A divided West Virginia Supreme Court has reversed a court decision ordering a pit bull be put down, The Herald-Dispatch's Curtis Johnson reports. Pit bull Tinkerbell bit a boy as he was passing by, and the boy required 14 stiches on his face.
The trial judge found that one bite was sufficient evidence to deem Tinkerbell vicious. But the Supreme Court, 3-2, found that one bite did not meet the state code definition for dogs that display a "habit of biting people." The majority also found that the trial judge "relied upon a breed-specific presumption not found in state code, which would allow a pit bull's death based solely upon the belief its breed is inherently vicious," Johnson reports.
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