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Dog chased away by 'hero cat' has been euthanized

The dog that was captured on now-viral video attacking a 4-year-old boy before being fought off by a heroic cat was euthanized over the weekend. Scrappy, an 8-month-old Labrador-chow mix, was euthanized by the Animal Care Center in Bakersfield, Calif., on Saturday. The dog's owner voluntarily surrendered the animal for euthanasia on the day of the incident with the young boy, Bakersfield Animal C
Dog chased away by 'hero cat'
Dog chased away by 'hero cat'YouTube

The dog that was captured on now-viral video attacking a 4-year-old boy before being fought off by a heroic cat was euthanized over the weekend. 

Scrappy, an 8-month-old Labrador-chow mix, was euthanized by the Animal Care Center in Bakersfield, Calif., on Saturday. The dog's owner voluntarily surrendered the animal for euthanasia on the day of the incident with the young boy, Bakersfield Animal Care Center executive director Julie Johnson told TODAY.com. 

The YouTube video of Tara the cat fighting off Scrappy after he attacked 4-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo in the family's driveway has been viewed more than 21 million times. Tara was even invited to throw out the first pitch at a minor-league baseball game with the help of the boy's father. Jeremy ended up with 10 stitches for lacerations on his left calf from the initial bite before the cat fought the dog off. 

“It’s honestly just a blur,” the boy's mom Erica Triantafilo told TODAY.com on May 15, describing the attack she witnessed. “I just remember hearing him and the next thing I know, I see my cat flying out of nowhere, onto this dog, and just remember trying to get my son and get the dog away and back in its yard, away from both of us that it was trying to attack.”

The dog was held in quarantine for 10 days, during which time animal activists and others petitioned to have the animal spared from euthanasia. The owner, whose name has not been released, requested that the dog be put down. 

"We have gotten threats and nasty emails from those thinking it was our decision to put the dog down,'' Johnson said. "That was never the case. We've got 300 dogs we're trying to find homes for who would never bite a soul. In this case, the owner specifically signed over the dog. We went by the owner's wishes." 

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