Dog thrown from vehicle during Ramsey County chase euthanized: ‘He deserved kindness’

Taho, the pit bull puppy who was thrown from a stolen vehicle during a January chase through Ramsey County, has been euthanized, according to the rescue that was caring for him.

In a Facebook post last week, Pet Haven MN said Taho had exhibited a pattern of biting dogs and people alike, and despite efforts to rehabilitate him, there was no clear trigger for the behavior.

The rescue said his aggression was likely due to his abusive upbringing.

“With the extreme amount of trauma Taho endured in his short 7-month-old life, the severity of his behavior was something we had to take seriously as the bite attempts continued to escalate to higher parts of the body (where bites don’t normally occur),” Pet Haven MN wrote.

Pet Haven did note that the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office — which brought Taho into rescue — insisted the puppy “deserved a fighting chance” and thanked the agency for its advocacy.

The full statement from Pet Haven can be read below:

Ramsey County deputies found Taho burrowed in the snow on Jan. 31, the morning after the chase. He had several scrapes on his body from being thrown from the vehicle and had suffered a broken leg.

The woman accused of tossing Taho onto Interstate 694, Raylean Gurneau, now faces four separate counts of animal cruelty, among other charges.

In March, she received a stayed sentence for a separate animal cruelty case in which a dog that was placed in her care was found shot 10-12 times with a BB gun and needed to have its eye surgically removed.

Gurneau was released from custody after that hearing, and court records show she has an active warrant for her arrest.