Recent photo, above: Sidney (on right) with Ruby.
THANK YOU FOR VISITING THIS SITE AND SHOWING YOUR CONCERN FOR THE ALL THE DOGS (AND THEIR GUARDIANS) INVOLVED IN THIS UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT. THE MATTER, HOWEVER, GOES WAY BEYOND THE CASES OF THE DOGS INVOLVED AND THEIR GUARDIANS, AND WILL SURELY AFFECT ALL OF US IN DC WHO OWN DOGS (AND ANYONE, LIKE BELINDA AND ERIC, WHO VISIT DC WITH THEIR DOGS) FOR REASONS TO BE DISCUSSED IN A POSTING ON THIS SITE.
One day in 1999, Belinda Blum found a ragged, gentle, 7-month-old greyhound/pitbull mix sitting in the playground of the Bronx school where she taught. He was just sitting there, watching the children playing. When she went back later at lunch and then after school, he was still there, so she took the little fellow to the vets for a check-up and shots and to get him neutered. Since there was no way she could release the puppy back onto the streets of the Bronx or pass him off to an unknown fate at an animal control center, she named him Sidney, adopted him herself and took him into her Brooklyn home with her friend Eric Wallach (also a school teacher), where the two of them raised him without incident for eight years. What a lucky dog Sidney was, considering fate of most dogs who wander city streets and, more so, considering the cruelty that we Americans dole out to both of Sidney's breeds, the greyhounds on the racetracks and the pitbulls in the fighting rings. Sidney's companions, in addition to Belinda and Eric, often included his dog friends as well as small children, inlcuding, as of 7 months ago, Ruby, the newest member of the family, shown above in the photo on the left.
When Belinda and Eric traveled, they sometimes left Sidney with her mother, Deborah, who lives in the Adams Morgan section of Washington DC, where he was known as a good dog among those who knew him there. And that's what they did when they went away for the July 4th weekend this year too, which, as it turns out, was unfortunate for the now 49-pound Sidney.
On July 4th, known to be the worst day for animal control in most cities, Zomai, Deborah's friend, decided to take Sidney out for a walk, as he had done without incident over the past several years when Sidney was in town. At around 10:30 p.m., while the fireworks were still exploding all over, Zomai was standing on a corner talking to a friend, with Sidney obediently sitting by his side on a short-leash. Both were doing precisely what they were supposed to be doing, minding their own business. All of a sudden, without any warning to Zomai whatsoever, an "individual," walking his two small (10 pound) dogs on 5-foot separate leashes suddenly approached Zomai and Sidney within close range (6 feet) and without any warning (he saw Zomai and knew he did not see him, but decided not to interrupt his conversation and take the risk of walking by him). Sidney, already spooked by the fireworks, quickly turned around 180 degrees and saw the two small dogs and then did what most dogs would do in that case, he defended his space. (Dogs, as most know, have no concept at all of their own size compared to other dogs, but they do know when they are outnumbered by other dogs. Dogs also are actually much more territorial on leashes than off.) Unfortunately, a melee broke out and both dogs were bitten, one seriously (but she is recovering). Zomai immediately dropped the leash, jumped on top of the dogfight and, using both of his hands, tried to separate Sidney and Molly. The individual also voluntarily jumped into the fray and was allegedly bitten as well. There is no question but that Sidney bit the small dog.
Soon after the fight broke up, a police officer, who had been sitting in her cruiser seventy feet away, drove up and said she saw the whole incident even though it was dark where the incident occurred. (Note: it came out at the hearing mentioned below that the officer was actually getting ready to shoot Sidney even after the melee broke up, but then back up arrived.) After the individual twice screamed, “I’m going to have that dog killed!” The officer told him, “Don’t say that.” For some reason, the officer did not get any witnesses because she did not think it was necessary since she saw the whole incident. She did, however, talk with the individual's friend, who came to the scene after the individual left with his dogs. Although she got his account on the scene, she never asked Zomai his account of what happened. But she did proceed to give Zomai a ticket for having an unleashed dog even though Sidney was leashed and until Zomai voluntarily dropped the leash to break up the dogfight. Also, the next day, although she had given the individual the contact information he asked for, she refused to give Belinda and Eric the contact information for the individual, saying, “Don’t worry, the victim’s owner will be in touch with you about a law suit. He has your information.”
Soon after the incident, someone contacted a local television station with the individual's story and then contacted a city council member (who happens have a strong anti-pitbull position), but never contacted Sidney’s owner, Belinda. Belinda, however, had already written him wrote a note with wishes for the Molly’s speedy recovery.
When Belinda talked with Animal Control she was told that they would take a “bite report,” which they would send to the DC Department of Health (DoH) to be processed, after which an in-house investigation would take place before Sidney would ever be taken away. Belinda explicitly stated that she would be back in Washington D.C. by early Friday and asked if the interview could wait twenty-four hours so that she could be present. The Animal Control agent said that she would record the request and send it in with her report, saying and repeating, “no one [was] going to come and take the dog”.
