Court lifts order blocking death for dog that killed child

They had saved dogs like Onion before.

The dog-loving activists had persuaded judges to spare the animals from euthanization and send them to loving homes where they wouldn't hurt anyone or any animal again.

Those arguments had worked more than a dozen times before, in other states.

Not in Nevada.

A judge ruled Friday that Onion, the mastiff-Rhodesian Ridgeback mix that attacked and killed a 1-year-old boy last month, would not be saved.

"Despite the good intentions, there's not a legal basis for the relief sought," District Judge Joanna Kishner said in lifting the temporary restraining order that had given Onion a reprieve earlier in the week.

The dog's supporters, led by a New York-based group that had been successful many times in other states, had no legal standing to intervene on his behalf and stop Henderson animal control officials from putting him down.

Animal control officials would not immediately take action, however. They will wait for the judge to sign the written order before proceeding, spokesman Keith Paul said.

That usually takes a few days, and both sides must read and agree to the order's contents.

In the meantime, Onion's lawyers said they would appeal Kishner's ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court in hopes of saving the dog.

"Nevada took a step back in the protection of animals today," a watery-eyed Chandan Manansingh said outside the courtroom.

"We're not giving up," said Richard Rosenthal of The Lexus Project, the New York group that has helped save dozens of dogs from death.

The Lexus Project intervened Monday and won a temporary reprieve for Onion, who had been marked for death after the fatal April 27 attack on Jeremiah Eskew-Shahan.

The attack came after the family had finished celebrating the boy's first birthday at their home, on the 1600 block of Navarre Lane, near Warm Springs Road and Arroyo Grande Boulevard, when tragedy struck.

When the baby crawled over to Onion and - as he had done many times before - grabbed the 120-pound dog to help himself stand up, the dog attacked. He latched his jaw around the boy's head and shook for about 30 seconds, breaking the tot's neck and mangling his face.

Jeremiah died the next day.

The boy's family said Onion had never shown aggression toward Jeremiah.

Henderson animal control officers declared Onion a vicious dog and scheduled him for destruction after a state-mandated 10-day rabies quarantine. But before that period could end, a nationwide campaign to save Onion reached critical mass, and Rosenthal's group intervened in District Court, setting up Friday's hearing.

They hope to spare Onion's life and send him to a sanctuary outside Denver that specializes in caring for large, aggressive dogs.

An hour before the hearing about 10 people stood together outside the downtown Las Vegas courthouse holding "Save Onion" signs.

Nearby, Brad Keith held a different sign: "Let's Make Dog Tacos."

The 36-year-old said his brother was nearly killed by a dog when they were kids, and the family had joked at the time that they should make tacos out of the dangerous Akita.

He felt it necessary to provide a counterpoint to the "ridiculous" support to save Onion.

"Why are we sitting here spending so much time and energy trying to save a dog that killed a little baby?" he asked. "There's probably a lot of other dogs that could be helped."

Inside, Onion's lawyers argued that they should be allowed to intervene on the dog's behalf because he was named the beneficiary of a trust created by The Lexus Project.

"No one else has spoken up on behalf of Onion. That's what we're doing," Manansingh said.

They said Onion shouldn't be declared vicious because he was provoked by the child's actions and merely acted instinctively.

"It has instincts, and just like human beings, some of those instincts involve violence," Manansingh said of the "lovable, gentle giant."

Henderson lawyer Michael Oh countered that city law allows only the dog's owner to appeal, and Onion's owner, Jeremiah's grandmother, had signed the dog over to the city for destruction.

He also reinforced the city's position that it had a duty to put the dog down to protect its citizens.

Onion was a dangerous dog, he said in recounting the attack. He offered to show the judge photos of the boy's injuries.

"This was not a simple accident," Oh said. "This was an attack."

Onion also acted aggressively toward a veterinarian in the city shelter, he said.

Kishner, who disclosed that her family had adopted rescue dogs, sided with the city and the law.

The Lexus Project trust did not change the property ownership of Onion, so under Henderson law it had no right to challenge the city's declaration of him as a vicious dog.

The lawyers also failed to exhaust the lower levels of appeals, including going to the Henderson Municipal Court, before taking the case to District Court, Kishner said, so she had no jurisdiction in the case.

"I truly get the emotional aspects," she said. "But as a court of law, I have to focus on the law."

Contact reporter Brian Haynes at bhaynes@review journal.com or 702-383-0281.