As many of you already know, our beloved dog Zoe was involved in an incident with a chihuahua back in March when we first moved into our new home. Zoe jumped the rock wall that separates our front yard from the street and injured the chihuahua (purely due to size difference, the chihuahua was the initial aggressor), and while I offered to pay for all veterinary bills incurred, the owner made the decision to euthanize her dog instead of allowing treatment for recovery.
And then she decided to file a complaint with Animal Control to have Zoe seized and destroyed, and she has been relentless about it for the past 3 months.
Zoe is Jude’s Emotional Support Animal, and while losing Zoe would be tragic for our entire family, it would be especially detrimental to Jude, who has Down syndrome and frustrates easily because of his delays in speech, and relies heavily on Zoe for comfort and connection.
I have already spent well over $1,000 trying to rectify the situation to appease Animal Control with fencing off the backyard, spaying and licensing Zoe, microchipping her, making sure all her vaccinations are up to date, as well as hiring both a dog trainer and a dog behaviorist to evaluate and work with her. Both trainer and behaviorist said Zoe is a friendly, well socialized, easy to train, nonaggressive dog. But because of the chihuahua owner’s persistence (and contradicting their own Codes in doing so), Animal Control has declared Zoe a Vicious Animal and ordered her to be destroyed.
The animal behaviorist that I’ve hired has appeared in court for other clients and said it is unheard of for a dog to be ordered to be destroyed after a first incident with another dog. I am appealing the declaration made by Animal Control to try and save Zoe’s life, and I need to retain the animal behaviorist to appear in court with me, but as an only parent of 3 kids with recent $$$ car issues and everything else all the time, I am financially strained and currently have no more money to put toward saving Zoe.
The animal behaviorist’s normal fee for a court appearance is $3,000, but because of his sympathy for my situation and his belief that Zoe is not a dangerous or vicious dog, he said he would do it for $1,000.
I am also hoping to fence the front of the property where Zoe jumped over the short wall so that we have an enclosed fortress to block access to the busy road, to protect both Zoe and Jude, who also still has elopement tendencies (which is typical of kids with Ds); and to show Animal Control that I have taken all necessary precautions to keep Zoe contained in my yard and avoid any future incidences. The cheapest quote I was given on materials for the fence was $1,450, which, again, is out of my current affordability.
The San Bernardino County Code Title 3, Division 2, Section 32.1406 states that “If the owner or keeper demonstrates changes that mitigate the risk to public safely to the satisfaction of the chief officer, the designation of potentially dangerous or vicious shall be removed.”
The amount of stress, worry, restless nights, heartache, time, and money that this ordeal has cost my family is overwhelming, and I fear that having Zoe seized and killed will be absolutely devastating to my children. So I’m stepping out of my character and comfort zone, swallowing my pride, and humbly asking for help. Even the smallest donation will be gratefully appreciated, as I feel if I could afford the behaviorist and yard enclosure, the Animal Control panel will have no choice but to overturn the Hearing Officer’s decision and allow Zoe to remain in our home with her family where she belongs.
Thank you, friends, in advance, for any help you can offer. We love you all.
