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Jacksonville pit bull rescue worker trying to save sexually abused dog from being euthanized

Princess was sexually abused by a man and is now hostile towards men and children, which is what may lead to her death. Workers say it doesn't need to be this way.

A woman who worked for Pit Sisters, a pit bull rescue group, walked off the job Wednesday because of a dog named Princess. The owner of the organization said the dog needs to be euthanized.

“She loves treats, she loves peanut butter,” Logan Shannahan said. "She’s a sweet girl.”

Behind Princess’s cute face is a devastating past.

“Princess came from [a] situation where she was sexually abused,” Jen Deane, owner of Pit Sisters said. “The man also sexually abused a child in the house.”

With that violent past, Princess tends to become hostile around men and children, which is what may lead to her death.

“The way Princess would react when she saw a child, most dogs step back when they’re scared,” Deane said. “She moves forward, and I’m convinced if she could make contact she would.”

Deane is planning on moving her rescue out to Callahan in a residential area. In that new setting, she says she’s worried Princess may become a liability, and someone could get hurt.

“If I let her come out to my property and something happened, it would set every dog we’ve tried to save back,” Deane said.

Deane said the organization raised $4,000 for a special house for Princess, but she’s now changed her mind and said that princess will not be coming.

“Princess’s house is painted pink and it has princesses and beads on it,” Shannahan said. “It’s really cute.”

Shannahan said she was planning on moving onto that new property, until she heard Princess was no longer a part of that plan. That's when she quit.

“She deserves better than this,” Shannahan said. “She deserves that second chance she was promised at the end of the day.”

Shannahan says even if Princess can’t make the move to Callahan, they should be seeking a sanctuary that will take her instead of destroying her.

Deane says she has reached out to sanctuaries, and they are all full. Shannahan is convinced this process should have been started earlier.

“I wouldn’t have been nearly as upset as I was this morning if that had been worked towards,” Shannahan said. “If we knew everything had been tried or the actual effort that was promised this dog was put forward.”

As the owner of the organization and the dog, legally Deane is the one who can determine if the dog should be euthanized, but a veterinarian could always say no.

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