Dog who bit newspaper carrier was awaiting court-ordered execution. 

Tuesday, July 18, 2000

By LIZ COBBS
NEWS STAFF REPORTER 

Ato, the death-row dog, was broken out of his 3-by-5 cage over the weekend, sparing the 90-pound chow, at least temporarily, from court-ordered execution.

The escape was discovered Monday by officials at the Huron Valley Humane Society, where Ato has been confined by a judge until he is destroyed for biting a newspaper carrier nearly two years ago.

Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies are investigating the escape, which came just days before Ato's owners were scheduled to appear for a contempt of court hearing in the case.

Raymond G. Mullins, attorney for the dog's owners, Hiroshi and Seiko Ikuma of Ann Arbor, said he was notified Monday by the Humane Society about Ato's disappearance.

"The Ikumas did not know about it until I called them," Mullins said. "They're devastated. They did not have anything to do with it."

The Ikumas could not be reached for comment.

Barbara Levine, the Humane Society's interim executive director, said the agency could not comment because of a lawsuit the Ikumas filed last month against the society.

The Ikumas are seeking $1 million in damages for alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming they have been mistreated by Humane Society staff when they visit Ato in his his chain-link cage. The couple have said that they visit the dog daily.

A sheriff's department report on the escape was not available this morning. It is not clear whether someone was guarding the area where the dog stayed before he was stolen from the shelter, at 3100 Cherry Hill Road in Superior Township.

Seiko Ikuma has said that the dog is alone, in a restricted area of the shelter. When she and her husband come to visit, they must wait until a staff member takes them to the area and unlocks the cage.

The Ikumas, owners of 7-year-old Ato, (pronounced Otto) are scheduled to appear in 15th District Court today to tell a judge why he has not yet been put down.

Ato has garnered international attention mainly due to a Web site devoted to the Ikumas' court cases. Last month, a support group was formed to save the dog through petitions and letter-writing campaigns.

The case began when Seiko Ikuma was prosecuted by the Ann Arbor City Attorney's Office after Ato bit 13-year-old Alex Newton, who delivered an Ann Arbor News paper to the Ikumas' house on Aug. 28, 1998.

Seiko Ikuma was acquitted by a 15th District Court jury in December 1998 of harboring a vicious animal. The city filed a petition asking the court to order that the dog be destroyed.

In October, 15th District Judge Julie Creal Goodridge granted the city's request after hearing testimony that Ato had bitten two other people, besides Newton.

The Ikumas appealed Goodridge's decision to Washtenaw County Circuit Court, but lost, so they took the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Goodridge denied the Ikumas' request to keep the dog alive pending an appeals court decision on whether it will take the case.