Campaign on to save pit bull Mickey

Phoenix, Arizona: A pit bull that attacked a 4-year old boy has received thousands of pleas for mercy through a Facebook campaign as there is an impending court hearing on whether the dog must be put to sleep or not.

Kevin was admitted in Maricopa Medical Center. He has a broken eye socket, cheek bone and lower jaw bone.

A municipal court judge will decide on whether Mickey, the pit bull, should be euthanized at a hearing scheduled for March 25. Doctors say that Kevin’s injuries will need more than one reconstructive surgery and the treatment could go on for months. A fund set up for Kevin has now raised more than $6,000.

Since the incident on Feb. 20, Mickey has gotten 40,000 likes on facebook on a page dedicated to save him long with an online petition to spare his life. The campaigners stress that their support for Mickey does not mean they hold the dog’s life greater than the child’s.

"This is not Kevin versus Mickey," said attorney John Schill, who is representing the dog in the court petition. "Having Mickey killed is not going to take away Kevin's pain or injuries. The only thing this is going to do is kill a poor, innocent dog."

Guadalupe Villa, who witnessed the episode, filed the vicious-animal petition to have the dog euthanized.

Schill said he is working pro bono at the request of The Lexus Project, a nonprofit that collects money to legally defend canines in danger of being euthanized. The organization has set up a trust for Mickey that has received more than $5,600, he said.

Schill said the person watching Kevin while his mother was at work should be held responsible.

"But for adults involved, this never would have happened," Schill said. "They're trying to put all the blame on Mickey."

Villa, whose boyfriend's mother was baby-sitting Kevin the day of the attack, said her friend is not to blame. According to her, Kevin picked up a bone lying on the ground near the dog, which was kept on a chain and that was when Mickey suddenly attacked Kevin.

Kevin is recovering at a pediatric hospital in Phoenix but will return to Maricopa Medical Center later this week for more surgery on his eye. A fundraising website has received about $6,000 in donations for the boy. The Maricopa Health Foundation also established a website that has received 50 donations.

The social media support for Mickey doesn't indicate that people care more about a dog than a child, Harold Herzog, a psychology professor at Western Carolina University who studies animal interaction.