No criminal charges will be filed after a 7-year-old boy was fatally attacked by a pit bull terrier mix that a rescue group placed inside a Gunnison home, days after an animal shelter planned to euthanize the dog over its aggressive behavior, Gunnison authorities said.
A spokesperson for the Gunnison police, who released its investigative report Tuesday into Leelan Lokie’s death and the dog that killed him, said the case is “noncriminal” and the department is not sending its report to the district attorney’s office.
The boy died Feb. 4 after an 89-pound dog named Boaz attacked him in his home while he was next to his mother, Kirsten “Kirky” Swift, police said. The dog was being fostered through the Montrose Bully Breed Club, a nonprofit group that advocates for pit bull breed-type dogs.
It is unclear what specific details about the dog’s history were shared with Swift prior to the dog being placed in her home. A family spokesperson did not immediately return The Sun’s request for comment.
In an interview with police, the vice president of the club told police Boaz, a 3 ½-year-old dog, was showing “assertive dog reactivity” and was aggressive toward dogs and cats, but there were “no attacks,” according to the report.
She told police that if Boaz had any known aggressive behavior toward humans, the club would not have taken Boaz back for future adoption and he would have been euthanized.
Public posts, made on the club’s Facebook page, show requests for help with the dog’s training and rehabilitation after it lashed out at another dog, but did not cause injury. A post made on the web page for Montrose Animal Shelter, where Boaz was being held prior to being placed in a foster home, said Boaz “may exhibit some resource guarding behavior” and that it was best to feed him separately from other dogs.
About a month before the fatal Feb. 4 attack, the dog was transferred out of the shelter. The club facilitated the foster placement for Boaz and placed him in a home with Swift, her two boys, ages 11 and 7, and a French bulldog.
Records from the Montrose Animal Shelter, obtained by The Sun through a records request, show a volunteer who was walking the dog fractured her wrist after Boaz lunged at another dog and her wrist got stuck in the kennel.
Stark warnings circulated among shelter staff about the dog’s behavior, with one technician referring to Boaz as “a monster,” wanting to attack every dog who passed him in the kennel.
The shelter was going to euthanize Boaz over concerns about his behavior, according to the police report, but contacted the Montrose Bully Breed Club, the rescue that originally adopted Boaz out to the family that surrendered him.
When Boaz was 1 year old, a Montrose family adopted him through the club. The dog was in an Adams County shelter at the time. The family gave him up to the Montrose Animal Shelter last December, but the report did not list reasons why.
While in the shelter, Boaz became aggressive toward other animals and “was having a difficult time in the kennel facility,” employees at the shelter told police. But they said they were not aware of Boaz showing aggressive behavior toward people.
A veterinarian at West Elk Veterinary, in Montrose, also told police she wasn’t aware of Boaz behaving aggressively toward people, but knew of an incident in which Boaz had been aggressive toward a neighbor’s dog. A different veterinarian at the clinic had prescribed anxiety medication for the dog, the police report said.
Days after the fatal attack, the Montrose Bully Breed Club announced on its website that it had relinquished its state license and would no longer offer assistance with fostering or adopting.
Colorado’s licensing and inspection program is investigating the rescue, according to a state spokesperson.