BAY CITY — An urgent matter of life and death for a precious companion needs your attention.

Sarge, a half-breed pet dog, is on the brink of having his life ended by authorities because he bit a police officer.

Kristine Vanderberg, the dog’s owner, is pleading for her dog not to be killed.

The incident began last month on May 18 when an officer entered Kristine’s property without her consent.

A neighbor had apparently complained to the police about a dispute that had occurred earlier.

The officer approached Kristine’s home and knocked on the door but received no answer. It turns out Kristine had been napping inside at the time.

Rather than calling Kristine or coming back at a better time, the officer took it upon himself to intrude into Kristine’s backyard without permission.

When the officer entered the yard, Sarge became frightened that an intruder had gained access.

Sarge then did what most loyal dogs would naturally do to defend their owners and property — he bit the officer.

The bite was not even remotely life-threatening, was very quick, and was more of a warning bite, many are saying.

The bite occurred on the officer’s leg.

That is when the officer began shooting Sarge with a taser gun, and called it in.

Kristine at no point in time gave the officer permission to enter her fenced-in back yard, but he did anyway, according to reports.

It is important to note that Sarge was fenced-in his own backyard at the time all of this occurred.

Now here’s where things become extremely twisted.

When police found out what happened to the officer, Sarge was taken to Animal Control.

It turns out that this was the second officer Sarge has bitten.

Back in August of 2013, police and paramedics were at Kristine’s property responding to a suicide committed by a tenant who had lived there at the time.

Sarge nipped an officer in the hand, but no further action was taken.

Kristine and the community have noted that Sarge gets along with everybody very well, but he just has a particular kind of aversion to intruders in uniforms.

“People can’t just walk in, especially men.” Kristine said.

“He’s very protective of me.”

“My 1-year-old son and I come over, and he just licks our faces,” said Kristine’s son, Justin, adding “He just doesn’t like people he doesn’t know.”

Now that Sarge is trapped by Animal Control, he is literally on death row, scheduled to be “put down” after biting the officers — both of whom were on Kristine’s property.



The Times published the current situation with Sarge, and since then people have been coming out in droves to support Sarge and demand that he his not put to death.

“It’s amazing how many people are sharing, people I don’t even know,” said Kristine.

There is a petition on www.change.org to save Sarge’s life.

Please sign the petition if you agree that Sarge should not be put to death for biting a police officer on Sarge’s own property.

Sarge’s life is currently in limbo, being held by force at Bay County Animal Control.

Kristine says she visits Sarge every day, and that his liveliness is slowly deteriorating.

“I’ll get him playing out there and then he just flops down and just lays his head down and looks all depressed,” she said. “It’s hard when I have to put him back in the kennel.”

Show your support for Sarge and demand that he is not killed.