CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The legal case over Niko the dog has come to an end. The animal was euthanized Thursday night.

It started in 2015, when the dog's owner, Toni Sue Stacy, was convicted of owning a dangerous dog.  The county says Niko injured one dog in 2013, another dog in 2014, and then in that same year killed a neighbor's cat.

"Albemarle County came and collected the dog and transported him to a licensed vet for euthanasia," said Emily Kilroy, Albemarle County spokesperson.

That ended a legal battle that began in 2015, when Stacy was sentenced to jail time for owning a dangerous dog.

After years of appeals, the court ordered that Niko was to be disposed of, which Stacy's attorney says opened the door to other options.

"The county did have the discretion to choose of all the different options," said Elliott Harding. "And the SPCA and I, on the behalf of Mrs. Stacy, let them know over the years we've been contacted by organizations and individuals."

The Charlottesville-Albemarle SPCA, which had been housing Niko in its contracted role as the dog pound, supported those other options.

"We are in a very difficult spot," said Angie Gunter, CEO of the CASPCA. "You know, we are getting not so nice phone calls from the community thinking we made the decision to euthanize Niko and how horrible we are for doing such a thing. Again, this was not our decision, we are fulfilling our legal obligation."

The county disagreed and maintains the court order placed the animal in the county's care. The final court order was announced on June 10 and on Thursday, the county moved forward with euthanization.

Stacy said if she had she had known things would have ended this way, she would have chosen to spend the 90 days in jail.

Albemarle County officials did say they plan to offer the dog's ashes to its owners for burial.