Earlier this year, a couple put down their three-year-old dog, Loki, due to “purported aggression”.
This sparked anger among netizens, especially the group Exclusively Mongrels, a dog welfare group from which Loki was adopted.
The people from the group felt that the decision to euthanise Loki unfair as he was reportedly healthy and young.
Exclusively Mongrels started a campaign called #JusticeForLoki to help raise attention and funds to advance welfare and legislations to prevent such cases from occurring again.
Apart from the campaign, the group had also taken legal action against the couple and were seeking compensatory damages from their actions and its consequences.
But now, the case is finally closed.
Both Parties Settled
In May, Exclusively Mongrels sued Loki’s owner, Christian Parker Mygind for euthanising Loki as they felt that he had breached an agreement with the group.
Which was that if the owners were unable to take care of Loki, he would be returned to them.
It was also stated that the couple promised to take “full responsibility to commit to my dog Loki for the rest of its life” and to not free themselves of the responsibility through abandonment or euthanasia.
In a Facebook update on Thursday (5 November), Exclusively Mongrels stated that both parties have settled and that the lawsuit has been discontinued.
It has also stated that Mygind has agreed to donate $1,000 to the group’s appointed charity, Noah’s Arks CARES Singapore, which undertakes sterilisation projects of stray cats and dogs and rehomes adoptable strays.
In a separate Facebook post, Mygind gave his own statement.
He said that he had “loved Loki deeply and the decision to euthanise him was extremely difficult and a last resort after trying all avenues that seemed viable to me at the time.”
He added that he could have done more and that it was not his intension to cause harm to Exclusively Mongrels.
“I recognise that Exclusively Mongrels Limited should have been given the opportunity to rehabilitate and rehome Loki should my family and I no longer be able to have him in our home.”
Other Options at That Time
It should be noted that Mygind did sought other options out before putting Loki down.
The Animal and Veterinary Services (AVS) had reached the verdict that the owners did not fail in their duty of care or commit animal cruelty, while the veterinarians involved did not breach the Code of Ethics.
It was found that Loki suffered from panic attacks with no identified triggers.
AVS found 12 instances between 2018 and 2020 when Loki had bitten or attacked other dogs, the owners, as well as their friends and family.
The owners regularly took Loki to the vet and committed him to training in November 2019. The trainer diagnosed Loki with medium to high levels of anxiety and reactivity.
After the training sessions were concluded in February this year did the owners consider euthanasia.
The trainer convinced them to try other options, including behaviour modification, mood-altering medication and rehoming.
The owners were also open to rehabilitating Loki while it was taking behavioural modification drugs by Mount Pleasant vets.
However, the process would take at least six months.
The only option left was to rehome Loki but only an animal shelter in Malaysia was able to take him in and because of COVID-19, it wasn’t a viable option.
In early April, the couple had a newborn. An attack on the husband later that month, where Loki inflicted a bite on the lip that required stitches, heightened the couple’s concern over their child’s safety.
Mygind has since returned to Denmark but during the entire Loki saga, he and his family received numerous negative comments and messages, which included death threats and profanities aimed at his wife.
RIP Loki, let’s hope that cases like these won’t happen again in the future.
We’re counting on you, MP Louis Ng to make things better.
Reader Bao: Wait, didn’t people vote for MPs to make life better for huma-
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