Save Heidi - so sad

[Ruby Red]

Heidi, is a doberman, and it seems wholly ridiculous to me that a destruction order has been awarded against the poor thing:

Her story:

We adopted Heidi almost 4 years ago from a well-established and reputable rescue organization specializing in the Doberman breed. Like most Doberman, Heidi is a very intelligent and energetic dog. She is a loving & loyal member of our family.

In October, while out for a leashed walk to a local market, a stranger approached suddenly wanting to pet her. Startled and in her excitement, Heidi popped up at the same time that the stranger bent over to pet her. She collided with his face. He has claimed this resulted in a broken nose and reported the accident to Royal Oak Police.

Royal Oak is now prosecuting this as a dog bite/attack! The Assistant Deputy City Attorney has offered to dismiss the criminal charges only if Heidi is destroyed or removed from her loving family in Royal Oak. This is happening to our family with a 30+ year history as law abiding Royal Oak residents. Heidi has no previous incidents of aggressive behavior and is a well trained, obedient, loving success story of a Doberman rescue.

All dog owners must be aware of the risks of criminal prosecution under the antiquated Michigan statutes written in 1919 and the paranoid overreaction by local city officials who are prosecuting dog breeds, not dog attack cases.

Time is of the essence to save Heidi’s life. A final decision on Heidi’s fate will be made on February 9th, 2012.

Please sign the petition here: Save Heidi Home

PLEASE X-POST

RON - PLEASE CAN YOU X-POST THIS TO YOUR DOBERMAN SITE?

[purplelori]

Done--unfortunately, only one person per 'email address' (I guess) can sign-so no spouse can add their message. Too bad. Hope it helps--she looks like a real sweetie. If they don't get the order reversed, surely someone out of the area would take her?

[Ruby Red]

Most likely they will accept that option, but how absolutely awful to take the poor dog away from the family who rescued her and who obviously love her and have cared for her these past few years. The facts such as they are and the decision make me so angry - this is clearly a case of an accidental bump - if it were an attack there would be bite marks surely?!!!

It seems you can only sign once Lori, I tried again and it wouldn't let me either

[Dragon]

This is pathetic. Peaches has clocked me in the throat and a couple of my friends got bumped by her...who does he think he is just walking up to a strange doberman and trying to pet it anyways? I hope she gets to stay home. So sad. I wish we were closer. I know of people considering a doberman.

[Ruby Red]

Hmmmmm....maybe things are not as clear cut as they seem..........The wording is quite different in this version of the 'facts'....

From: Royal Oak dog's plight goes viral | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

The life-and-death cause of a Doberman pinscher in Royal Oak went viral online after authorities said the pet might need to be destroyed for biting a man outside a grocery store last fall.

Scores of calls and hundreds of e-mails from dog lovers to Royal Oak City Hall this week came from as far as Nova Scotia and China on behalf of Heidi.

The Doberman's bite to a Warren man, seconds after he asked whether the dog was friendly, left him with a broken nose and impaired breathing that required surgery, City Attorney Dave Gillam said.

The resulting legal battle over the dog's fate has global viewers of Save Heidi Home in a rush to sign an online petition that Gillam said Thursday unfairly defends the dog while bad-mouthing the city.

The website says Heidi, a 5-year-old rescued Doberman, "popped up at the same time that the stranger bent over to pet her. She collided with his face" during the incident Oct. 15 outside the Fresh Approach grocery store.

Not so, Gillam contended.

"Somehow it has been portrayed that we want to destroy this dog, have it drawn and quartered, for a dog that just gave a man a head butt. That could not be further from the truth," he said. Reports from the Beaumont Hospital emergency room and Royal Oak animal control officers both said the victim's nose was broken by the force of the dog's bite, city documents said.

Gillam said Royal Oak is enforcing its vicious dog ordinance by requesting that the owner either move out of the city with her two Dobermans, have Heidi destroyed or put the dog through obedience training and have it muzzled in public. Heidi's owner faces a Thursday court date for a pretrial conference, he said.

The dog's owner, Jan Spalding of Royal Oak, has been given two tickets, one for the dog's bite and another because Heidi wasn't licensed with the city; the violations are misdemeanors punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine, Gillam said.

Spalding could not be reached Thursday but her website said: "Heidi has no previous incidents of aggressive behavior and is a well-trained, obedient, loving success story of a Doberman rescue."

The injured man, Kevin Seagraves, might need more surgery, and he plans to sue Spalding, Seagraves' attorney Harold Perakis said.

"We're not trying to destroy this dog, and neither is the city, but we want to make sure this doesn't happen to someone else," Perakis said Thursday.

[superpimp]

Rediculous!

Can I sue myself for all the times I have bent over to attach Lar's leash only to have him raise his head to lick my face and bang it into my face? LOL!

[KeeperBoy]

This happened not far from me. The dog did bite, the ruled on it yesterday and she will now have to wear a muzzle when in public. Seems fair to me!

[purplelori]

I have to agree, it is definitely the best of the choices originally mentioned. Hope they find a trainer who can help as well. Having lived with a dog who was rather crotchety as he got older and ultimately couldn't be trusted not to nip at passing runners, etc--an ounce of prevention is worth it!

[Annie]

interesting to hear both sides of the story, as always. muzzling in public and training seem like an appropriate 'sentence', i wonder how she will react to the muzzle though! some dogs just go nutso when they are on