By LIZ COBBS

NEWS STAFF REPORTER
 

Whether a dog that bit a newspaper carrier two years ago is destroyed could be decided by May.

The dog's owners, Hiroshi and Seiko Ikuma, of Ann Arbor, have been fighting to keep Ato (pronounced Otto) alive since a district court judge in October ordered their dog destroyed.

Attorneys were to argue the appeal of the case Friday before Washtenaw County Circuit Judge Timothy P. Connors. However, the Ikumas' attorney, Raymond G. Mullins, asked the judge for a 30-day extension because he was recently hired to represent the couple and needed more time to review.

Attorney Donald N. Perkins, chairman of the Macomb County Attorneys for Animals, initially represented the Ikumas when the appeal was filed in February.

Assistant Ann Arbor City Attorney Marilyn Eisenbraun asked the judge to deny Mullins' request, saying it further extends the time the court has to make a decision.

Connors asserted that he will not retry the case but will make a decision based on the attorneys' briefs and the lower court's record. The judge gave a deadline of May 3 for both attorneys to file briefs and responses. After that, the judge said he would rule.

"Frankly, what we need is a resolution on this case," Connors said.

In October, 15^th District Judge Julie Creal Goodridge ordered the 7-year-old chow destroyed after hearing testimony of Ato biting 13-year-old Alex Newton on Aug. 23, 1998 and at least two other people at separate times.

Alex Newton was substituting for the regular Ann Arbor News carrier that day. Alex said at the hearing he left the newspaper just inside the screen door and the dog was inside the house. After he left, Alex said the dog leaped against the door, pushed it open, came out and started chasing him.

The dog knocked him to the ground and bit him on the forearm, buttocks and the back of his left leg. The teen-ager's father, Roger Newton, testified that he heard his son screaming and grabbed Ato by the neck to get the dog off his son. Seiko Ikuma then got Ato and took him back to the house. Roger Newton took his son to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital for treatment.

Seiko Ikuma was criminally charged by the city after the attack. But a jury acquitted Ikuma in December 1998 of the misdemeanor harboring a vicious animal charge. The city then filed a request with the court to order the dog destroyed. After the attack, Ato was confined to a kennel in Dexter. The chow was later removed to the Huron Valley Humane Society where the Ikumas said they visit daily.

Mullins also said the Ikumas want their dog removed from the tightly confined area at the humane society where Ato is caged. The judge told Mullins to file a motion on that issue.

The Ikumas have been in court on the matter for nearly two years and it doesn't look like their court visits will end anytime soon, now that Alex Newton's parents filed a lawsuit against them.

The suit of Roger and Coco Newton, of Ann Arbor, filed Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court, seeks damages of more than $25,000 and claims the Ikumas were liable for Alex Newton's injuries. The Ikumas have not yet been served with the suit.

The lawsuit also alleges the Ikumas, among other things, failed to keep their dog under control at all times and failed to warn newspaper carriers and others coming on their property of the danger.