A picture of the smiling dog and his new owner spread around the internet in joy – and now the pair is embroiled in controversy around breed specific legislation.
At issue is Diggy (or Sir Wiggleton), a dog that was adopted out by the Detroit Dog Rescue as an American Bulldog but Waterford Township Officials say is a “dangerous dog/pit bull” after visiting Tillery’s home on Friday and so the dog needs to leave that city.
Complaints were filed by township residents once they saw the viral photo, even though Detroit Dog Rescue called township officials before adopting the dog out.
Tillery says that he has no intentions of giving Diggy up. As of this writing, an online petition on Care2 has garnered nearly 23,000 signatures to change the law in Waterford Township, which has a population of about 72,000 people.
On Monday, the situation will be reviewed; but in the mean time, it’s pretty clear that singer Dan Tillery and Diggy are trying to keep their smiles on the best they can. Check out their little duet below. Dan does the singing, and Diggy does the licking.