Checking In With Owner of Guilford Dog Formerly on 'Death Row'

GUILFORD, CT — The former owner of Simon, a 9-year-old pitbull mix who spent close to two years on death row at the Guilford Police Animal Shelter, is telling Patch his old dog is “safe, alive and well cared for” at his new home in Michigan.

Reached over the weekend, Dr. David Young had this to say about Simon: “Simon is enjoying himself at the Devoted Barn in Michigan. He has not been adopted yet but he does get a lot of attention from a lot of people.”

Young said he hasn’t been out to see Simon since he gave him up.

“Unfortunately I have not gotten out to see him as it’s very hard to find the time. Plus the flights to Detroit are very expensive. While it’s been difficult the most important thing is he is safe, alive and well cared for,” Young reiterated.

Young agreed earlier this year to move Simon to a new "sanctuary home" for unwanted animals in Michigan under a compromise agreement reached with the Town of Guilford.

Young said the decision was "bittersweet" and one that he came to only after a lot of deliberation.

When he agreed to the decision Young said, "He had been locked up for two years and the reality was he wasn't coming home," Young said. Young said the home he and his lawyer found in Michigan "is one where Simon has a farm where he can run around in and just be himself. He's (Simon) happy."

"I had to face the reality that Simon wasn't going to be coming home and do the right thing for him," Young said.

In June, Guilford police issued the following press release: "On June 20, 2019 the Municipal Animal Control Officer of the Town of Guilford released Simon the dog to the Devoted Friends Animal Society, Inc., after ownership of the dog was transferred to this Michigan based organization. The pending appeal with the Department of Agriculture is expected to be withdrawn and the dog will not be returned to the State of Connecticut."

Young had appealed the town's decision to the state that the dog be euthanized after biting a teenager. Simon was locked up at the Guilford Police Animal Shelter, awaiting the outcome of an appeal hearing in front of the state Department of Agriculture.

He was freed for his ride to Michigan.

Young bristled at the town's constant position that the decision on Simon was out of its hands - that it was a state matter. It is Young's contention that the state was a reluctant participant in what should have been a Guilford matter and the state would have willingly dropped out of the case if Guilford had asked it to.

Young and his lawyer had also filed a motion against the state seeking a court hearing on his "First Amendment" rights being violated.

A police report states that Simon bit and chased a 13-year-old neighbor who entered Young's yard with a lacrosse stick to retrieve his ball. The boy needed stitches.

Young says that Simon was just protecting his property. "He was in his own yard - he did nothing wrong," Young claims.

"I might think differently about what happened to Simon if he had a history (of biting). But he was on his own property," Young reiterated.

Young said the first location that was suggested to the town for Simon as a "compromise home" was in upper state Connecticut, not Michigan, but that the town would not agree to any home for Simon that was in the state of Connecticut, Young said.

Guilford officials said the town spent about $40,000 on the well publicized case. Young said he spent between $20,000 and $25,000.

Besides attending selectmen meetings, Simon's supporters also held rallies, protests, fundraisers, press conferences and also paid thousands of dollars for a billboard that sat off Interstate 95 in East Haven saying: "Help Save Simon & Your Beloved Dogs From Guilford Politicians."