News File Photo An Alpena dog's paws appear in this 2021 News file photo.

ROGERS CITY – Presque Isle County has paid $36,200 for the ongoing care of two dogs that four judges said should be euthanized.

Two-and-a-half years after owners found the American bulldogs, injured and covered in blood, in a barn stall near a mauled horse, the dogs remain at the Cheboygan County Humane Society while attorneys dispute what should become of them.

Presque Isle County pays $40 per day for the dogs’ upkeep as a fight to keep them alive makes its way through Michigan courts.

Judge Maria Barton of the 89th District Court initially ordered the euthanization of both dogs in November 2019, a month after the horse was mauled and subsequently euthanized by its owner because of the severity of its injuries.

The dogs’ owner, Amanda Reed, and attorney Matt Wojda claim circumstantial evidence didn’t prove the dogs attacked the horse.

Even if one dog did attack, the court can’t kill both dogs without knowing they were both responsible for the attack, Wojda told judges in multiple appeals of Barton’s decision.

Judge Aaron Gauthier in the 53rd Circuit Court and two of three Michigan Court of Appeals judges supported Barton’s decision.

In December, Wojda asked permission to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court. That court has not yet agreed to consider the case.

The Supreme Court only agrees to hear about 70 to 85 of the 1,500 to 1,800 requests for permission to appeal that come before it each year, according to the State Court Administrative Office.

If the high court decides to hear the Presque Isle County dogs case, “we’ll fight that, too,” Presque Isle County Ken Radzibon said.

He can’t force the dogs’ euthanization while the legal process is ongoing, Radzibon said.

If the Supreme Court refuses to hear Reed’s appeal, the dogs may remain at the shelter pending still more court litigation.

A federal court promised to order Presque Isle County to hold off on euthanization while it considers a lawsuit by Reed’s ex-husband, who claims the county violated his rights when it took the dogs away from him.

That injunction will take effect if the state Supreme Court turns Reed down, and if attorneys request it, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said last month.

Meanwhile, at the Cheboygan County Humane Society, where the dogs remain warehoused until the case resolves, workers interact with the dogs as much as possible, shelter Executive Director Mary Talaske said.

The more aggressive of the two dogs isn’t safe to be handled, she said.

Workers can take the second dog outside when other animals are not around, but, “I don’t know if I’d trust either one of them if I were running down the street,” Talaske said.

Animals have never been housed at the shelter so long, she said.

“My heart breaks every time I think that it’s another day that they’re locked up,” she said. “I just feel so sorry for the dogs.”

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.