I caught news of this story from Ocean City, MD only a few months ago, but have woken up with this entire situation on my mind every day since. Vanessa was rescued once and given a loving home outside of the shelter, something that many “pitbull” type dogs don’t get often. Instead they have a bad reputation and are judged by people with heinous preconceived opinions of how dangerous, mean, and aggressive they are. This exact bias is what created this situation – one that is so unjustified in so many ways. The plaintiff could not identify which dog “bit” her- and furthermore provided zero evidence of a bite or attack after the accusation. Coincidentally, the plaintiff accusing Vanessa of a bite is a personal injury lawyer, with a husband also involved in local politics. In addition to that, the judge who refused to recuse himself knows the plaintiff and her husband on a personal level. If this isn’t small town politics, I don’t know what is. For this case to be drug out to almost a year now, with the dog in solitary confinement, is absolutely absurd. Not only was Vanessa being held isolated and alone, but she also was not being given medical treatment for her thyroid problem, she was not getting any human interaction or exiting the cage, and at one point was found in her own feces with sores on her body from sitting on concrete for so long. The conditions by the town were absolutely deplorable and shameful, and all over a case with zero evidence! There was no need to put this animal through these conditions and emotional trauma over an alleged bite with no evidence, uncertainty identifying Vanessa, and clear motives. You don’t have to be a dog person to see that this case was unfair, unjust, and be outraged by the way the town of Ogden NY behaved in this case. As a voiceless animal, she should have been given the benefit of the doubt or given just a chance before being taken from her loved ones and left in despair, alone in a concrete kennel. Although the outcome is much greater than euthanasia, it doesn’t dismiss the fact that Judge should have dropped all charges as soon as the plaintiff couldn’t identify the dog/produce evidence of a bite. This disappointing behavior by the town of Ogden has resulted in 11 months of a family without their dog and a dog without its family. There are plenty, actually millions, of dogs euthanized every day due to having no one that wants them – there was no need to take this dog from its family who loves and adores her. I hope that this gets some attention, if it was a human it would be a violation of constitutional rights and unlike Vanessa, the defendant would be considered innocent until proven guilty. I also hope that local residents of Ogden will consider new politicians in future elections – hopefully people who have a heart for animals and general moral as a whole. Thank you!
