After reversing their decision to have a dog deemed vicious last November, the Washington City Council voted unanimously to destroy a dog during their recent meeting.

The family of dog owner Zach Cotterman requested a hearing to appeal the city’s decision to humanely destroy their pit bull Oreo. This comes after another dog bite incident occurred on December 23rd. Cotterman explained to the council that he had dog training scheduled for Oreo in Iowa City for January 11th, and he also stated that the dog is pregnant, though that hadn’t been verified by a veterinarian. Cotterman’s family requested that they be able to take Oreo out of the county to live on a farm. Mayor Jaron Rosien commented that during the last hearing that was held the family had the option to take the dog out of the county, “So there was an opportunity to remove the animal at the offense that was prior to now and unfortunately from my understanding removing the animal only removes the problem to someone else, to another city, to another county, to another jurisdiction, to another home. That is an obstacle that the elected body will face.”

A city employee noted that in the time the dog was impounded since the December 23rd incident the dog had damaged a ceiling light cover. Several council members voiced their difficulty at making this decision but that they are responsible for the health and safety of residents. They also voiced disapproval at the dog being allegedly bred. The council originally ordered on October 13th that the dog be destroyed or removed.