July 17 court hearing set for condemned dogs ‘Bubba’ and ‘Stewie’

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The fate of “Bubba” and “Stewie,” two dogs owned by Timothy Pierson who were ordered to be euthanized after killing two cats, may finally be decided following a hearing before Judge Page B. Galloway on July 17 at the San Benito County Superior Courthouse. 

In her decision on March 9, based on a hearing on Feb. 18 and 19, Galloway ordered the two dogs to be surrendered to the Hollister Police Department and eventually euthanized, following two separate attacks by the dogs on Oct. 29, 2025, which resulted in the deaths of two cats.

The March decision supported the original November 2025 determination by the Hollister Police Department which found the dogs to be “dangerous,” having “sought out and attacked” the two other pets, resulting in their deaths.

The upcoming hearing will determine whether a March 18 notice of appeal to the court filed by Pierson’s former attorney, Gregory LaForge, should be stricken following a motion by the police department which described the appeal as “not drawn or filed in conformity with the laws of this state.” It called the appeal “a sham filed solely to circumvent the Court’s adverse decision.” 

Also at issue is the disposition of the dogs, which, according to court documents, were not immediately surrendered as ordered by the judge.

Pierson recently told BenitoLink the dogs were surrendered in June.

Galloway had set a 30-day deadline after her March 9 decision, which would have expired on April 8.

This followed an inspection visit to the Pierson home on March 25 by officers Samantha Una’Dia and Alyssa Carillo, as the dogs had not yet been surrendered. 

According to Una’Dia’s April 21 statement, Pierson’s wife, Yuko Pierson, answered the door and stated the dogs were not there. When asked for their location or whether her husband knew where they were, Yuko claimed she did not know and refused to communicate further.

On April 22, the city of Hollister filed a formal motion for the immediate turnover of the animals, asserting they were being withheld and presented a “substantial risk to the public” and that their behavior was “unpredictable.” 

At the hearing, Galloway instructed LaForge to inform Pierson of the gravity of failing to surrender the dogs.

After a continuance from an earlier May date, a June 5 hearing was held on the city’s motion to force Pierson to surrender the dogs, with June 8 set as the specific deadline.

In a statement to BenitoLink on July 13, Pierson said he surrendered the dogs to Animal Control on June 16 in response to the city’s motion to charge him with one count of civil disobedience, which carries a daily penalty of a $1,000 fine and up to five days in jail for each day he did not comply. 

“The city has spent too much time and taxpayers’ money towards persecuting our family,” he wrote in his statement.

Pierson’s violation of a previous court order apparently weighed heavily in Galloway’s March 9 decision to have the dogs euthanized. 

In that decision, she noted that it had been ordered on Dec. 5, 2025, that the dogs be released to Pierson on the condition that they be kept in an enclosed outdoor kennel and not allowed in the home to avoid any possibility of escape.

However, during a site visit on Jan. 7, Una’Dia discovered the dogs were out of the enclosure and “free in the home.” 

Galloway referenced this in the decision, saying, “The court must question how seriously the Appellant takes the court’s orders and the nature of what occurred that necessitated them.”

Having referred the case to the California Court of Appeal on March 18, Pierson requested that the trial court either dismiss the city’s motion for lack of jurisdiction or stay the proceedings until the Court of Appeal issues its final decision.

Pierson also pleaded his case in a Change.Org petition to “demand that City Leadership step in” to stop the dogs from being euthanized. 

BenitoLink’s requests for comment on the case from the Hollister Police Department, Animal Control and Pierson’s current attorney, Gary Thelander, who replaced LaForge on June 2, have gone unanswered.  

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