A Special Magistrate has ruled in favor of the City of Callaway in the case of the bulldog mix that mauled a two-year-old girl last month. The city had deemed the dog, named Dodge, "vicious " and by law, the city would have to euthanize the animal.

Dodge's owners appealed the "vicious" label in front of Special Magistrate Michael Farley on Monday. They said the dog could be rehabilitated by going to an obedience school, and they would muzzle him in public. The owners argued that Dodge should be deemed "dangerous," a lesser label that would spare his life.

They also claimed that, on the day of the attack last month, Dodge was agitated by a neighborhood dog. Dodge mauled two-year-old Valencia Newton's head and neck, inflicting life-threatening injuries. She had to be flown to Shands hospital in Gainesville, and Bay County officials say she still has not fully recovered.

Magistrate Farley maintains the attack justifies the "vicious" label. County officials say they are bound by the law, but the dog's owners say the case is not over.

Jim Crosby, from Bay County Animal Control, says, "Under the law, with the severity of this bite, we really don't have a choice."

But Rebecca Mobbs, co-owner of the dog, says, "Everybody has their own decision. This man is not a judge, he's a hearing officer... his day-to-day job is not to make decisions in this case. Therefore, it should go in front of a judge."

Mobbs and the other owner have ten days to appeal the case to the local circuit courts. If not, Bay County Animal Control will destroy the dog.