of the dog is unfortunately an inescapable outcome that this tries to avoid," Richardson said. "It makes it the very last option.”
Richardson says the city immediately started practicing parts of his new ordinance after Blu's death.
“While pet owners have always had the right to appeal a judge’s decision they disagreed with, these ordinance changes help reinforce our desire to be open and transparent about that process," said Malcolm Hankins, the Director of Neighborhood Services, in an email.
Prim has two jury trials scheduled for her charges, but she can't ever fight to get Blu back. She hopes others will get the time she wished she had.
“It was a sigh of relief because now this can’t happen to any other dogs," she said. "And they just can’t take your dog and euthanize him."
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