Owner Of Condemned Pit Bulls Says Dogs Got Loose And Ran Away

The owner of a pair of pit bulls condemned to death says her dogs got loose during a walk and ran into the woods Tuesday, the same day the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a judge's decision to have the dogs euthanized.

The court released its decision to uphold an Augusta judge's euthanasia order around 12:30 p.m.

Danielle Jones, the owner of the dogs, was allowed by the Humane Society Waterville Area to take her pit bulls for a walk between 12:30 and 1 p.m., police said.

Police said she returned to the Waterville animal shelter around 1 p.m. and told officials that the dogs got loose during the walk and ran away.

Winslow Police Chief Shawn O’Leary told centralmaine.com that Tuesday's incident was “suspicious, to say the least.”

O'Leary said he is "completely dumbfounded" and "disappointed" by the shelter's decision to allow the dogs to leave the property.

The pit bulls, Bentley and Kole, were ordered euthanized after attacking a woman and her dog, who were walking past Jones’ Winslow home in Aug. 2016.

The pit bulls seriously injured the woman, Sharron Carey, and killed her 10-month-old Boston terrier, Fergie Rose.

The judge in Augusta found that Jones had committed two civil violations of keeping a dangerous dog, and the pit bulls were ordered to be euthanized within 30 days. The order was stayed pending appeal. The dogs were being held at the animal shelter on Webb Road.