While Belinda was flying back across the country to DC, the DoH (or animal control) went to Deborah's home and seized Sidney without a warrant and without notifying Zomai or Deborah of their rights. The DoH took Sidney by means that were described as intimidation and coercion. When they took Sidney away, there was no sign of struggle or aggression by Sidney. The night after Sidney was seized, the animal control center received an anonymous call reporting that he had bitten before, which is interesting because he had not and didn’t even live in the city.
On July 5th, 2007, Belinda asked for an administrative hearing on Sidney's seizure from the DoH as the process required. On Thursday, July 12th a hearing took place before an administrative law judge to share evidence between the DoH and Belinda. Belinda's attorney objected to the illegal seizure of Sidney, but he was overruled.
On July 22, 2007, desperate to get their beloved dog back, frustrated by the tactics in seizing Sidney, and overwhelmed by the one-sided press and attention, Belinda, Eric and some friends attempted a rescue of Sidney from his confinement in the dismal DC Animal Control Center where for nine days he wasn’t walked or allowed to run. They brought a letter from their lawyer stating that Sidney was seized without a warrant in violation of the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution and D.C. Code 1-1902(b). The rescue attempt failed and Sidney, without any resistance whatsoever and was pulled away from Belinda and Eric and returned to this cell.
Although the official investigation into the incident with Sidney appeared to be incomplete, the whole case has been accelerated into the Dangerous Dog Act.
The hearing on Sidney's fate was be held on Thursday, July 26th to determine Sidney's fate. At the end of the hearing, the judge ordered both sides (the DOH and Sidney' owners) to continue discussing an acceptable solution before he has to issue his order in 5 days. The judge also reprimanded Eric and Belinda and their attorney for the attempted rescue, saying that he thought he made it clear that he was in charge of the case. An article appeared in the Washington Post the next day about the hearing.
Note: To the best of our knowledge, none of the above information conflicts with any information released at the July 26th hearing. If anyone has any information to the contrary, please let us know.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
As you will read in the first posting on this blog, Sidney was freed on August 8th as the result of the overwhelming outpouring of support from people in the DC area, in New York and from around the globe. But just because Sidney is free, it does not mean that what happened to him and his guardians could not happen again in DC or, for that matter, in other places where the Dangerous Dog Acts are manipulated to catch and punish dogs that do not belong in it. Therefore, please write to the DC Mayor and thank him for his role in freeing Sidney, but also to express your concern of the chilling effect Sidney's case will have on all owners of dogs in the District of Columbia if something is not done to correct what went wrong in Sidney's case. The mayor wants desperately to get his new administration off the a good start and has done some good work already. He will be responsive to your concerns if you let him know what they are.
A sample letter you might wish to edit and send to the Mayor is shown below in appendix (8) (or click here). His fax number is: 202-727-0505. His call center number is: 727-1000; his e-mail is adrian.fenty@dc.gov. or mayor@dc.gov. You might, as appropriate, send copies of your letter to other individuals on the contact list shown at the end of this posting .
If you live outside of DC, you might wish to check what kind of Dangerous Dog Acts have been enacted (usually without a lot of publicv involvement) to understand what might happen to your own dog in your own home and to figure out what you can do to improve those laws.
THE LONG-RUN ISSUES
Of course, for the long run, even when this case is over, there will remain issues are for those of us in DC with dogs. These issues, which are being followed very closely by Blogger and others, and have been discussed already with numerous officials of different organizations, will be explored at a later time and suggestions will be given to the DC officials responsible and others to improve the process if it needs improving. Clearly, chief among those issues is the matter of what process should the DoH follow prior to a dog's being kicked into the Dangerous Dog Act and perhaps euthanized unfairly.
Of all the long run issues that emerge from this case, more important than the process used by the city to deal with animal-bites-animal issues are the issues of how the public is educated regarding (a) responsible handling of animals in public (and on private property) and (b) the penalties under the Dangerous Dog Act to dogs if their owners or someone else disregards those responsibilities. This case should be a wake up call to everyone in DC who owns a dog. Our discussions with people on the street with dogs tells us that people have no idea at all what the law says today. If they knew, the streets would either be cleared of dogs or full of muzzled dogs, large and small.
Incidentally, this whole blog is not about what happened on July 4th, because what happened, happened, and there is nothing anyone can do about that now. But it is about freeing Sidney and improving matters for this District of Columbia residents who own dogs and for those who visit with their dogs. Fortunately, the small dog is recovering well (at home now we learned today) and that is equally as important as freeing Sidney.
DC OFFICIALS AND OTHERS WITH CONTACT INFORMATION
DC Mayor Adrian M. Fenty: Contact Information Fax: 202-727-0505; Call Center Phone: 727-1000; E-mail: adrian.fenty@dc.gov.
The DC City Council Members we believe have an interest in animal protection or related issues (one way or the other) include: Jim Graham, Jack Evans, Mary
Cheh, Carol Schwartz and Phil
Mendelson.
