Tuesday June 30, 2009, 11:47 am
THE DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SERVICES CAN KILL STU ON JULY 23
AND THERE IS NOTHING TO STOP THEM--
EXCEPT YOU.


The Board first took up the matter of revisiting Stu's case and his horrible care in the pound in May 2007. Several attempts were made by the Board to place the issue of Stu on the Board's agenda. All of them were blocked by Ed Boks and Linda Barth. Finally, after 3 months, the Board voted on August 27, 2007 to move Stu from the pound to Bobby Dorafshar's K9s Only facility for the duration of the legal proceedings.

Then we went through 2 years of Court proceedings and brief-writing, etc., etc. City Attorney Todd Leung lied to the Court in his briefs and blocked any attempt to allow the truth into the case.

So, here we are. The City had been successful in keeping the truth that Stu did not receive a fair hearing out of the Courts. Saving Stu and sending him home is now in the hands of the City government. Here's what has to happen:


The Board must call and hold a Special Meeting before July 13, which is the next regular Board meeting.The president may call the meeting or 3 Commissioners may call the meeting. As of this writing, no one has called a meeting. At this meeting, which is not scheduled, the Board must discuss the recommendation which they will make, in writing, to Council and the Mayor.
At the regular meeting on July 13, the Board must vote to send the recommendation to Council. Council will either refer the matter to the Public Safety Committee or the PS Committee may waive consideration and refer the matter back to the full Council. The City Attorney will advise Council on what powers they have to Save Stu and send him home. Because of the red tape that a recommendation will encounter, the Board must also vote to stay the order to kill Stu for 60 days to allow the matter to work its way through the bureaucracy.

If the Council votes to make a recommendation to the Mayor, then the Mayor will decide upon the recommendation.
Meanwhile, Board members AND THE PUBLIC may lobby Council members in favor of the recommendation. City Attorney Dov Lesel told them this on June 22, 2009-- that they may contact Councilmembers as individuals or as a Board.

Here's what's happened so far:

Members of the public , and myself, have urged the Board to hold a Special Meeting. The president, Tariq Khero OR 3 Commissioners may call a meeting with 24 hours notice. The Brown Act does not prohibit Commissioners from discussing the setting of a Special Meeting.

Here's what the Board has done: NOTHING.

Here's what you can do: Demand that a Special Meeting of the Board be called before July 13.

Email or preferably FAX your demand that the Board call and hold a Special Meeting before July 13.


FAX the Board 213-482-9511. On your Fax COVER SHEET, direct the Board Secretary to forward your fax to ALL Boardmembers IMMEDIATELY.

FAX Board president Tariq Khero at his office:
Nasatir, Hirsch, Podberesky & Genego,PLC FAX: 310-392-9209
Call Tariq Khero at his office:

Email all Boardmembers and REQUEST A REPLY: tariqkhero@gmail.com,
ninekitties@aol.com, ireneponce@earthlink.net, secundar@unitedtalent.com,
ajq1trq2@aol.com

CC Jeff on your emails: stu.911@gmail.com

Flood Animal Services' phones with calls demanding a meeting of the Board
213-482-9506, 9501, 9505,9504

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 11:53 am
http://www.myspace.com/save_stu

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 12:23 pm
Thanks Christina Crossposted and on FB

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 12:28 pm
This is a ridiculous situation, these lunatic laws are beyond belief, will crosspost alert, thanks Cristina. x

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 12:52 pm
Noted-thank you. I do not know the history of Stu--how did he get to this point? It would appear from the video that he has mange-poor baby. He has been in pounds for years? Thank you. Fax will be sent.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 12:53 pm
What a bunch of stupid morans!!! Give the dog back his family its been long enough much less take his life!! OH Please!!! Stupid mean people must get there kicks doing this kind of thing to innocent animals. There owners need to be raising a stink over this and there friends where are they? They really need to be speaking up and making all kinds of rucks goings on. will cross post Thanks Cristina

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 1:16 pm
A little about Stu´s story

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 1:23 pm
More details of this story

Playing political games with a dog's life

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 2:19 pm
I read this message in Free Stu ( cause on Facebook)
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_12716323

There it is suggested by Jeff de la Rosa :" Let's all tell the Brand new City Attorney, who is an animal lover, that he must FREE STU as his first action in office. Please comment on this article. "

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 2:30 pm
Thanks Cristina...I left a comment and will crosspost action for Stu.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 4:21 pm
THANK YOU

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 4:46 pm
noted susan but coouldnt find the pettition

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 4:53 pm
I have signed a petition on Aug 26, 2007 , but it is closed now.

Now we can Demand that a Special Meeting of the Board be called before July 13 sendind messages to the above emails.


Email or preferably FAX your demand that the Board call and hold a Special Meeting before July 13.


