Whitehorse shelter tries to prevent dog's euthanization

Staff at a Whitehorse animal shelter are appealing to city bylaw officers not to euthanize a dog that was rescued from abuse earlier this year.

Whitehorse bylaw officers rescued Trevor in January, after he was discovered with a badly ingrown collar.

Following initial treatment , Trevor was taken to the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, where staff and volunteers cared for what they said was a friendly canine.

Trevor was adopted in May. Shelter staff said the new owner had signed an adoption contract promising to return the dog to the shelter if she could not care for it.

But staff say they believe the new owner gave Trevor to her brother, who in turn surrendered the animal to the pound after it allegedly bit someone.

Trevor is currently slated to be euthanized next week, city officials say.

"He was very well-behaved while we treated him. He has shown no signs of aggression," shelter manager Tracy Smythe told CBC News.

"He was taken out plenty of times by our volunteer dog walkers, [with] no sign of aggression whatsoever."

Officials with Humane Society Yukon, which runs the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter, say they want to know what happened that changed Trevor's behaviour.

"A dog in pain normally, quite frequently, will snap. And we have this dog in pain and never showed a single moment of aggression to anybody dealing with him," society president Gerry Steers said.

"So the question is very large in our mind: what happened to Trevor that put him on death row?"

The shelter has since been trying to get Trevor released back into the shelter's care. But Steers said the city still plans to put the dog down, citing problems with liability.

Shelter staff say they have a course of evaluation and training that would allow Trevor to be adopted by an appropriate caregiver.