This photo provided by the Waterville Humane Society shows an Alaskan husky named Dakota, Thursday, March 30, 2017, in Waterville, Maine. Gov. Paul LePage said he pardoned the dog from a death sentence levied at a court hearing last week, after it killed a neighbor's small pug in May 2016 and later broke out of court-ordered confinement to bite the same neighbor's Pekingnese, which survived. (Karen Vance/Waterville Humane Society via AP)
March 30, 2017 - 4:24 PM
AUGUSTA, Maine - A death row dog considered dangerous may be getting a reprieve.
Republican Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday he has pardoned Dakota the Alaskan husky from a death sentence levied at a court hearing last week.
District Attorney Maeghan Maloney says her office is researching LePage's pardoning power.
Dakota killed a neighbour's pug last year and later broke out of court-ordered confinement to bite the neighbour's Pekingese, which survived. Dakota was ordered held at a shelter and has since been adopted.
LePage says the new owner didn't know about the court hearing.
Pet pardons aren't unprecedented. In 1994, Democratic New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman saved a Japanese Akita that faced execution.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017