When the town of Aurelia, Iowa, told disabled retired cop Jim Sak his service dog, pit bull Snickers, had to leave town or be killed due to a local breed ban, they probably didn't expect it to end up in court. Or, when it did, to lose.

But that's just what happened today, when a federal judge in in Sioux City ordered the city to let Snickers get back on the job immediately. From KTIV:

n federal court this morning, a judge granted a pre-liminary injunction, meaning Sak will get his dog back temporarily, until a permanent injunction is put in place.
Right now, the dog is in foster care in Iowa City.

Sak and his wife had moved to Aurelia to care for his ailing mother-in-law, unaware that the municipality had a pit bull breed ban on its books. However, local law cannot trump federal law, and the Americans with Disabilities Act is supposed to prevent disabled people from losing their assistants, no matter the breed.

That didn't stop Aurelia from threatening to kill Snickers, however. The Chicago SunTimes reported at the time:

On orders from the Aurelia City Council, a heartbroken Sak has shipped his beloved protector off to a kennel just outside of the Iowa town where he moved last month to be closer to his ailing, 87-year-old mother-in-law. If he hadn’t gotten rid of Snickers, city fathers had threatened to seize and destroy the dog.

The mandate sets the stage for a landmark lawsuit on grounds that the federal Americans for Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees people with disabilities the right to have service dogs, regardless of their breed.

“I can’t believe they didn’t even try to talk to us. They just said, ‘No. You’re not having him. He’s outlawed in this town,’ “ Sak said Tuesday.

The Animal Farm Foundation stepped in to help care for Snickers until the matter was resolved, although the change was tough on both Sak and Snickers. From KTIV:

Jim's best friend now sits in a kennel outside of town suffering from anxiety.

"He's got hives on his underside, his hair is just falling out," said Jim.

[....]

"Until we get clearance from our attorneys' that it's ok to bring him back, he's going to reside in Iowa City," said Leifer.

"I feel we were railroaded and I've been told not to say bad things, but I truly feel like we were railroaded," said Leifer.

"It's going to hurt. I'm not even going to lie about that. I am going to feel really bad that he's not here. He belongs here with me. He's supposed to help me," said Sak.

We attempted to talk to Aurelia city officials and they declined to comment.

Now that Snickers is on his way back to Jim, thanks to an injunction, eyes are turning to the city of Denver, Colo., which has made similar threats to kill service dogs who violate their infamous, draconic pit bull ban. This precedent might change that.