Saving Thunder: An Open Letter to the Leaders of the City of Denver

Honorable Mayor Mike Johnston
City Council Member Amanda P. Sandoval
City Council Member Kevin Flynn
City Council Member Jamie Torres
City Council Member Diana Romero Campbell
City Council Member Amanda Sawyer
City Council Member Paul Kashmann
City Council Member Flor Alvidrez
City Council Member Shontel M. Lewis
City Council Member Darrell Watson
City Council Member Chris Hinds
City Council Member Stacie Gilmore
City Council Member Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez
City Council Member Sarah Parody
City of Denver

Honorable Mayor and Council Members of the City of Denver:

Cities sometimes get an opportunity to do the right thing, for the right reason, to help keep the public safe while also saving the life of an animal in keeping with the values of the constituents they serve. You are currently presented with such an opportunity. I write today to implore you to use your influence to spare the life of a dog named "Thunder" currently housed in your animal shelter.

The facts of this case are vast and no doubt known to you, but appear to be summarized as follows from my perspective:

• a family dog named Thunder who had 7 years of  good behavior around people, children and other animals
• a circumstantial incident where Thunder's owner was not home and he got out of a gate, leading to an incident that resulted in charges
• Thunder was taken from his owner and impounded in a shelter kennel for 9 months in an environment not at all like the one he had always known
• where his initial social behavior degraded over time, as shelter employees tossed treats into his kennel in a failed attempt to bond with him, causing shelter employees to fear him
• resulting in Thunder not being allowed out of the building to breathe fresh air and exercise
• leading a previously well behaved dog to display fear-based behaviors not exhibited prior to his entry into the shelter (and which likely would have abated outside the building)
• about which national subject matter expert Jim Crosby opined the dog does not create a public safety risk
• and for which placement of the dog is available at Base Camp Eden
• so the city can fulfill its public safety goals to ensure people are kept safe (even though this dog may have injured no one).

My name is Aubrie Kavanaugh. I am an Army veteran and a retired defense litigation paralegal/investigator. I spent more than 30 years of my life defending cities like yours in addition to decades of animal welfare/animal shelter reform advocacy. I am surprised the City of Denver code does not contain provisions like those in the city where I worked to prevent dogs like Thunder from being kenneled for months through use of due process and a disposition hearing.  I would argue that housing a dog in these conditions constitutes a form of cruelty - regardless of good intent - because it is entirely preventable through a process in which the dog's disposition can and should be determined not within months but within 30 days. I was not surprised to learn that shelter staff previously gave testimony in an adjacent case (People v. Monica R. Lopez) that the shelter is a "stressful environment for any dog. . .[and is] not a normal environment. That's not a healthy, you know, dogs did not evolve to live in a box and be secluded from, you know, other animals and people." The National Canine Research Council would agree:

Shelters are noisy, alien environments [for dogs], filled with strange smells, unfamiliar people, and dogs they may hear, but not see. We should not be surprised that some dogs may. . . behave differently when confined in a shelter, with its barrage of stressors that the dog cannot control, than they will in the safe, secure, predictable environment of a home, cared for by people with whom they are able to form positive attachments.
Blanket assumptions about the future behavior of dogs. . .in a shelter, as well as about the suitability of such dogs for adoption, are unfounded. Rather than rely on blanket assumptions, shelters should trust to compassion, critical thinking, and common sense."

I fully understand that you have a public safety mandate to keep people safe and that the safety of humans will always take priority over saving the lives of animals. One of the worst cases I ever worked related to dog bite related fatality of WWII Veteran Donald Thomas in the City of Leeds, Alabama, when Mr. Thomas went to check his mail and was attacked and killed by two dogs inside city limits. The law firm from which I retired defended the city in a wrongful death case based on negligence; it was essentially a failure to protect case. Jim Crosby, who has offered his expert opinion here, worked with the prosecution in examination of what led to the attack. The dogs in our case were shot and killed on site, having killed a man. Your case involves not a death, but an encounter in which Thunder may have caused minor injuries. 

I simply do not see any risk at all to public safety by allowing Thunder to be spared and sent to Basecamp Eden where he can live out the rest of his days in Calhan, Colorado, while not living in a small kennel inside a closed building. The mission of Basecamp Eden is perfectly suited to dogs like Thunder: to save animals from high risk situations and provide them with a safe, structured environment. The fact that Base Camp works with veterans suffering from PTSD to help them create meaningful connections with animals is an absolute plus. Should Basecamp Eden be allowed to take ownership of Thunder (following execution of a hold harmless contract), I would not be surprised to learn at some point in the future that Thunder has not only returned to his happy, balanced behavior, but that he has also helped a veteran (to whom we owe a debt of gratitude) find some peace in an otherwise very challenging world.

We hear all the time from people in the animal shelter industry that "nobody wants to kill animals." After a couple of decades of advocacy for shelter animals generally, and for dogs unfairly labeled as "aggressive" or a risk to public safety and then destroyed, I'm not so sure I believe those claims.  Actions speak louder than words. Denver is seen as one of the most progressive cities in the country. It seems wholly antithetical for the City of Denver to end the life of a dog against advice of an expert and when there is placement available that will help you fulfill your public safety goals. 

Please take action to safe the life of this dog while also reconsidering your city code. The dog whose life is at risk today is Thunder. But tomorrow it could be a dog who is a beloved member of your family or the family of someone you know.

Thank you for your time and your compassion towards animals.

Aubrie E. Kavanaugh, Paws4Change

(image courtesy of Base Camp Eden)