Forrest the dog to get new life in St. Louis

By Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 27, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.
Updated August 27, 2008 at 8:08 p.m.

Text size

More Local News

It appears that a better fate awaits Forrest, the mixed-breed dog whose capture and ordered execution raised outcries locally and across the country.

A compromise was reached Tuesday between Denver's Municipal Animal Control and Forrest's owner, Chris McGahey. The dog, it was decided, will live.

After being picked up twice on the streets of Denver and declared similar in appearance to the banned pit bull breed, Forrest was condemned to join the more than 1,600 dogs euthanized in the past three years under the so-called pit bull ordinance, on the city books since 1989.

Doug Kelley, director of Denver Animal Care and Control, said Wednesday that he was "ecstatic" at the tentative agreement. The plan calls for Forrest to be transferred to the Utah-based Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Under the arrangement, McGahey permanently would relinquish his ownership. Best Friends would transport the dog to another shelter, the St. Louis- based Stray Rescue, where Forrest would be put up for adoption.

Kelley said the arrangement was "pretty much a done deal." Neither McGahey nor his lawyer, Karen Breslin, could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Despite a wave of protests from animal rights groups, Kelley stressed that Forrest would not be returned to his owner. He noted that two other dogs owned by McGahey and his Denver girlfriend had escaped on Friday and were captured by animal control.

The law is clear, Kelley said.

"But we're not here to judge, and we're certainly not here simply to euthanize dogs. Our job is to protect the public safety," he said.

"We understand that Mr. McGahey is not abusive and that Forrest has posed no danger. But the dog got out twice, and that's a violation of the ordinance."

Enacted in 1989 — but unenforced in 2004 and 2005 when jurisdictional issues were being resolved — the ordinance bans, within Denver, various pit bull breeds or dogs bearing their characteristics. Three constitutional challenges spanning 1990-2008 failed to overturn the law.

Kelley said that the total number of euthanizations dropped significantly in 2007 when 355 dogs were picked up — a 50 percent decrease from previous years.

"And there have been no deaths or maulings (by pit bulls) since the ordinance went into effect," he said.

Plans remain to have Forrest handed over to the Best Friends Sanctuary on Friday for the trip to St. Louis. Kelley and Breslin expect that McGahey will be present to bid farewell to the dog he has referred to as "my son."

Subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News