Judge orders dogs accused of killing chickens, goat euthanized

An Ozaukee County judge has ordered two Town of Grafton dogs to be destroyed for killing a neighbor’s chickens and a baby goat but their owners, two sisters, say the dogs’ exact whereabouts are unknown because they gave them away.

Circuit Court Judge Sandy Williams said she does not find the owners’ story “credible” and gave them until Dec. 26 to produce the dogs.

According to a civil complaint filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court and other documents:

A sheriff’s deputy went to a house in October 2017 on Edgewater Drive in the Town of Grafton where the owner said two “husky-type” dogs, later identified as Meeko and Kodiak, had entered her yard and disturbed her chickens. One dog had a chicken in its mouth when it was dicsovered by the owner. The owner told the deputy she believed the same dogs had previously killed some chickens.

In April 2018, another deputy responded to the same address and found two chickens dead on the property. A third chicken had missing feathers and puncture wounds.

A roofer working nearby told the deputy that he saw the dogs chasing and “playing” with the chickens and that one of the dogs had gotten into the coop.

Shelby Schwartz, 25, and her sister, Alexandria, 20, the other owner, were cited for their dogs being at large and warned that another incident might result in a petition to destroy the dogs.

On July 13, another deputy was called to the same property after a baby goat was reported killed by the dogs. It had puncture wounds on its throat. The Schwartzes were again cited.

The sisters denied their dogs killed the goat and suggested it might have been a coyote or other animal. 

Sheriff’s deputies attempted to take the dogs into custody but the dogs were “hidden” by the Schwartzes, deputies said.

A petition was filed for an order directing the Schwartzes to immediately turn the dogs over, which the Schwartzes’ attorney, John Gallo, called a demand “to deliver their pets ... to doggie death row.”

The county filed a complaint in circuit court asking that the dogs be surrendered to be destroyed.

  Meanwhile, Alexandria Schwartz said she gave her dog, Meeko, to a woman she met in Wisconsin Dells who had responded to a Facebook post. Shelby gave her dog, Kodiak, to a family from Indiana whom she met at the store where she works, Gallo wrote.

In her letter to the court, Alexandria wrote that “when I received the letter that stated Meeko would have to be put down, I took it upon myself to find him a new home.”

On Nov. 5 a one-day trial was held during which the Schwartzes testified. Williams ruled in favor of the county and ordered the dogs to be destroyed.

In drafting the court order that the dogs be turned over to be destroyed, county Corporation Counsel Rhonda Gordon wrote “that the court does not find (the sisters’) testimony in this point credible” regarding the disppearance of the dogs.

Gallo objected, saying the sisters considered the dogs  “safer with strangers than in Ozaukee County.” But Williams agreed with Gordon and issued the order to produce the dogs. If they don’t, they could face contempt of court charges.

Gallo argued that since the sisters no longer have control of the dogs, the responsibility for apprehending the dogs is the county’s and not the sisters’.

“This court has decided that the county is entitled to two dead dogs,” Gallo wrote to Williams. “However, that does not mean that the defendants must participate in their killing.”

In a telephone interview, Gallo said the location of the dog in Indiana is “readily available” to the county.

“Does the county want to proceed under the fantasy that these girls still own these dogs?” Gallo asked.