SHERIDAN, Colo. — One additional dog has tested positive for rabies after being put down, according to Moms and Mutts Colorado Rescue for Pregnant and Nursing Dogs.
Owner Aron Jones said the state ordered 12 puppies from an adopted litter to be put down after one of those puppies tested positive last month.
Those results were returned this week, according to Jones, showing 10 puppies were negative, and one was positive.
“I kind of melted last night, I lost it a little bit,” said Jones. “Because I don’t like that 10 puppies who we don’t know if they had rabies, were killed. And it hurts, it hurts my heart, that they were destroyed because of this.”
Jess Eden and her boyfriend, Keith Bryk, initially fought the order to turn over their dog Musubi, but agreed to turn him over on Saturday after they said Animal Control made repeated visits to their Jefferson County home. The couple said they were threatened with fines and jail time if they didn’t agree to turn over Musubi.
“We negotiated with them at that time, we will take him in, but you need to let us take him in so he can have a peaceful day and a relaxing day before he passes,” Eden said. “All I wanted to do in that moment was just grab him and run with him and find a place to hide.”
She said on Saturday night, they gave him extra treats and took him in to surrender.
“It was really heartbreaking, it was traumatizing,” she said. “Seeing his little tail wagging as he’s being taken away was indescribable.”
According to the state, rabies can take weeks to appear, and the only way to test for it is to test the brain matter of a deceased dog.
Eden said they found out this week that Musubi had tested negative for rabies.
“He was negative, as well as 10 others, so 10 innocent puppies' lives were taken for no reason, probably illegally, because that’s what they decided they wanted to do at that moment,” she said.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Public Health have not returned requests for comment from 9NEWS regarding those test results.