Pit Bull Released From Broward County, Florida's “Death Row” After 2 Years

By Elaine Furst For Dog Files

Mercedes, the final dog sitting on Broward County’s canine “death row“, was released to her owners Friday after the pit bull’s two year wait for freedom finally ended.

Mercedes’ trouble started in 2008 when she got loose in her Fort Lauderdale Victoria Park neighborhood and killed Stan Peter’s 10-year old cat, Slugger. Due to the county’s zero tolerance dangerous dog law which allowed for the euthanasia of a dog after one serious attack on a domestic animal, Mercedes was sentenced to death.

The county however, recently reversed the controversial law, but Mercedes remained jailed while her owners awaited a court decision in their lawsuit against the county. That came this week, when the 4th District Court of Appeal deemed Broward’s dangerous dog law unconstitutional because it conflicted with state law.

Mercedes’ owners, Brian Hoesch, 31, and his godfather, Ken Sladkin, 66, said they wanted the ruling — even though Broward had retreated from its original law — so that no other city or county would copy what Broward had done.

Slugger’s owners however, were devastated about the loss of the pet they’d had for 10 years, writing to county commissioners to ask that Mercedes, who they said “had the taste for blood,” never be given the opportunity to attack again. A witness said Slugger, who was declawed, was sleeping in a car port when Mercedes pounced.

“The ruling is wrong,” said Peters. “With Mercedes’ history, it’s going to happen again.”

Yet on Friday afternoon at the VCA Animal Hospital in Coconut Creek, Mercedes jumped in Hoesch’s and Sladkin’s car and headed off to Tampa, where they will live.??

Sladkin paid $22,000 to board Mercedes for the two years he fought for her life. His legal fees have yet to be calculated, his attorney, Jason Wandner, said.

Sladkin said he rescued Mercedes from a neighbor in Tampa who kept her locked in a cage at all times. The dog has a “hunt instinct,” Sladkin said, and cannot safely be around cats or small pets.

“And she’s wonderful with humans,” he said. “When she used to escape from the cage, where would she go? We’d find her at the elementary school playing with the kids.”?

Mercedes is not one of the dogs the community in Broward rallied around to get the dangerous dog law repealed. Those were not pit bulls. But as a pit bull, she is representative of the vast majority of Broward’s cases of dogs killing other people’s pets since the dog law passed.?

State law prohibits breed-specific dog laws.??

Broward’s generic dog law allowed the county to declare a dog dangerous and euthanize it after one serious attack or kill of a domestic animal. The county put 56 dogs to sleep under the law. Broward’s new law tracks state law closely, requiring two attacks on a domestic pet before a dog is declared dangerous, and then requiring a third attack, or failure to abide by the restrictions of the dangerous dog designation, before euthanasia.??

As for Mercedes though, she will start fresh, with no dangerous dog designation.??

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Boxerwiggles
Boxerwiggles
13 years ago

I am so pleased to see that this girl didn’t get a case of “cage rage” and can be free to love her humans again….. after all it was humans that got her in doggie jail for so dam long. It is unfortunate that the cat had to be the catalyst – however most dogs have a powerful prey drive and that isn’t just a pittie trait.
Happy ending – just what I needed to see today! Happy Valentine’s to you all.

AmandaB
AmandaB
13 years ago

I can’t help but feel sorry for the cat’s owners…They should be the one’s to decide what happens to the dog since it was their pet that was killed.

Marcine
Marcine
13 years ago

Dogs and cats have been fighting since the beginning of time. I do feel sorry for the cat and the cats owners, but I am very happy to see this dog going home. No dog should ever have to be on death row for this long. It is cruelty to animals in itself for the county to allow this to happen. The video made my day. Thanks for posting it.

Amarshall5
Amarshall5
13 years ago

Yeah Mercedes and her humans! I actually had a cat attacked by a dog and the only blame I placed was on myself. If you want your animal to be safe you need to keep it inside. We never let her roam free she only went in the side yard and laid in a chair in the sun while we were out then she went back in. A stray came by and it was too quick to even react plus she was raised with dogs so when one approached she didn’t immediately go hide even though it was a strange animal.

Slugger
Slugger
13 years ago

Mercedes is a very aggressive animal and should have been designated as a “dangerous dog.” Her owners often had difficultly keeping her on their property and Mercedes was known around the neighborhood because of her “roaming ways” and lack of her owner to control her upon command. She has a history. Eventually she was left to roam and killed Slugger the cat in a very brutal way. Also, just so you know, Slugger was on private property sleeping on a front porch and contrary to the report SLUGGER HAD CLAWS! Upon his death he was examined by a vet and he had: broken ribs, punctures throughout his body, and his claws (front and back) were SHREDDED from him putting up a valiant fight. Cause of death was eventual heart failure. On the same day of this incident several other stray cats were found dead near the vicinity of Mercedes’ home. So…now they let Mercedes move to Tampa for a “fresh start”…Tampa, beware!

Lovey
13 years ago

And so stupid owners who already demonstrated once that they can’t control their animal will be allowed to let their pet kill other people’s pets. So how many smaller animals belonging to others are to be killed by this uncontrolled ‘loving dog’?

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