And comment on the news article I posted above.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 8:41 pm
sad....noted. I guess they have nothing better to do than emotionally abuse a dog.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 10:17 pm
What a ridiculous fuss over a dog that should have been allowed to home or to a new one a long time ago. These people must be demented.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 11:20 pm
Crossposted and shared on Facebook.
Thanks Christina

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 3:28 am
crossposted shared on f b thanks

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 3:34 am
Emails gone out, story noted.. Power is sooo dangerous bxxx that abuse theirs to torture others..
Thanks Cristina

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 6:07 am
Dear City of Los Angeles Officials,
I trust all letter recipients are familiar with Stu, a rescued dog who lived
an uneventful five years with Jeff de la Rosa, before de la Rosa entrusted
his dogs to an assistant while away for a family emergency.
Under that pet sitter’s care, in August 2005, Stu atypically clashed with
another household dog and wound up with a torn ear. It is accepted knowledge
that injured animals may react defensively. As the pet sitter slipped a
harness over Stu’s hurt ear, the scared dog bit her twice on the arm.
“A couple of puncture wounds,” Commissioner Archie Quincey, a 30-year
veteran of L.A. Country Animal Control, would later state. Still, a full
month after the incident, the assistant served de la Rosa with a lawsuit and
Stu was seized from a locked, backyard kennel. Thus began Stu’s
incarceration under L.A. Animal Services (LAAS) and a bureaucratic battle so
absurd, Stu’s story has gained worldwide notoriety.
What is the point of keeping this now elderly dog on death row? Dr. Richard
Polsky, a co-creator of City criteria for gauging dangerous dogs, and Bobby
Dorofshar of New Leash on Life, also a City advisor and one-time member of
its Spay/Neuter Advisory Committee — have testified that Stu poses no
threat of aggression to humans. Their conclusion stems from assessment of
Stu’s pre- and post-incident behavior, plus comprehension of how the
victim’s actions may have triggered the bites. Dorofshar sheltered Stu at
his own facility for many months, during which time he came to know the dog.
The City Attorney should call off his resistance to de la Rosa’s appeal and
close the books on this case. Please stop shuffling Stu through a
bureaucratic thicket and let the dog live his final years with de la Rosa.
After four years of wrongful internment in LAAS facilities, just one fair
and merciful outcome remains: Stu needs to go home.
Si LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE &
BOARD OF ANIMAL SERVICES COMMISSIONERS
Rocky.Delgadillo@lacity.org, Laurie.Rittenberg@lacity.org,
Todd.Leung@lacity.org, Dov.Lesel@lacity.org, tariqkhero@gmail.com,
ninekitties@aol.com, ireneponce@earthlink.net, secundar@unitedtalent.com,
ajq1trq2@aol.com, Jim.Bickhart@lacity.org, Ani.Commission@lacity.org
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE & CITY OFFICIALS
councilmember.weiss@lacity.org, weiss@lacity.org,
Councilmember.Parks@lacity.org, Bernard.Parks.Jr@lacity.org,
councilmember.smith@lacity.org, Dennis.Zine@lacity.org,
councilmember.reyes@lacity.org, ed.reyes@lacity.org,
David.Hersch@lacity.org, Mike.Hernandez@lacity.org,
Moniquea.Roberson@lacity.org, jose.gardea@lacity.org,
rebecca.valdez@lacity.org, guadalupe.duran.medina@lacity.org,
lisa.flores@lacity.org, tony.perez@lacity.org, monica.valencia@lacity.org,
mayor@lacity.org
CONTACT WITH NO EMAIL AVAILABLE:
[incoming] City Attorney Elect Carmen Trutanich
180 East Ocean Blvd.; Long Beach, CA 90802
ph: 562-216-4444; fax: 562-216-4445
Playing political games with a dog’s life
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-1779-LA-Pet-Rescue-Examiner~y2009m6d17-Playing-political-games-with-a-dogs-life
Proposed [impossible] settlement in Stu’s case
http://sites.google.com/site/savestuletters/timeline/6-8-09Delarosaltrresettlement.pdf?
Jeff de la Rosa, Stu’s dad
stu.911@gmail.com

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 6:12 am
Thanxx Cristina.... and to all of you for standing up for STU... standing together as a team makes us a formidable force... well done to you all...

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 8:11 am
I sent emails to all concerned & will post on MySpace, also!

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 8:56 am
TY Cristina !!

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 4:21 pm
One has the send the emails one by one as AOL is blocking multiple recipients. I am busy doing that right now, and once done will forward the email to my ENTIRE contact list on Outlook.

I just can't stand the horrific abuse of this dog, simply because some young twit thought she could make a fast buck here. SCUM does not even begin to describe her actions, nor does the word DESPICABLE begin to describe the actions of the animal services city officials.

