Appendix (7) Some Letters/Messages to the Mayor (and a response)

Below are several letters/messages that were sent to the Washington DC Mayor. The first one (July 24th) didn't quite work (the mayor never answered it) so the second one was sent (August 6th). He never answered that one either, so a third letter was sent (August 7th). Becasue he never answered that one either, a brief 4th one was sent on August 8th, inviting him to to send a letter to Oprah himself. He answered that one with the response shown at the bottom of this posting. More importantly, Sidney was freed six hours later.

Here's the July 24th letter:

Dear Mayor Fenty:

There is a matter of utmost importance to many citizens of the District I plead with you to have your staff involve themselves with. It involves the case of the 8-year-old greyhound/terrier mix, Sidney, on a visit to DC from New York, who is on a track be sentenced to death (a) because he is a dog, a "pitbull" according to at least one City Council member and (b) the political pressure some are putting in your Department of Health to use Sidney as their poster child to ban pitbulls from the city. I will leave it up to your staff's resourcefulness to find out the facts, but they can go to www.SaveSidney.blogpsot.com for the facts. If this case is decided adversely against Sidney in any way, it will give DC a black eye in the eyes of many outsiders and have a chilling effect on all of those in the District who own dogs, let alone what it will due to "due process."

Without getting into the substantive issues that will be taken up in Judge Jesse Goode's courtroom today (at 12:30 p.m.), here are the questions that should be of interest to you as you try to find out who from the outside is pressuring your administration to put Sidney on a track that could lead to his death.

(1) Why was a shoddy investigation undertaken?

(2) Why was Sidney seized without a warrant and without competent consent?

(3) Why wasn't there at the end of the investigation (it never really started) a time for a fair conclusion to be reached as to whether or not the city needed to waste precious resources on this matter?

(4) Why did not the Department of Health follow the usual process of sitting down with the parties to discuss mutually agreeable measures to resolve this matter?

The list goes on, but I think you have enough to conclude yourself that the Department of Health is being unfairly pressure to pursue this matter as a poster child case for banning pitbulls (which Sidney is not; I am more like a pitbull than he is) from the city.

Please do what you can to let Sidney go free. Use your enormous authorities to rename him "Scooter" and give him a pardon if you have to. Run him out of town and tell him never to return. Speaking of running, you run this administration, single City Council members do not. Please do what you can to let Sidney's owners go home to New York now with him. Please think about what you would do if Sidney were your dog. For God's sake, all Sidney did was what most leashed (as he was) dogs would do if two other dogs entered their space without warning. Why is the city wasting precious resources on this matter? Sidney is not a dangerous dog. Sidney is not a danger to the community. Sidney is a dog, a good dog. Be a good mayor, let Sidney go free. If you can kill the Whitehurst Freeway project, you can surely save Sidney from being killed.

Thank you for reading this letter.

Sincerely,

And here's the August 6th Letter:

Dear Mayor Fenty:

I have been a resident of the District for 31 years and never before have I seen such inhumane and unethical behavior on the part of our city government as I am seeing now. The matter of which I speak concerns the case of the 8-year-old greyhound/terrier mix, Sidney, who was - and still remains - illegally impounded by Animal Control on July 5th after biting a dog whose owner carelessly and recklessly walked his dogs, without giving any warning, behind and close to Sidney, who was properly leashed and otherwise under his handler's control. Although a judge ordered the Department of Health and Sidney's owners to work this matter out between themselves, Sidney's fate still has yet to be determined as he sits languishing in the pound and as his owners, who were visiting here form NY, remain stranded here.

You, sir, are the only one who can end this nightmare for the couple from NY and their dog and order your Department of Health to release the dog on the condition that he not be brought back to the city. Anything more than that or any further delay of this matter will be a continuation of this inhumane and unethical treatment. But it is much more than that.

