For premium support please call:
For premium support please call:
EDGEWOOD, N.M. (KRQE) – When your dog bites another dog in the town of Edgewood, you may have to say goodbye to your dog. In a recent case, one owner told KRQE Investigates the judge took that to a bizarre level. The sentencing offer he extended the owner has her raising questions about the operation of municipal courts across New Mexico.
Maryah Cross is still reeling from an emotionally taxing year of court hearings fighting for her dog’s life. “I can’t imagine having to go through that and be okay living in this town after that. Like, if that’s acceptable,” Cross shared.
She and her two teenage children had just moved to Edgewood. “We came here to be closer to family and kind of figure out how to be stationary for a while,” Cross explained. They also brought with them their four dogs, including Gir, a lab bulldog mix. “He is content running the property line and making sure that that property is secure for us, and just laying in bed and getting belly rubs for the rest of his life,” she said.
But in October 2023, Gir got into the front yard of their family’s home for the first time. It’s the part, Cross said, that doesn’t have a closed fence. She explained her neighbor walked by with her dog, which she did on a regular basis and Gir “did not approve of the dog being in his space and kind of chased it out, you know, into the road. And there was just, you know, dogs doing dog stuff.” Gir bit the neighbor’s dog.
“You pay the vet bill, you move on with your day,” Cross said. “You know, like he didn’t kill a dog. He didn’t even try to kill a dog. He just tried to chase a dog out of his personal space.” But Edgewood Animal Control issued cross-criminal charges. One of those was dangerous animals, which came with the consequence of euthanizing Gir. “If you’re going to kill my dog, like, no, let’s, let’s, let’s talk about this, you know, let’s go to trial.”
Read Criminal Summons ➤
After a brief trial inside Edgewood’s Municipal Court, the court that handles the town’s lowest-level offenses, Judge William White found Cross guilty. He ordered Gir to be put down.
“I hate the idea of an animal being put down, a healthy animal,” he explained. But Judge White told KRQE he is bound by Edgewood ordinances. Those state a “dangerous animal” is one that “without provocation attacks a person or other domesticated animal that is lawfully in the presence of the attacking animal and is acting peaceably, when the attack results in serious injury.”
Read Edgewood’s Ordinances ➤
“They were just walking along the street when Gir came out and attacked the dog. And then serious injury was inflicted,” Hon. White explained. “And that was the fact that there were multiple bites.”
Cross took issue with the Judge’s definition of a “serious injury.” She shared, “And for a first incident, I mean, there’s got to be steps towards that, you know, give the dog a chance.”
Saying he could not legally allow a second chance, but feeling for Gir and hoping his owner would learn a lesson, Judge White suggested Cross watch her dog be put down. He stated in his ruling that he’d “suspend,” or waive, the $500 fee associated with the guilty verdict, “if you attend the euthanasia of Gir and a vet can attest to that.”
“He’s a monster. How could you ask someone to do that? How could you ask someone to watch their family member die?” Cross questioned.
“Is it cruel to the woman to have to watch this? Yeah, probably a little bit. But it’s – I don’t do it because it’s cruel. I do it because it’s innovative. And I hope it accomplishes something, which is to drive home a sense of responsibility that you ought to have as a pet owner.” Hon. White said punishment is part of any sentencing. “And I think anybody that is an irresponsible dog owner, and their irresponsibility leads to a dog being euthanized. I think, by God, they ought to be there to watch it being euthanized and understand what they’ve done, what their incapacity has caused,” he added.
“One mistake doesn’t mean that I’m a lazy owner. It doesn’t mean that I’m a poor owner. It means it was a bad morning,” Cross said.
She appealed her case to the district court, where she took a plea in November 2024 on the charges of restraint of animals and running at large. The higher court judge dropped the dangerous animal charge.
That means Gir is still alive. “I have the whole family. We’re a pack, and he’s part of it. And there’d be a hole there if he wasn’t there,” Cross said.
She hopes her case makes people aware of how municipal courts operate. They operate in cities and towns everywhere across the state except Bernalillo County. Judges don’t need law degrees, trials don’t have juries, no official record of the proceedings is kept, and when a defendant is not facing jail time, no legal representation is provided.
Cross had to represent herself. “I had no idea what I was doing,” she explained. “I was so frustrated. I had to spend so many extra hours of my time poring through case law.” The Law Office of the Public Defender weighed in. “There’s got to be somebody to represent a defendant, to make it fair,” Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur said. “And I think too often in the smaller courts, they avoid that or that isn’t provided to people.”
The LOPD, which by state law only works in higher courts, has long had concerns about representation in municipal courts. “There’s some lower-level offenses, but there are also things that can be pretty serious for people and can have long-term permanent consequences,” Baur said. Besides, city ordinance violations, municipal courts can handle DWI and domestic violence cases. While jail may not initially be on the table, Baur explained it could be if a fee isn’t paid, or the defendant misses a court date. “And this is why I think it’s important for municipalities — if they’re going to prosecute people, then they have to provide defense for people who can’t afford it,” he added.
Baur said guidance from an attorney on how to appeal the municipal court ruling would also help. Cross had to file the paperwork on her own and then spend months in hearings as it played out. “A lot of people get frustrated and don’t want to carry, don’t really want to follow through on that,” Baur shared. “And it’s really understandable.”
For Cross, giving up on Gir’s life was not an option.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 – Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement