Meet Nikita, a 4-year-old husky. Even her owner didn’t dispute that the dog killed 27 animals in Tooele, Utah.
“I didn’t think she was going to go on a killing spree,” owner Mackenzie Morton told Fox 13 Now. “I did not know that at all. Honestly, I was so much in shock because that’s not her. She doesn’t do that kind of stuff. That’s not fair and I’m so sorry.”
Cops are holding her accountable. They said Nikita slaughtered the over two-dozen animals in two residences on Memorial Day weekend.
One homeowner, Trip Kiss and his wife, run a petting zoo for children with disabilities. You see where this is going. He told the outlet that surveillance footage picked up the husky attacking the animals. The 12 dead included rabbits, ducks, chickens, a turkey, and a goose, Kiss said. He claimed to have found the dog with a still-living chicken in her mouth.
Tooele Police Sgt. Jeremy Hansen told the outlet that according to a neighboring woman, the same dog killed 15 of her chickens.
Nikita remains at an animal shelter for a 10-day quarantine. Morton said she hadn’t known where the dog escaped to because “it was dark at night.” Upon searching for Nikita, she found several dead chickens in a neighbor’s yard, but couldn’t find her own pet. She didn’t want to wake up the neighbors, and left her door slightly open in case her dog returned.
Morton told the outlet she planned on paying for the damage (police estimated that at over $1,350).
She was cited for 27 counts of misdemeanor attacking animals, and one count of misdemeanor animal running at large, Hasen said. That might change. The city attorney is reviewing the case, he said.
Meanwhile, Nikita’s fate will be decided at an administrative hearing, involving the police chief, assistant chief, and lieutenant. They have the option to decide that the dog has the potential to be a dangerous animal. In that case, she would be returned to Morton under specific conditions, Hasen said. Nikita would have to perpetually remain leashed, on her property, and be registered with the city as a potentially dangerous animal.
For Kiss, however, the problem isn’t the dog. It’s Morton.
“I feel anger,” he said. “I feel anger toward the owner because she could have prevented this.”
[Image via YouTube screengrab]