By Staci DaSilva
sdasilva@kcautv.com
twitter.com/stacidasilva
It's no secret Jim Sak loves and feels he needs his pitbull, Snickers. But an announcement Thursday has him heading to court to keep him...at a time when Jim's health has seen much better days.
It was a joyous time last December for Jim Sak.
His pitbull, service dog and best friend Snickers was returned to the Vietnam vet after being taken away by the city of Aurelia.
You see, Jim had just moved there and found out the hard way that pitbulls are outlawed in the small Iowa town.
After suing the city of Aurelia, he was granted a preliminary injunction and could keep Snickers until the case was settled...a good thing because..."The dog would not get away from my neck when he got back in the house. He just kept licking and licking and licking," said Jim Sak.
After Snickers brought it to his attention, Jim found out he had throat cancer.
"The dog is my lifesaver. If I did not get the dog back, I wouldn't be here. I would have gave up," Jim said.
Jim's been in Sioux City ever since, undergoing radiation and chemotherapy, which ends this week.
"The worst part of treatment? Not having my dog here," said Jim.
He's lost a considerable amount of weight, his teeth, but not his spirits.
But the case surrounding Snickers trudges on. On Thursday we found out it didn't settle out of court, so a jury trial date has been set.
Jim said, "What is going on right now is beyond me. I don't know why. I don't know why they're still coming after us."
Lawyers for the City of Aurelia declined to comment but in filed paperwork, the city's argument was point blank saying: "It is unlawful to keep, or harbor, own or in any way possess a pit bull dog within the city of Aurelia."
The whole case would likely be dropped if Jim agreed to get rid of Snickers but he says, "I ain't doing that. I ain't doing that."
Jim's trial date is expected to be July 8th of 2013.
