DNA may determine case of dragged Rottweiler in Pasco County

A construction worker denies that his dog died when he chained him to his truck bumper and drove away.

By CARY DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

California used a DNA test against O.J. Simpson. A special prosecutor in Washington used DNA to prove then-president Bill Clinton had a sexual encounter with Monica Lewinsky. DNA sent an accused rapist to prison in Texas and freed an inmate from death row in Oklahoma.

And now, in Pasco County, a DNA test has been conducted on a Rottweiler.

The case involves Ivan Paul, a 57-year-old construction worker, and his dog, Dallas.

Pasco prosecutors say Paul killed Dallas by dragging the Rottweiler down a gravel road behind his truck. Their evidence: a quarter-mile trail of fur and blood.

Paul says he's innocent. His evidence is a healthy black Rottweiler he says is Dallas.

DNA offers a path to the truth: A judge has ordered a test to compare blood drawn from Paul's dog with samples collected from the gravel road.

The story began when Dallas bit Paul on Sept. 21, 1999, in the Sea Pines subdivision in Hudson.

Paul says he put Dallas in the bed of his pickup truck, chained the aggressive dog to the rear bumper and started driving the short distance back to his house on Hatteras Drive. Somewhere along the way, Paul told his friends, Dallas managed to escape from the bed of the truck.

Paul said he didn't realize he was dragging Dallas until he got home and saw the dog's bloody paws.

But prosecutors, based on witness accounts, say Paul never put Dallas in the bed of the truck. Rather, they say an angry Paul purposely dragged Dallas down the rural road, inflicting injuries serious enough to kill the dog.

Now that the case is in court, Paul's story has changed. He claims he still has Dallas, and says the dog has completely recovered from the dragging incident.

Paul agreed to produce his dog for inspection by a veterinarian chosen by prosecutors. The veterinarian, according to court documents, concluded that the dog showed no signs of being dragged in the manner described by authorities.

To prosecutors, the veterinarian's findings could only mean one thing: The dog Paul has now is not Dallas. Even if Dallas survived the incident, prosecutors say, the dog would be crippled for life.

Frustrated with Paul's conflicting accounts, Assistant State Attorney Scott Andringa persuaded a judge last September to order a DNA test on the Rottweiler. Late last year, Dr. Robert Hase Jr., a Pasco veterinarian, drew a vial of blood from Paul's dog.

"It's certainly an unusual situation," Hase said.

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