Phineas is back.
The dog at the center of a protracted legal battle in the Missouri Ozarks was reunited with his owners on Saturday, two weeks after he was mysteriously stolen and one day after a judge spared his life.
But the meeting was brief, said Joe Simon, the Kirkwood attorney representing the dog’s owners, Pat and Amber Sanders of Salem, Mo. And it was not clear when the family would be bringing the dog home for good.
Phineas disappeared Oct. 11 from a veterinary clinic in Salem leaving police stumped as to how the break-in occurred or who did it. The dog had been held by authorities since June 22, 2012, when the animal was accused of biting a 7-year-old girl. The town’s mayor ordered the dog euthanized. The dog’s owners appealed. A legal battle ensued, culminating in a Dent County judge ruling Friday that he did not believe that Phineas had bitten the girl. The judge ordered the animal released to its owners.
But, at the time, the Sanders family said they did not know who had Phineas. They said they received a letter hinting that the dog had been taken by someone sympathetic to the dog’s plight. Then, after another communication from this mysterious dog-napper, the family set out to reunite with Phineas.
That was to take place at a neutral location at 10 a.m. Saturday, Simon said. He declined to detail the location. But, Simon said, the family was late and the person who took Phineas dropped off the animal and drove away.
The Sanders family never met the person who held Phineas, Simon said. On Saturday night, the dog was staying at the neutral location. The Sanders family was still trying to decide whether to bring Phineas back to Salem.
via www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/phineas-missing-dog-at-center-of-bizarre-missouri-court-case/article_09f84bf7-6621-54e0-857f-faeaca877b97.html
The dog at the center of a protracted legal battle in the Missouri Ozarks was reunited with his owners on Saturday, two weeks after he was mysteriously stolen and one day after a judge spared his life.
But the meeting was brief, said Joe Simon, the Kirkwood attorney representing the dog’s owners, Pat and Amber Sanders of Salem, Mo. And it was not clear when the family would be bringing the dog home for good.
Phineas disappeared Oct. 11 from a veterinary clinic in Salem leaving police stumped as to how the break-in occurred or who did it. The dog had been held by authorities since June 22, 2012, when the animal was accused of biting a 7-year-old girl. The town’s mayor ordered the dog euthanized. The dog’s owners appealed. A legal battle ensued, culminating in a Dent County judge ruling Friday that he did not believe that Phineas had bitten the girl. The judge ordered the animal released to its owners.
But, at the time, the Sanders family said they did not know who had Phineas. They said they received a letter hinting that the dog had been taken by someone sympathetic to the dog’s plight. Then, after another communication from this mysterious dog-napper, the family set out to reunite with Phineas.
That was to take place at a neutral location at 10 a.m. Saturday, Simon said. He declined to detail the location. But, Simon said, the family was late and the person who took Phineas dropped off the animal and drove away.
The Sanders family never met the person who held Phineas, Simon said. On Saturday night, the dog was staying at the neutral location. The Sanders family was still trying to decide whether to bring Phineas back to Salem.
via www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/phineas-missing-dog-at-center-of-bizarre-missouri-court-case/article_09f84bf7-6621-54e0-857f-faeaca877b97.html
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