I AM ASHAMED TO BE A MEMBER OF THE HUMAN RACE. Stu, if you can hear me, I apologise on behalf of our two legged species, who deign to call themselves 'human'. I know this does not mean much right now, and whatever happens, I send a soul message to you, a message of love and sincere apologies for this suffering. God bless you dear boy.

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 5:13 pm
I've sent out over a hundred emails now - to everyone as listed on the share plus to contacts in outlook to forward as well. THIS IS HEART BREAKING.

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 5:14 pm
Also did a forward to all my friends here at Care2. Apologies if it duplicates messages already received by other friends, but in this case, too many notices (I think) is not an issue.

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 5:25 pm
Emails sent

Wednesday July 1, 2009, 6:00 pm
This is why these stupid vicious dog laws have to stop!!!
A person gets in a bar fight nothing happens or MAYBE one night in prison. A person murders someone they are "rehabilitated" in prison and set loose. His mother didn't hug him enough.
a dog bites someone and they are sentenced to death. Why is it humans have more tolerance for other humans who fully understand our laws and mores but kill anyway and zero tolerance for other species who have no concept of our laws and cannot understand our language. We hold them to a higher standard than we do our fellow Homo sapiens who DO know better but kill or fight anyway.
Human ego and stupidity kills again!

Thursday July 2, 2009, 12:20 am
i had that thought a little while ago only i worded it a little differently basically the same principals Jill :)

cross posted

Thursday July 2, 2009, 4:31 am
Emails sent out, truely hope that Stu is saved. This is just horrible.

Thursday July 2, 2009, 5:18 am
Hello everyone. Just thought I would share the letter I sent to the Board members who are the ones to decide poor Stu's fate. I thought I would point out some truths about animals that some people don't realize. It appeared to me that all who have been deciding Stu's fate do not really understand dogs very well. So here is my letter to inform them of some facts. Have a great day everyone.
I am writing on behalf of Stu the dog who has been kept from his owner and caged for so many years. Quite frankly this is outrageous and cruel to keep an animal in a cage for so long when Stu has an owner that he can go home to. It is not vicious for an animal to bite out of pain, fear or protecting itself. People should realize that there are circumstances where an animal biting is understandable on the animal's part. They are not emotionless and do have feelings of love, in their own way, happiness, gratitude, excitement, contentment, and so on. People who really love animals know all this and that they are protective when they feel threatened or are sometimes protecting their owner/family out of love. I am not speaking of dogs who are commanded to attack for no good reason because that is wrong and vicious on the owner(s) part and is way more the owner at fault than the dog who is just doing what he is commanded to do. If a dog is raised properly and people do the right things then there would not be a problem hardly ever. It is owner's attitudes that need to change not dogs and I am not speaking without knowledge of these matters.
For now we are speaking of Stu and his right to live and return to his family. It touches my heart to know that this poor dog not only suffered injury but was condemned for defending himself when he was so hurt and afraid. He didn't know that when someone tried to help him that they were not going to cause him more pain because how could he possibly know that being a dog that is intelligent but still does not reason like we do, especially when they are hurt and in pain. Everyone knows, or should know, that you must be careful with an injured animal because they don't reason like we do. Do you think a vet puts down every animal that has ever bit or scratched them? No because they understand animals and don't blame them for what is only instinct. Granted not all do bite when hurt but the ones that do are not doing so because they are vicious so I hope you can understand that alot better now. I want to add one more thing and that is that I have been around animals all my life and watched the behaviour of all kinds of animals both in person and on tv, I used to watch animal ER shows too, and I have seen all the good in our animal friends. It is so unfair for dogs to get all the blame for their behaviours because alot of it can be the owner/family. If they are trained right they will be okay and not even fearful or vicious. When a dog has these traits when they are adopted they can be helped patiently, and with caring and love, to overcome their fears and bad habits. It takes alot of consistency, work and slow integration of socializing but it can be done but it has to be done with caring and firmness not fear or punishment which doesn't help the way it should since it only makes them feel more insecure and unsure of themselves and people. I wrote all this to show you all what it is possible to help an animal with no matter what the problem. It can really be done I have seen it happen and the transformation is wonderful and heartwarming.
So I ask in conclusion to please find it in your hearts to save Stu because I know that you's have the means to do that and you would show how compassionate and caring you are for animals by doing so. All life is precious and that includes our animal friends which gives them the right to life too.

Thursday July 2, 2009, 12:18 pm
emailed em goodluck

Thursday July 2, 2009, 5:55 pm
I hate Ed Boks
I thought we had won Stu his pass to life at a friend of Jeff's kennel.
Why is this Ed bluck still in office there.
And we already bombed Arnold with emails, that fool thinks he's too important to help animals:(

Thursday July 2, 2009, 6:00 pm
emails sent Thank you Susan & Cristina

Thursday July 2, 2009, 6:06 pm
Hello:

I will be out of the office July 2nd - July 8th.

