UPDATE
I keep this page on the wall simply because it is another example of our local government NOT working for the good of the average citizen but pandering to those with money and power.

Actually Ato got a reprieve.
Not because of the good heart of those who are driven to see him dead.
But because someone came in the dead of night and cut open a section of fence and whisked him to safety.

And much to the chagrin of prosecuting attorney Robert West "the prize" got away.

Here is the story.

On Sunday, August 23, 1998 around 7:30 am Ato's mistress Seiko Ikuma heard a commotion at the front of her house.
When Seiko got to the front yard she observed her dog Ato sitting next to a man (Roger Newton) and his son, Ato was looking up at the sky. All were about 12 to 15 feet from the front door. The man was shouting “Your dog bit my son!” as she said “Oh, no. I’m sorry” and walked Ato inside the house she wondered how Ato escaped through the storm door which was latched and is made of double glasses that are surrounded by an aluminum frame.

Just as the man was about to leave to take his son to the hospital he jumped out of the car and shouted to Seiko “Where is the dog?
I’m going to kill him.”
And he has set about doing just that.

To make a long story short as this case is now over a year and a half old.

At the hospital Seiko was shown the wound by the boys father.
It was a puncture bite on the boys left buttocks.
What was originally listed as a superficial wound at the hospital turned into the worst wound he ever had seen and life threatening when the attending doctor (who just happened to be the Newton's neighbor) got on the witness stand.
The "neighborhood friend loyalty" some how does not match the reality of another consulting physician's report. This doctor (James Holmes M.D.) was brought onto the case by Dr. Mitchener to give a second opinion .

Newton collected a whopping $51,000 plus another $4,850 for god knows what plus undisclosed attorney's fees.
A tidy sum for a superficial bite on the rear.

Newton was not totally happy being so handsomely compensated by AAA Insurance Company. He continued his "lets kill Ato campaign".
He had fliers printed up that spiced up the account in order to gain support for his cause.
These were distributed throughout the neighborhood .
Newton said he stopped the attack by choking Ato and throwing him to the ground.
Newton also suggests there was a bloody mess at the scene.

Well folks lets apply a little bit of logic here.
I have a female Doberman that weighs in at 87 lbs. I have watched my husband train her. I can assure you if she attacked someone she would rip off a leg, arm or worse yet, grab them by the throat and hold them down until instructed to let go.
An untrained vicious dog would just kill.

If this dog viciously attacked this child and his father choked him and threw him away Ato would have come up fighting and the scene would truly have been a bloody mess only the blood would have been that of the senior.
And Roger Newton would have looked like a hamburger ready for the grill.
You consider an animal that weight could easily take down prey 2 times its own weight.
Are we expected to believe this dog who was sitting docilely looking into the air next to Newton and his son was a vicious attacker that had just been choked and thrown to the ground seconds before?

In my investigation of this case I do not recall that any report showed Roger Newton had a scratch.

Does anyone else think Roger Newton's account of this situation , is an exaggeration at best?

I will leave it to you to figure out the "at worst".

Now lets address the true facts of the case.

The dog according to Alex (the paper boy) was asleep inside the house. (map of house)
He thought Ato was a guard dog.
He opened the door to put the paper inside.
The paper was 5 feet inside the door in a neat pile and that paper weighed about 3 lbs or more.
Police Reports

Again if we apply logic....was the door just cracked open to slip the paper inside?
Or did the boy walk inside the house and drop the paper onto the floor?
If the paper was thrown 5 feet would it be in a neat stack?
Whatever happened Alex failed to latch the door behind himself and Ato escaped biting him on the rear.

This dog did what he was suppose to do.

Protect his domain!
This is part of the reason we have dogs in our home.

As a victim of an armed robbery in my home it is certainly why I have a Doberman.
I expect her to protect me.
Wouldn't you hope your dog would protect you from an intruder?
It is unfortunate this trespassing intruder was a paper boy.
But he was a trespassing intruder none the less.

Animals are not cognizant of mans law.
To Ato a stranger in his home is an intruder.
The Ikuma's being elderly and victims of previous burglaries HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTECT THEIR PROPERTY!.
The fact that this more than foolish boy decided to ignore what he thought to be "a guard dog" and open a secure storm door was no matter how you cut it "an INTRUDER!"

Who is responsible for this child s behavior?
Apparently these parents did not teach their child not to walk into the house of strangers.
If they did he ignored them as he did instructions from the paper itself.
They have further taught their child that his misbehavior gets rewarded with a giant settlement from an insurance company.
And further the city of Ann Arbor is condoning this "rape of the insurance system" by further insisting Ato die.

Shouldn't every citizen of Ann Arbor wonder why?

Floor plan of entry and Doctors report of bite
Reports by Linker Learning Center for Dogs and Dexter Center
Police reports and statements