PORT HURON

Dogs involved in fatal mauling euthanized

Beth LeBlanc
Times Herald

Two dogs and one puppy have been euthanized after a fatal dog mauling in Port Huron.

Police place crime scene tape along an alley of 10th Street in Port Huron after a woman was attacked by a pit bull.

Port Huron Police Capt. Jeff Baker said the pit bull and Husky involved in the fatal attack on 22-year-old Rebecca Hardy were euthanized Friday.

Baker said animals involved in injury complaints that show a propensity for viciousness typically are considered for euthanizing.

“That’s a dog that’s not just protecting its domain,” Baker said, of the dogs that mauled Hardy on Thursday.

Hardy died at Beaumont Hospital shortly after she was found with extensive injuries to her face and neck in the fenced-in back yard of 1721 10th St.

Investigators believe Hardy climbed the fence and entered the back yard where the dogs were being kept.

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Police have said a pit bull attacked Hardy. A witness attempted to help her. When he was unable to help, he entered the home and enlisted the help of the dog owner.

A second dog also attacked Hardy. The dog owner eventually was able to free Hardy and provide aid until the arrival of emergency personnel.

Hardy was taken to Lake Huron Medical Center, then flown to Beaumont Hospital where she died.

Baker said officials have found no history of prior animal complaints related specifically to 1721 10th St. or the two dogs.

St. Clair County Sheriff Tim Donnellon said the owner of the two dogs and four pit bull-husky mix puppies gave consent for the dogs to be euthanized. Donnellon said the dogs were considered the owner's property at that point and the St. Clair County Animal Control was hired to euthanize them.

Donnellon said the two adult dogs and one puppy were euthanized before the owner submitted a letter rescinding the consent Friday afternoon through lawyer Jayne Labuda-Szymanski.

“At that point, we stopped and returned the three puppies to the lawyer,” Donnellon said.

“Regardless of the letter, the adult dogs would not have been returned to him. We would have sought a court order to move forward.”

Labuda-Szymanski, founder of Michigan Animal Crew rescue, said the three puppies are with a foster family through the rescue, which is based out of St. Clair and Macomb counties.

"They're only three weeks old so I have somebody hand-feeding them," Labuda-Szymanski said.

Baker said police still are investigating Hardy's death and are unsure why Hardy entered the yard.

Hardy’s fiancé speculated she cut across the yard to get from the alleyway behind the home to 10th Street.

“We have no idea why she went in there,” Baker said. “It makes no sense why someone would climb in there."

Baker said he expected police would meet with prosecutors in the next couple of days to determine which charges, if any, would be filed.

Correction: The breed of the second dog involved in the attack has been changed in this article. Family clarified that the second dog was a Husky, and not a pit bull-Husky mix as originally reported.

Contact Beth LeBlanc at (810) 989-6259 or eleblanc@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @THBethLeBlanc.