Not guilty plea entered in Girard vicious dog case

GIRARD

A pretrial hearing has been set in a vicious-dog case involving a pit bull that allegedly injured people and killed another dog.

Courtney Chupka of Girard, one of the pit bull's owners, faces a misdemeanor charge for violating the city's vicious-dog ordinance. Among other stipulations, the ordinance bans keeping a pit bull terrier as a pet.

Chupka did not appear in court today for arraignment, but her attorney entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf.

Her pretrial is set for for 1:30 p.m. March 1.

Girard Police Sgt. John Freeman shot and killed the pit bull, which had been running loose, on Dec. 28. A police report states that the dog's other owner feared the dog would attack others and asked Freeman to euthanize the dog.