Animal rights activists save dog in Sweden from death

A petition by animal rights activists against the Swedish authorities' decision to put a dog to sleep after it bit a child succeeded, and the dog was returned to its owner who resides in Turkey.

Kaos, the pit bull owned by Linn Özcan who lives in the southern Turkish city of Antalya, was implicated for biting a child's leg when it was in Sweden's Karlstad with its owner. The police impounded the dog and after a psychological examination, the authorities decided to put it to sleep due to its aggressive behavior. Özcan started an online petition and called on the public to protest the decision, claiming the canine was not aggressive as it was claimed and only exhibited aggressive behavior because it was confined in an animal pound for a week before the examination. Her call quickly found support in Turkey. The leading nongovernmental organization Federation for Animal Rights staged a protest outside the Swedish consulate in Istanbul while thousands sent e-mails to Swedish authorities, calling for the cancellation of the decision to put the dog to sleep. In Sweden, activists also convinced the family of the child bitten by the dog to withdraw their complaint. After days of campaigning, Swedish officials announced the dog will not be killed and it was returned to Özcan two days ago.