A Doberman facing a possible death sentence in Michigan has been getting international support, with dog lovers signing an online petition.

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Royal Oak officials have also been getting scores of phone calls and hundreds of e-mails, the Detroit Free Press reported. But officials in Royal Oak say they are not as hard-hearted as the villains depicted on saveheidi.com.

City Attorney David Gillam said the Doberman bit a man so hard in mid-October the man's nose was broken.

Heidi's owner has been given three alternatives, Gillam said. She can move elsewhere, have the dog put down or keep it on a leash and muzzled when it is out in public.

"Somehow it has been portrayed that we want to destroy this dog, have it drawn and quartered, for a dog that just gave a man a head butt. That could not be further from the truth," Gillam said.

The owner's version is that the man bent down over Heidi just as the dog lifted its head up.