As you might imagine, cases such as Sidney's, especially where there was gross negligence and recklessness on the part of the person whose dog was bitten as was clearly the case here, are usually handled expeditiously and humanely by Department of Health officials, who I assume have far more important things to worry about than a single dog being bitten. This case was not, and it has resulted in one of the most egregious waste and abuses of resources I have seen, not to mention inviting adverse publicity for the city, dividing the city, and raising fear and concern in citizens for their own pets' safety from city officials and the powerful jaws of the Dangerous Dog Act. When I inquired with Department of Health officials why this case was allowed to go to such ludicrous and inhumane lengths, I was told without equivocation, "because of the pressure of [a city councilamn] who wants to use this as his poster child case to ban pitbulls from the city."

You, sir, run this administration, not individual city council members working behind your back to achieve their pet projects. Please, take charge of your administration and order you Department of Health to end this abuse of resources and power by ordering the dog from the city, thereby removing any real or imagined threat anyone might see. Sidney did what most dogs would do in his situation when he was approached suddenly and closely from behind by two dogs. Now it is your turn to do what ethical people would do and stop this unethical saga from continuing and permitting Sidney's owners to return to NY with their dog. Any strictures other than that imposed by the Department of Health will be construed as simply covering their tracks for allowing this waste of resources to occur, as they seek to appease a city council member behind your back under the ruse of protecting the public.

Sincerely,

P.S. I am not connected with this case or any of the parties to it in any way. My interest is solely for the ethical treatment of the impounded dog and his owners. However, I am also deeply concerned abut the chilling effect this case will have on all of us in DC who own dogs.

Here's the letter that was sent on August 7th.

August 7, 2007

Dear Mayor Fenty:

I have been reading about the petition filed by your administration to declare Sidney, the 8-year-old greyhound/pitbull mix dog from New York, a dangerous dog --- which could result in his death --- for biting another dog who entered his space on July 4th. I plead with you to reconsider your petition for the following reason.

The DC law says that a dog cannot be declared a dangerous dog if there was provocation or other circumstances. The Model Dangerous Dog Act specifically says that "No dog shall be declared a dangerous or potentially dangerous dog if the dog was protecting or defending a human being within the immediate vicinity of the dog from an attack or assault." Sindey was standing close by his handler's side, properly leased, when another man approached him at close range from behind with his two small dogs without any warning whatsoever. To a dog, that meant an imminent attack. Sidney did what many dogs would do, he defended his space and his handler. Dogs have no concept of size, but they do know when they are outnumbered. Dogs have only one way to defend themselves and their handlers and that is with their barks and mouths. The other man said he knew he was taking a risk but went ahead anyway, deciding that he did not want to interrupt Sidney's handler's conversation. It is sad that his own little dog was injured, but he had the last clear chance to avoid this injury and was negligent in not warning Sidney's handler. At a minimum, he had a duty to warn Sidney's handler that he was coming.

I am happy that the small dog that was injured is recovering, But please do not let your administration take revenge out on Sidney or his owners. Sidney was only doing what dogs do. Sidney is not a dangerous dog, he is a dog. Please let him go now. You are in charge of your new administration. Please show your officials and citizens that you intend to do what is right.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

WHEN NONE OF THE ABOVE LETTERS WORKED, THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE WAS SENT TO THE MAYOR ON AUGUST 8TH, INVITING HIM TO SEND A LETTER TO OPRAH TOO:

Mayor Fenty,

I just sent in a request to Oprah, as requested, to put Sidney's plight on her show. Many others have too, I understand. Please consider sending in a request yourself as Oprah would love to hear from you. Her web site is oprah.com.

By the way, Oprah absolutely loves pit bulls.

Thanks for helping to save Sidney.

A FEW HOURS AFTER THE ABOVE MESSAGE WAS SENT, THE "MAYOR" SENT THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE TO THE SENDER:

Dear Madam,

I am writing to express my appreciation to you for taking the time to correspond with me. I will continue to monitor Sidney's troubles and wish you the best of luck with your letters to Oprah.

For future concerns or comments please e-mail me at mayor@dc.gov. In addition if you wish to speak to me please feel free to call 202-727-1000.

Sincerely,
Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor

SIX 6 HOURS LATER, SIDNEY WAS A FREE DOG.