Lucy, a gentle six-year old rescued dog, was killed today, December 20th, shortly before 6:00 pm (Pacific Time) by the Humane Society Silicon Valley. By order of the city attorney, David Kahn, no one from her family was permitted to be with her when she was killed.
Lucy was killed today because she is a dog, a pit bull dog in fact, and for no other justificable reason. On July 30th, Lucy accidentally escaped from her back yard and after never having shown any aggression toward any person or animal, got into a fight with the Chihuahua next door, whose owner for years had recklessly allowed his dog to antagonize Lucy on her own property. No one except the owner of the Chihuahua saw the initial fight, and so no one really knows which dog provoked the other, but regardless, the Chihuahua dog's owner caused two needless deaths and incalculable pain for thousands of people from around state, country and the world because of her recklessness in coming so close to Lucy's property. Lucy was impounded immediately after the accident and her guardians were only permitted to visit her twice a week under orders of the city attorney, David Kahn. They never missed a single visit over the almost five months of her impoundment. Lucy was tested for aggression and scored 0 out of 10, No Aggression. She was not, therefore, a continued threat to the public's safety.
As observers to this tragedy, Bloggers became aware of many actors in this sad saga, many of whom acted nobly and compassionately. But some, unfortunately, acted ignobly and uncompassionately. Based on the information available to us, here are those actors and the roles they played.
Sunnyvale, California - "The town that killed Lucy on Christmas; the place where compassion died ."
Ian Young and Desiree Hedberg - Lucy's rescuers and guardian for six years.
Liam - Ian and Desiree's two-year-old son and Lucy's constant companion who will grow up knowing how callous and uncompassionate public officials can be.
"Jane Doe" - The owner of the "Bobbie," the Chihuahua next door who was killed in the melee with Lucy and whose owner apparently permitted him to antagonize Lucy over several years . (NOTE: The name of the owner of the small dog will not be published to respect her privacy.)
Chief Don Johnson, The Sunnyvale, California, Chief of Pubic Safety who impounded Lucy and signed Lucy's death warrant immediately despite no evidence whatsoever that Lucy was a vicious dog and a threat to the Community.
Humane Society Silicon Valley - The shelter where Lucy was impounded after the accident. The workers in the shelter were extremely caring for Lucy (especially the manager, Mike Foltz) and even once refused to put Lucy to death because they believed the city attorney was wrong and they believed that they were morally and ethically right in refusing to do so.
Beth Ward - The Vice President of the Human Society Silicon Valley responsible for the operations of the shelter where Lucy was put to death and the person ultimately responsible to the city attorney for putting Lucy to death.
David Kahn, Esq. - The Sunnyvale City Attorney who prosecuted Lucy despite the evidence that she was not vicious and who lied to the Sunnyvale Mayor and City Council about Lucy's record and who attempted to short-circuit justice by moving quickly to put Lucy to death while he knew an appeal was in process, among other ethical lapses. Kahn also had a whole range of other options available to him for Lucy, but he chose to take only the extreme option and put her to death.
Judge Brain Walsh - The judge in the Superior Court of Santa Clara County who confirmed Sunnyvale's decision to put Lucy to death even though he stated on the record that he personally believed that he that she should be allowed to go home.
Mayor Otto Lee - The mayor of Sunnyvale who said that he had sympathy for Luck but was powerless to do anything about her situation and had to rely on the city attorney's allegations and conclusions.
The Sunnyvale City Council (John N. Howe, Dean J. Chu, Ron Swegles, Melinda Hamilton and Christopher R. Moylan) that decided not to overrule the city attorney's conclusions despite numerous pleas to spare her. Note: The vote on the council to "agenize" (as the city manager calls it) Lucy's case was split, and it is not known which members of the City Council voted for Lucy's death. (If anyone has any information about this, please post a comment).
Shannon Keith - One of Lucy's indefatigable attorneys and President of A.R.M.E.
Christine Garcia - One of Lucy's indefatigable attorneys.
Arnold Schwarzenegger - Governor of California who, despite the authority granted to him under California law to grant pardons, refused to get involved. In his message to all who wrote him, he wrote: "Thank you for taking the time to email and share your concerns. I believe government works best when elected officials listen to the people they represent on important issues. Decision-making authority for the matter you describe rests entirely with your locally-elected officials. Again, thank you for your email. I urge you to continue working with your local representatives to see that your concerns are addressed. Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger"
12,000 Individuals, Blogger amoung them - The compassionate people from around the world who over one 24-hour period rallied and pleaded with the public officials in California to let Lucy return home. One such individual (KC) commented on this Blog: "I am so proud to be part of this compassionate movement. I am praying Lucy is spared!" KC spoke for all of us hwne he/she said that.
Good Citizens of Sunnyvale - Many, many people in Sunnyvale came to Lucy's support during her five-month impoundment and trial. Although compassion in Sunnyvale died with Lucy, there is hope for the city only becasue of the good citizens who pleaded for Lucy's life.
The Press - Except for one small piece in the Business Wire on December 18th and another the next day in the Palo Alto Daily News on December 19th the press completely ignored Lucy's plight. The reason, of course, is that Lucy is a pit bull. If the pit bull's reputation has been sullied in recent years, the press and the health departments and city councils of our municipalities are predominantly to blame.
There were many, many others involved with this sad matter, but these are the ones Blogger is aware of at this moment.
5 comments:
We were outraged by this news. We wrote an email and got a short reply from this moron.
