Dog with Obscene Name Starts Dogfight

UNIONTOWN, KY -- A dogfight over a pet burial in Uniontown, Kentucky has now gone to the courts. A Morganfield priest is suing the pet owner and the city for allowing a dog with an obscene name to be buried near a veteran's memorial. We can't give you the dog's full name, but here are some clues. It starts with the letter "S" and ends in "head."

It's not just the headstone that's causing all the controversy.

You would think most of the anger would come because of the profane name of the dog being put in such a public place, but for angry taxpayers and an offended priest, the problem comes in mixing cemeteries.

Father Gerald Baker, who is suing the city, asked "What are we saluting? A flagpole with a monument to the dog? It's offensive. Any Christian, any American should understand why this is offensive."

Father Baker filed the lawsuit against the city of Uniontown and the dog's owners.

He is calling the situation a nuisance and demanding the dog's body and stone be removed.

The dog's owner Judy Hagan insists she has every right to bury her dog there.

"What right does he have to come to this town and put somebody else down for something they have done that he knows nothing about. It's not a disgrace. I didn't do it for a disgrace. If that's the way people wanna take it, then that's their problem," Hagan responded.

Father Baker said he isn't buying her argument.

"This woman in her arrogance and her ignorance, demanding she has the right do this? Well we'll just see."

Hagan buried the dog at the cemetery in 1999, with the city's permission.

Uniontown's city council must now defend itself in court and to the public for a decision made by a previous administration.

Uniontown Mayor Kevin Ferguson said "It's a terrible thing, and I understand and respect everybody's feelings on that, but the way we have to react to it is legally. To go out there and move something if she has true rights, we're doing wrong."

The city council and Father Baker say they have both appealed to the Attorney General's Office to weigh in with an opinion on what can be done.

Father Baker says many states already have laws banning pets in human cemeteries, and he hopes Kentucky will do the same by the time this case has run its course.

©2009 WFIE. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, or redistributed.