Please click here for the web site with the DC Council members' contact info.or go to
www.dc.goc and click on the City Council bottom at the bottom of the home page.
The city council member who, according to what was learned from the Department of Health (see below) , is pressing the petition to declare Sidney a dangerous dog, and possibly put to death, to advance his case to ban pit bulls and mixes from the District, is
Mr. James Graham, in whose Ward (1) the incident of July 4
th occurred. Mr. Graham's contact information is: Phone: 202-724-8181; Fax #: 202-724-8109; E-mail: jgraham@dccouncil.us
The Office of the Inspector General is responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, waste and
absue of government resources. The contact information for the Inspector General is:
Honorable Charles J.
WilloughbyDC Inspector General
Office of the Inspector General
717 14
th Street, NW, Fifth Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Email: oig@dc.gov
Phone: (202) 727-2540
Fax: (202) 727-9846
The Humane Society of Washington runs the
DC animal control program as a contractor for and under the policies of the DC Government, reporting to the Department of Health. In any communication you have with the Humane Society, whatever their role in this case may have been, please acknowledge the otherwise great job that they do with a heartbreaking, thankless task under policies that are handed to them by DC, and with funding that is woefully inadequate. The interim executive director's contact information is: Ilene
Steiman, 202-723-5730 ext 229, ilene.steiman@washhumane.org
Ms. Lisa LaFontaine has been appointed CEO of the Washington Humane Society, effective in October. She is currently with the
Monadnock Humane Society in New Hampshire (PO Box 678, Route 10, West
Swanzey, NH 03469). Please ask her to weigh in now on this matter because, among other things, she has a pit bull herself, and she will have to live with the aftermath. Please ask her when she arrives in DC to strive to include all dogs, including pit bulls, in the DC Animal
Control's policy which is now : A Good Home for all Adoptable Animals, that is, except pit bulls, who are not tested for
adoptability because of funds.
Monadnock's contact information is:
E-mail Address: monadpets@humanecommunity.org
Phone: 603-352-9011
Voice Mail - (603) 352-0035
Fax - (603) 358-6095
The DC Department of Health (DoH) administers the city's programs regarding animals. The chief of the
DoH's Animal Disease Prevention Department is Ms. Peggy Keller. Her office is responsible for all animal control matters. Please be polite in any communication you send to her as she too is only doing her job --- a thankless but important job at that --- and she is known to be reasonable and fair. She has too many bosses, too little funding, and a huge job. Her contact information is: Phone: 202-535-2188, Fax: 202-535-1359, e-mail: peggy.keller@dc.gov
The Administrative Law Judge who held the hearings was Judge Jesse P. Goode. His contact information is: Office of Administrative Hearings, Administrative Law Judge is Jesse P. Goode, Fax: 202.442.4789, Phone: 202.442.9094. You may obtain a copy of the complete CD recording of the July 26th hearing by sending a $10 check made out to the DC Treasurer for CD Number DH-A078007 (DoH v. Blum) to: DC Office of Administrative Hearings, 825 North Capitol Street NE, Room 4150, Washington DC 20002-4210.
OTHERS
The Humane Society of the United States has published a Model Dangerous Dog Act (See appendix 1). Mr. Adam Goldfarb is the Issues Specialist there who works on Companion Animals issues. Please write Mr. Goldfarb and plead with him to improve the Model Act and the guidelines that accompany it (there are no guidelines now) to, among other things, to make sure that truly good dogs do not get caught in the jaws of the Act by, say legislators who wish to use it to achieve their own ends or vindictive neighbors trying to destroy dogs they do not like. Mr. Goldfarb's contact information is:
E-mail: agoldfarb@hsus.org
Phone:301-258-3065
Address: The Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L St., NW, Washington, DC 20037
Marc Fisher at The Washington Post has shown an interest in this subject generally. His contact information is: E-mail marcfisher@washpost.com, Phone number 202.334.7563. You can also join the Post's blogs on the various related topic by going directly to its website as discussed in RESPONSE and ARTICLES in a posting below.
The George Washington University Law School runs an excellent Animal Law Center that works on many issues realted to animal welfare and protection in DC. It would be interesting to seek their advice on closing some of the gaps that casued so much time and valuable resources to be spent on this case when it should have been resolved long ago by the usual means. Contact information for the program is:
Animal Law Program
GW Law School
716 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
This blog is also based on information we have heard and read (n the press and from some of the parties) and is, to the best of our knowledge, true. It contains informaiton we believe is relevant, material and necessary for the purposes of the blog. If anyone knows of anything that contradicts anything herein, please let us know and we will consider publishing it, as we have already.
This Blogger is not connected with any of the parties or dogs in any way. Our concern is purely for saving Sidney and resolving the issues for DC residents in the future. (See also About This Blog posting, below.)
Please post comments or questions under the Comments, Responses, Articles, Cases posting, below. And thank you showing your compassion and understanding by visiting this site for Sidney and all of us. Thank you especially for understanding that animals are living creatures and not toys or property, and that when we have the option, we must opt for life and not death.
