Saga of a running dog

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 1998:

MEDFORD, Oregon––The Oregon law
protecting livestock from canine harassment came
under fire as a February 17 execution date approached
for Nadas, a collie/Malamute mix held by Jackson
County since September 1996 for allegedly repeatedly
chasing a neighbor’s horse.
Nadas’ owner, Sean Roach, was convicted
of criminal mischief for appearing at the county shelter
wearing a clown suit, in an apparent attempt to
recover Nadas on Halloween 1996. Roach and Nadas
were represented in subsequent appeals by Lake
Oswego attorney/activists Robert and Gail Babcock,
who took the case––unsuccessfully––to the Oregon
Supreme Court. The Babcocks, allied with Portland
activist Roger Troen, have long opposed Oregon and
Portland/Multnomah County dangerous dog laws.

A Christmas-season mailing by Troen drew
the notice of A n i m a l T a l k online bulletin board host
Dick Weevil. As the story exploded on the Internet,
it was picked up by the tabloid TV program H a r d
Copy. A February 5 broadcast in the New York City
area overwhelmed the Jackson County airport fire
department emergency telephone line with misdirected
protest calls. That night a burglar did $3,500 damage
to the Jackson County shelter, spraying with shattered
glass a long-haired terrier suffering from a broken
leg, said Beth Quinn of the Medford M a i l
T r i b u n e. The burglar did not find Nadas, who had
been moved.
The Jackson County commissioners finally
passed a special ordinance to release Nadas to the
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah,
where he is to remain for life, having no further contact
with Roach. The Babcocks celebrated by
announcing plans to start an initiative petition drive to
forbid killing dogs who allegedly menace livestock,
if alternatives exist.