PRINCESS ANNE, Md. -- Sarge, a five year old Shar Pei, has been in the custody of Somerset County Dog Control for nearly two months now. The dog was seized after getting into a fight with a neighbors dog while he[Sarge] was chained up in his own backyard.
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UPDATE: Sarge will not be heading back home, at least for now. On Monday, June 24th, a Somerset County District Court Judge ruled in favor of Somerset Dog Control.
Sarge's owner, Amber Bailey, asked the courts to allow her to take her dog back, but for the foreseeable future Sarge will remain at Dog Control headquarters, where he's been for the past two months.
"I mean it's disappointing but the fight continues, it's not over," said Bailey.
During Mondays trial, attorney's for Somerset Dog Control brought up an incident that occurred in October of 2022, where Sarge ran off his property and got into a fight with another dog.
That incident, similar to the one that happened earlier this year, ended with the other dog being put down. At that point in 2022, Somerset Dog Control deemed Sarge "potentially dangerous".
Bailey's lawyer however argued that a court never ruled Sarge as "potentially dangerous", so it shouldn't be relevant to this years incident, where Sarge was on his own property.
In the end, the judge declined Bailey's request to take Sarge back home.
Attorney's on both sides declined to comment today, but Bailey told us another hearing is expected to be scheduled in the coming months. It could determine a final outcome for Sarge.
The judge also kept an injunction in place to make sure Sarge isn't euthanized before the next hearing.
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The incident took place on April 24th. Dog control came and took Sarge away the next day.
"They didn't ask any questions they just said 'can we come in' and we let them in and they said 'well we're here about the incident that happened yesterday and we're here to seize your dog'," said Amber Bailey, Sarge's owner.
When the fight began, Bailey said she and other people at her home tried to intervene.
"We were trying to get the other dog, he ran up to Sarge twice before we were able to get there and on the second time, Sarge had bit the dog," said Bailey.
The other dog, due to its injuries had to be put down. Bailey told us if it wasn't for an appeal, Sarge could have faced the same fate.
"We had an emergency hearing and the judge declared, she said 'look, he was on his own property, you're not going to euthanize this dog'," said Bailey.
That appeal took place shortly after the fight. At the appeal, the owner of the other dog advocated for Sarge, saying it was an accident. But since then, Bailey said the county has not sent her a single photo or video of Sarge. She told us she also has not been able to go and see him.
"They[Somerset Dog Control] would hang-up every time we called, I'd say 'hey I'm not here to talk about the case I just want to know how my dog is doing'," said Bailey. "They told me 'I cannot speak to you or I'm not going to speak to you, call my lawyer', so I called the lawyer and he said the same thing."
We did reach out to Somerset Dog Control today and they pointed us in the same direction. Their lawyer, Kirk Simpkins, did not agree to let WBOC go onto the property and see Sarge, but did assure us he is at the pound and is being taken care of ahead of Monday's hearing.
As Monday slowly creeps up, Bailey said she just wants her friend back.
"He is a loving dog, he has cat sisters that he looks out for, he's the most sweetest boy," said Bailey.
Bailey did acknowledge to WBOC that Sarge had a previous encounter with another dog off-property. That incident, which involved Sarge escaping during a medical emergency, has been settled, according to Bailey.
The hearing is scheduled for Monday, June 24th at 1:00 p.m. at the Somerset County District Court. It will determine whether or not Sarge goes back home.
Editor's Note: The original version of this article has been edited to reflect the dog's owner's acknowledgement of a previous incident.
