MONTREAL -- Mooshka, a German Shepherd-Border Collie mix, bit two small dogs over a 24-hour span a year ago, and one of them died.
The dog's Owner Ekaterina Khramova, however, says the dog is better trained now and wants her to live after Mooshka was ordered euthanized.
"When I talk to vets and specialists in anxiety for dogs, they say that after a stressful event, the dog stays stressed for over 72 hours after the incident. The second incident was 100 per cent PTSD," said Khramova.
Khramova said since the incidents, the five-year-old dog has undergone training and takes medication for anxiety.
"Since the incident it happened again. A dog that was (not) on leash came towards Mooshka aggressively. I did a 360 we walked the other way and nothing happened," said Khramova.
The City of Montreal's dog bylaw states that any dog declared dangerous must be euthanized within 48 hours.
The city ordered Mooshka to be put down after it bit the two other dogs, but an injunction was granted and Khramova hired lawer Anne-France Goldwater, who said the city had an expert evaluate the dog.
"This expert does not recommend that Mooshka be euthanized," said Goldwater. "Not at all. Nonetheless she considered that Mooshka represents a danger, a certain degree of danger and that strict measures must be taken."
Mooshka now wears a muzzle at all times, and sports a vest to let people know it's not safe to approach her.
Khramova will have another expert evaluate the dog in September, and Goldwater said the city might no longer want to order the dog euthanized.
"In the meantime, they've said they are prepared still to consider alternatives depending on what our expert comes up with and says about the evolution of Mooshka's situation," said Goldwater
Khramova said she cannot imagine losing her pet.
"I adopted Mooshka in a very hard time in my life, and she saved me, and I'm going to do everything I can to save her too," she said.
