TOOELE, Utah — A pet husky in Utah is in trouble after police said the dog killed nearly two dozen animals at a nearby petting zoo and neighboring home.
The 4-year-old husky, Nikita, is currently in a 10-day quarantine at a local animal shelter. A hearing is expected to take place soon to determine what to do with the dog, KSTU reports.
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Nikita's owner, Mackenzie Morton, is now facing 27 misdemeanor charges related to the killings, including charges of attacking animals and one for animal at large, according to WXMI.
Trip Kiss, who runs a petting zoo for children with disabilities, told KSTU that the motion sensors around his house started going off early Monday morning. He said he saw the husky chasing his animals around the yard.
Kiss said that by the time he realized what was happening, the husky had already killed several of his animals, including rabbits, chickens, a turkey and a goose -- which was specially trained.
"The goose was so friendly," Kiss told KSTU. "It would follow us around at renaissance fairs, charities."
Tooele police said the husky also killed over a dozen chickens at a house a couple of doors down.
Mackenzie Morton owns Nikita. She told KSTU that Nikita took off from her boyfriend's house the night before and she couldn't find the dog.
Morton said she didn’t want to wake the neighbors so she left the door cracked open and waited for Nikita to come home.
"I didn't think she was going to go on a killing spree," Morton said. "I did not know that, at all."
Officials said Morton apologized to the animal owners and has offered to pay for the damages, WXMI reports, which total over $1,350.
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