Campaign On to Save Dog Who Ate Owner

The fate of Buster, aka Butch, is in limbo following a grisly story in Britain. A judge this month ruled that the Staffordshire bull terrier should be euthanized after police found that it had been eating its dead owner in Waterloo, reports the Liverpool Echo. An inquiry turned up no evidence that the dog killed the man, only that it began eating the corpse at some point afterward. After the judge sided with police and the owner's family that the dog posed a danger and should be killed, two animal rescue groups lodged an appeal. The euthanasia procedure has been postponed until the court hearing, reports the Telegraph.

“There has been a great deal of public support for this animal, suggesting this animal should not be destroyed," says an attorney for the groups. “Dogs are scavengers by nature, but when they can’t get food, they will get anything that is available to them, as was in this case." Police, however, say the dog was not only "highly aggressive" in the initial encounter but when working with a dog handler later. Nonsense, says a post at Good Dog Story. Buster is a pack animal who lost its owner and resorted to eating the remains to stay alive, it reads. "Instead of releasing the animal to the accepting care of trained professionals well accustomed to rehabilitating dogs like Buster, the decision was made to simply end his life." (Here's a much happier dog story about a loyal sheepdog.)