Offers come in to adopt dog that killed Calgary couple’s newborn baby

About a dozen offers to adopt a husky that killed a newborn baby in suburban Calgary earlier this month have come in from dog lovers across Canada.

"I've had probably 10 to 15 different phone calls or e-mails," Darryl Poburan, manager of municipal enforcement for the City of Airdrie, told the Calgary Herald.

"To get phone calls from people from Ontario and Winnipeg and other parts of the country — this story obviously went national. It's interesting to hear from all the concerned people who would like to take the dog instead of having it euthanized."

"Euthanizing this dog will not bring that little baby back," said Ron Pawlowski of Bradford, Ont., a business professor who wants to have the dog moved to his farm, according to The Canadian Press.

"I know that the whole country shares in this poor family's grief. If this dog proves to be no further a threat, I hope that the dog can be given a new home."

Poburan said no decision has been made on the fate of the female husky that belongs to Rob and Rhonda Fradette of Airdrie, a suburb just north o Calgary.

The family dog bit their baby on Feb. 15 once in the head and it died later in hospital.

A family friend said the two-day-old baby boy was crying in his crib and speculated the dog, which has had several litters, may have been trying to comfort the child.

The dog remains under quarantine and is being assessed by an animal-behaviour expert, The Canadian Press reported. If the Fradettes opt not to have it put down, the dog's fate may be decided by a provincial court judge hearing the case March 15.

The family said in a statement last week they were mourning the loss of the baby and had not discussed what to do about the dog, adding she had obedience training and had not been aggressive before.

Poburan said no adoption requests would be considered until the Fradettes or the judge rule on the dog's fate.

Pawlowski told The Canadian Press he and his wife adopted a three-legged Labrador retriever named Beemer a decade ago to keep it from being destroyed after its owner abandoned it.

"We gave Beemer a second chance and, if the judge feels that it is appropriate, we can give this dog a second chance too," Pawlowski said.

Christy Thompson of the Calgary Humane Society told the Herald it's not unusual for people to take an interest in a shelter animal spotlighted in the media.

"Where an animal has been highlighted in any way, positively or negatively, there's a pretty high response from the public," she said.

"First of all, to find out what's happening with the animal, but we also get a lot of inquiries about wanting to adopt."