This blog*, which deals only with Sidney's case and no others, was started and maintained by concerned citizens of DC with the consent of Sidney's guardians, Eric and Belinda Blum. The interests of the bloggers, however, go beyond those of just Sidney and deal with issues which should be of concern to all citizens of DC, whether dogs owners or not. Nevertheless, because its first focus must remain on freeing Sidney, the Blums have been given the option of suggesting changes in matters on this blog that bear directly on his case. We wish to do nothing that interferes with that. For better or for worse, however, we have to and will observe, raise and perhaps interpose ourselves into the broader issues now because those issues will remain and affect all of us in DC after Sidney's fate is decided and the Blums leave town, with or without him.
Please understand that this blog is also not a matter of Molly v. Sidney, big dogs v. small dogs, or pitbulls in DC, as one DC Councilman is trying to use it for. What happened on the evening of July 4th and the aftermath, happened. There is nothing anyone can do about that now. Molly is well on her way to recovery and we wish her well. If Dr. Stillions, an anesthesiologist, needed funds to help with her medical bills, to be fully fair to issues here, we would have immediately launched an effort to seek those funds or suggested that he seek help from The Humane Society's Sophie's Funds, which is set up precisely for this purpose and to which we have contributed in the past. But this, as it turns out, is not the case. So there is nothing more any of us can do for Molly except wish her well. And we do. So, what this blog is all about is giving Sidney his fair process, a process that was already seriously jeopardized in getting the case to where it is now. We know that for a fact. (This reference to "jeopardy," by the way, in no way is meant to refer to the process that is now underway in the courtroom of Judge Goode.)
The above having been said, if anyone has any additional factual information or corrections to the facts as stated herein, please feel free to suggest them. But also, although we welcome ALL comments (and will pass along ALL comments to appropriate individuals) please understand that any comments offered to any posting here that are not consistent with the fundamental purposes of this blog will be ignored. All other comments will be considered for publication. And please also understand that we expect to publish few comments because of time and other constraints.
One more comment. Unfortunately, as The Washington Post reported on July 27th, Dr. Stillions is still adamant about putting Sidney to death (for his "first bite"). Moreover, all indications are to he may not have understood that he assumed great risk by walking his two very small dogs on two separate 5-foot leashes within 6 feet of Zomai and Sidney, whom he saw, but acknowledged that they did not see him. (The math alone was working against him.) Also, since he is not an attorney, he may have no understanding of how any adverse ruling against Sidney on procedural grounds or the merits will affect all of those in DC who own dogs, all dogs and not just big dogs (see recent articles in Washington Post and New York Times on this.) . Because of this, and because he is able to use his local connections to have the process short-circuited, while the Blums have no such connections since they are from New York, we citizens who will be affected not only by Sidney's fate but perhaps our own dogs' fates in the future must get involved. Please put aside any emotions you feel about the case and just ask yourself, What if Sidney were my dog? Just imagine what those people must be going through. They cannot even leave town for fear of what would happen, considering what has happened so far. Would you want someone to help you? That's why we are involved. But also because if anything happens to Sidney and a precedent is set, we can assure you that some of us WILL be in their place.
Again, thank you for visiting this blog and for caring about the dogs and people involved.
* Note: This blogger is not connected with the incident or case, and never saw or met any of the parties or dogs involved until the hearing. Our interest is solely in terms of the legal implications to all citizens in DC and, of course, for the welfare of all of the dogs involved, Molly and Sidney equally. We believe that guardians of all dogs, large and small, have an obligation to keep their animals from doing harm to others as much as they have an obligation to protect their animals from being harmed by others. Fortunately,most people know that
Technical notes:
This blog encountered a problem on Monday July 30 and was out for several hours. Goggle cleared the problem and restored the blog as it was. Because it was fully cleared , precautions to prevent this in the future have been incorporated.
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