This was our first message:
RE: Execution of Lucy, the dog
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Rosie Trenta and I am sending this from Sweden.
Let me express my disgust at the fact that you people are executing a dog.
It seems your country is truly obsessed with the death penalty: the most uncivilized action in our modern time!
But to kill a dog? That is even more sick!
I believe this behaviour comes from pure ignorance, which is something I personally loathe and cannot justify.
Frankly, I feel you have a serious problem with everything that is ethically acceptable.
But it takes someone utterly mentally ill to put to death a dog.
That is all that I can say.
Thankfully, I do live in the free world. We do not kill anybody here... we do have some ethics, you know.
I do believe that what goes around comes around, so I am sure whoever is responsible for this atrocity will get what they deserve in the end.
I just hope you do feel at least a bit ashamed of yourselves.
Sincerely disgusted and outraged,
Rosie Trenta
Lövestad - Sweden
******************************************
Here's their very short reply:
Unfortunately, the information that is on the Internet is wrong and
misleading. I have been an animal supporter all of my life and am very
saddened by the loss of the dog. The decision that the dog be put down
was made by the Superior Court and reviewed by other judges, and was
not
the decision of the city attorney. Had the dog's owners responsibly
kept her inside their yard this situation would not have occurred.
***************************
This is our reply to their short message:
Thanks for your reply.
But let me comment on your message. Can you not see that the owners should have been punished, not the dog? It is simple logic, would you not say?
Whoever took the decision to kill the dog cannot and should not be justified in any way: it is barbaric! At least have the guts to admit this.
It means nothing to say someone is an animal supporter: what an empty statement! So what? Actions speak louder than words: what have you done to save this dog?
What a sad story this is... What a pathetic bunch of people the ones who kill animals are...
I feel sorry for all of you.
Sincerely,
Rosie Trenta
Lövestad - Sweden
What a sickening case of the legal system running amok. The outcome of this case shocked me because it seems unbelievable that a court system would so blatantly practice breed specific legislation. Mr. Kahn says that this case would not have happened if the owners had kept their dog inside their yard. My response to Mr. Kahn is, I certainly assume that you meant the Chihuahua's owner, correct? Because if you did, you are correct. This incident would probably have never occurred if the Chihuahua had not been running loose for such a long period of time. If, however, your remark was directed at Lucy's owners, I believe that you are sadly misinformed. Not only are you misinformed, but your "prosecution" of this case was totally irresponsible. Oh, I hope you sleep tight tonight, Mr. Kahn, for you have certainly made Christmas a horror for Lucy's family for years to come. I hope you can forgive yourself, because many, many of us will never forgive you for such shenanigans as you pulled in this case. I am disgusted to think that you would even dare care yourself an "animal supporter." There is not an ounce of animal supporter in your nature. I certainly hope that you don't have children because I would hate to be in your shoes if you have to explain your actions. I am absolutely sickened by what has happened, and my thoughts are certainly with Lucy's famiy now.
Yolanda Lyons
What a sickening case of the legal system running amok. The outcome of this case shocked me because it seems unbelievable that a court system would so blatantly practice breed specific legislation. Mr. Kahn says that this case would not have happened if the owners had kept their dog inside their yard. My response to Mr. Kahn is, I certainly assume that you meant the Chihuahua's owner, correct? Because if you did, you are correct. This incident would probably have never occurred if the Chihuahua had not been running loose for such a long period of time. If, however, your remark was directed at Lucy's owners, I believe that you are sadly misinformed. Not only are you misinformed, but your "prosecution" of this case was totally irresponsible. Oh, I hope you sleep tight tonight, Mr. Kahn, for you have certainly made Christmas a horror for Lucy's family for years to come. I hope you can forgive yourself, because many, many of us will never forgive you for such shenanigans as you pulled in this case. I am disgusted to think that you would even dare care yourself an "animal supporter." There is not an ounce of animal supporter in your nature. I certainly hope that you don't have children because I would hate to be in your shoes if you have to explain your actions. I am absolutely sickened by what has happened, and my thoughts are certainly with Lucy's famiy now.
Yolanda Lyons
What a sickening case of the legal system running amok. The outcome of this case shocked me because it seems unbelievable that a court system would so blatantly practice breed specific legislation. Mr. Kahn says that this case would not have happened if the owners had kept their dog inside their yard. My response to Mr. Kahn is, I certainly assume that you meant the Chihuahua's owner, correct? Because if you did, you are correct. This incident would probably have never occurred if the Chihuahua had not been running loose for such a long period of time. If, however, your remark was directed at Lucy's owners, I believe that you are sadly misinformed. Not only are you misinformed, but your "prosecution" of this case was totally irresponsible. Oh, I hope you sleep tight tonight, Mr. Kahn, for you have certainly made Christmas a horror for Lucy's family for years to come. I hope you can forgive yourself, because many, many of us will never forgive you for such shenanigans as you pulled in this case. I am disgusted to think that you would even dare care yourself an "animal supporter." There is not an ounce of animal supporter in your nature. I certainly hope that you don't have children because I would hate to be in your shoes if you have to explain your actions. I am absolutely sickened by what has happened, and my thoughts are certainly with Lucy's famiy now.
Yolanda Lyons
That is sad. I am Lucy Lyons. I have a Black Labrador Retriever named Shadow. She is a young female. Remember though to keep memories of your dog. I will talk about this in my blogger.
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