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Superior Court Commissioner Page B. Galloway has rejected an appeal by the owners of “Bubba” and “Stewie” and upheld a decision previously reached by the Hollister Police Department that the dogs accused of killing two cats in October must be euthanized.
In her March 9 ruling, Galloway wrote, “It is with a heavy heart that the court orders that Bubba and Stewie will be humanely euthanized no later than 30 days from the service of this order.”
In response to a BenitoLink request for comment from appellant Tim Pierson, his attorney, Gregory LaForge, said, “We are appealing the Commissioner’s ruling and are confident in the appellate process regarding the fact that the City did not prove that the dogs were not provoked, nor did the city prove that less remedial measures could in fact be enforced in this case.”
In her 13-page decision, Galloway gave an account of the testimony in the case, as recounted in a previous BenitoLink article. Witnesses recounted two separate incidents in which Bubba and Stewie were seen attacking two cats, Luna and Finn, after the dogs had escaped from the Piersons’ yard. Both cats died from their injuries.
Galloway dismissed several defense arguments, including the claim that Luna and Finn should not be considered domestic because of their feral origins; that Finn had been aggressive toward the two dogs; or that the attacks on the two cats had been provoked.
Galloway wrote, “The court notes that in a single day, within an hour of escaping their yard, there were two separate incidents in rapid succession where the dogs attacked and severely injured a domestic animal, specifically the cats Finn and Luna, in each attack.”
She added that the lack of provocation was a strong factor in her analysis of the case. “While Mr. Pierson stated that it is in the nature of dogs to chase cats, it is not necessarily in the nature of dogs to maul them or tear their bodies apart.”
One of the defense claims relied on several witnesses who said that they had never noticed the dogs being aggressive.
However, Galloway wrote, “At all times during any of these observations the dogs were either under the direct control of their owner, were tethered or leashed, or were otherwise under the command of their owners.”
The final consideration centered on the “ability of the owner to protect public safety if the animal is permitted to remain in the city,” Galloway wrote. She also noted that, following the court’s order to keep the dogs enclosed in a kennel outside, and “not to be allowed into the home to avoid any possibility of escape,” Officer Samantha Una’Dia discovered the dogs were free inside the house during a visit to the Pierson residence.
“The court must question how seriously the Appellant takes the court’s orders,” Galloway wrote, “and the nature of what occurred that necessitated them. In looking at the alternative measures permitted, the court does not see a way to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public absent the humane destruction of these two dogs.”
LaForge, told BenitoLink, “It appears that the opinion is based upon sympathy for the cats and the cats’ owners, even though the owners let their ‘cats’ run all over the neighborhood regardless of the consequences or outcomes.”
LaForge argued that the dogs did not represent a risk to humans, and that “after being kicked by a person, the dogs did not attack that person, but the dogs fled. Such evidence is invaluable in a case such as this.”
Arguing that the court commissioner did not allow Pierson to present evidence regarding “the less restrictive measures that were already in place when the dogs were released pending trial,” La Forge said, “We were not allowed to present evidence regarding the serious storm that hit Hollister around Christmas time and totally destroyed the kennel setup in Mr. Pierson’s backyard.”
He concluded, “California public policy frowns upon the murdering of dogs without remedial intervention, which wasn’t followed in the opinion, but we are confident that the
Appellate court will overturn the decision.”
The Hollister Police Department did not respond to a request from BenitoLink for comment.
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