On May 24th a Livestock Guardian Dog was rescued after being neglected, abused and near death. Shelly Rovira and a team of animal lovers were concerned about a local ranchers dog. They began monitoring the dogs health and condition in December 2019. They made dozens and dozens of trips to the area to check in on the dogs health. The group also posted publicly about the dogs condition for 5 months, and asked the ranchers to treat the dog. By mid-may the dog could barely walk and if it did not receive medical treatment, the dog would have surely died. Shelly rushed her to the emergency vet that day and nursed her back to health. She has vet records, photos and documentation of the dogs condition.

Now the County Prosecutor is pressing charges against Shelly Rovira and Sarah Later, which is threatening their livelihoods and could put them in jail.

We are calling for Cache County, Mayor of Logan Holly H. Daines, the 1st District Court where the charges were filed and the Cache County Ranchers drop these charges against Shelly Rovira and Sarah Later. The dog was found in awful condition, was nursed back to health and is now in a safe environment. 

Under current Utah Law, livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) are not protected under animal cruelty laws or statutes. Therefore, there was no recourse for Shelly and Sarah to ask local authorities or local animal control to bring in the dog for treatment. The ranchers had abandoned the dog on the mountain when their sheep heard came off for the season. The groups only option was to rescue this dog.

We thank you for supporting this petition.