Two missing pit bulls condemned to death by Maine courts still haven’t turned up after three weeks of searching.
“We still don’t know where the dogs are, and we’re still trying to locate them,” Waterville police Chief Joseph Massey said Friday, 24 days after the dogs’ owner took them for a walk from which they never returned. “We’ll continue to work on it.”
The dogs disappeared on Oct. 24, shortly after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court upheld a kill order imposed last year by a district court judge. The dogs’ owner, Danielle Jones, had appealed the order.
After the Supreme Court backed the ruling, Jones picked up the dogs at the Waterville humane society, where they were being held. The staff allowed Jones to take the dogs for a walk, but she returned soon after without the dogs, claiming that they had broken free and were on the loose.
The humane society’s director resigned later that month.
The dogs were ordered to be euthanized in the wake of an Aug. 31, 2016, attack. The dogs escaped their fenced-in yard in Winslow, killing a smaller dog and biting its owner, according to court documents.
Police have cast doubt on Jones’ claim that the dogs got away from her during the walk, saying the dogs likely would have turned up by now if they were running free. Massey said police have looked into several leads, but declined to share details.
Police have tried to interview Jones, but she hasn’t been cooperative and has referred all questions to her attorney, according to Massey.
Asked whether possible charges might be filed, Massey said it was “premature” to say.
“We’ve got to find the dogs, that’s what we’re focusing on,” he added. “I think that will answer a lot of questions we have.”
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.
BDN writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.
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