If you require immediate assistance, please call the front office at 213-473-7008; otherwise, I will respond upon my return. Thank you.

Kindly,

Moniquea Roberson
Executive Assistant/Administrative Manager
Office of Councilmember Bernard C. Parks
Eighth District
200 N. Spring Street, Room 460
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 473-7008
(213) 485-7683 Fax
moniquea.roberson@lacity.org

"Those who suffer at the expense of another's sloth- shall not lose, but must not lie in wait for the inactive's fall. Keep moving."

Moniquea Roberson - April 2005

And I also got this one back.
The following message to was undeliverable.
The reason for the problem:
5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'No such recipient'

Final-Recipient: rfc822;ed.reyes@lacity.org
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0 (permanent failure)
Remote-MTA: dns; [10.32.127.237]
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 5.1.0 - Unknown address error 550-'No such recipient' (delivery attempts: 0)

and this one:(

ireneponce@earthlink.net

I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.


To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.


If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.


Click the link below to fill out the request:


https://webmail.pas.earthlink.net/wam/addme?a=ireneponce@earthlink.net&id=1mmx7E3V23Nl36K3

Friday July 3, 2009, 1:01 pm
FREE STU!!!!!!! Let him go home to his guardian Jeff.

Sunday July 5, 2009, 11:53 am
Stu does not deserve to even be in the animal shelter where he is definitely suffering just because some low-life sue-happy bitch wanted some fast illegal money! This dog is not vicious and everyone knows it. Even the thought of the officials wanting to euthanize STU tells me that these people are not fit to hold such positions concerning animals! I plan to write a lot of letters on Stu's behalf and I hope you all do too! This is an outrage that only an ignorant human could manage to create!

Saturday July 11, 2009, 12:25 pm
I posted Stu's video on my Facebook page.This needs to stop before they come for all us animal lovers.

Monday July 13, 2009, 9:20 pm
Update rec'd late this afternoon. Keep praying!! Please spread the word. Thanks!
Carol Waterman, Animal Activist & Volunteer, Montreal, Qc.Canada

A message from Jeff de la Rosa

Your emails, calls, faxes and attendance at these meetings has worked. I cannot thank all of you enough.

Here's the recap:
Monday, July 13, 2009
BOARD OF ANIMAL SERVICES COMMISSIONERS MOVES TO AMEND L.A. CODE TO FREE STU !

Posted by Jeff de la Rosa on 7/13/2009 02:42:00 PM

http://laanimalservicesboardwatch.blogspot.com/2009/07/board-of-animal-services-commissioners.html

The Board convened at about 10:30 (a half-hour late) and immediately began discussion of Item 3A regarding Stu. Although newly installed Interim General Manager, Kathy Davis was present for her first meeting ever, but she did not even get an introduction. I can't say I've ever even seen her before but she sat next to the City Attorney in the GM's spot...and was entirely silent.

The Board took Public Comment from a large group of concerned citizens, some who traveled from as far as southern Orange County to support Stu. The Board requested that no action to "euthanize" Stu be taken at this time. At 11:05 the Board withdrew to closed session to consult with Assistant City Attorney Laurie Rittenberg, the supervising attorney on Stu's court cases.

Although the Board estimated that they would return to open session at 11:45 , they did not return until past 12:30 p.m at which time, Commissioner Riordan introduced a motion that the Board make a recommendations to Council to amend the Los Angeles Municipal Code section covering "dangerous" dogs which would allow the Board to modify a "dangerous" designation made by a general manager, even long after the appeal process has been finalized. Commissioner Riordan stressed that the amendment be retroactive to cover Stu's case. Commissioner Ponce seconded the motion and it was passed 4-0 (Commissioner Secunda had left the meeting by this time and did not take part in the vote).

What this means is that , at a subsequent public meeting (presumably on July 27, 2009), the Board will actually make a recommendation to City Counicl to amend the code in order to give the Board the power to reverse a GM's decision AFTER the appeal had been finalized. I take this to mean that the Board, once empowered by the code change, intends to remove the "dangerous" designation from Stu which would allow the Board to send him home under reasonable terms and conditions for his care and control.

I do not know how long this will take, but apparently the Board intends to ask the Council for an expedited consideration of their request for the code change.

I'm a little frazzled by the whole thing because it doesn't seem real. I'm encouraged, but I will believe it when I see it. This could take months or weeks or the Council could refuse to the amend the code.

NOTE: The Board will hold their annual elections for President and Vice President on July 27. Last time the "election" was more of a mayoral "appointment" of Tariq Khero as interim President following the resignation last fall of Glenn Brown. Who's up?