SALEM, Mo. (AP) - A dog at the center of a Missouri court dispute is missing from a veterinarian's office where he was being kept.
Phineas, a yellow Labrador retriever, was reported missing Saturday from the Dent County Vet Clinic in Salem, where he was being kept while his case goes through the courts. A Missouri Court of Appeals hearing is scheduled Thursday.
Salem officials say Phineas bit a 7-year-old Salem girl last year. Mayor Gary Brown ruled the dog should be destroyed but his owners, Patrick and Amber Sanders, went to court to keep their dog alive. They say Phineas didn't bite the girl.
An employee of the vet's clinic noticed the dog was missing when she arrived at work Saturday. She said Phineas was there when the clinic closed Friday evening.