Woman says city is trying to kill her dog. But pet is given a temporary reprieve

A dog at the center of a federal civil rights lawsuit will not be put to death as long as litigation is pending and the owner pays the city of Visalia $500 a month to house her condemned pet at the city pound, a lawyer for the city said Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Fresno.

But a lawyer for dog owner Kimberly Renee Stokes cried foul.

Attorney Marla Tauscher said Stokes is disabled and on leave from her job as a nurse, so she can’t afford to pay $500 a month until the legal battle to save her dog Armani is over.

Tauscher also argued that the city didn’t give Stokes a fair hearing in February when a hearing officer declared that Armani is a danger to the public.

In addition, Tauscher told Judge Dale Drozd that the hearing officer, Visalia attorney Thomas E. Hornburg, has a bias because the city pays him for such hearings, and he has a financial incentive to rule in the city’s favor.

Tauscher said Hornburg did not allow Stokes to cross-examine witnesses, a fundamental right in American court proceedings. Stokes also was blindsided by evidence that was not given to her prior to the hearing, Tauscher told the judge.

The presumption of innocence also is a fundamental concept of the justice system, the lawyer said. The city, however, violated Stokes’ due process rights by predetermining that Armani was a danger to the public before the Feb. 13 animal control hearing, Tauscher said. In the hearing, Stokes had to prove her pet was not dangerous or vicious, which is contrary to established law, the lawyer said.

But Drozd said the city’s ordinance clearly says the owner has the burden to prove his pet is not a danger to the public. “This is not a criminal case,” Drozd told Tausher while finding no evidence to show the ordinance was illegal.

Tauscher asked Drozd for a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from killing Armani. Because the case poses unusual legal questions, Drozd said he needed time to rule. But the judge appeared to be leaning toward rejecting the motion because Tauscher had to show Stokes would suffer “irreparable harm” if the motion was rejected.

Attorney Leonard Herr, who represents Visalia, told the judge that Stokes would not suffer “irreparable harm” because the city has promised not to kill Armani as long as there is a legal fight. Because of her disability, Stokes can claim hardship and apply for lesser boarding fees, which the city would consider, Herr told Drozd.

After the hearing, Herr said the city is putting up a strong legal fight in order to protect the public. “If the city ignores a dangerous or vicious dog, the city would face serious liability,” he said.

Stokes, who has owned Armani for two years or “since he was a puppy,” contends neither Armani nor her two others dogs, Gianni and Mademoiselle, are dangerous or viscous. She has set up a gofundme.com account to help with her legal fight.

In her lawsuit, Stokes is seeking damages against Visalia city officials “for committing acts under color of law and depriving Stokes of rights secured by the Constitution of the United States and laws of the United States.”

According to her lawsuit, on the morning of Jan. 31, 2017, a neighbor called animal control complaining Stokes’ dogs attacked two of his dogs, Andy and Jacko. Shortly afterward, a city animal control officer seized Armani and Mademoiselle, declaring them vicious, and gave Stokes documents on how to request a hearing to appeal the city's determination.

The documents informed Stokes that she had to pay a $350 fee for the hearing, and if she didn't pay, the city could euthanize her dogs. Stokes paid the $350 fee.

A day after the Feb. 13 hearing, Hornburg ruled that Mademoiselle was not vicious and returned the dog to Stokes. Hornburg, however, determined that Armani was vicious and sentenced him to death.

On Tuesday, Herr told the judge that the Feb. 13 hearing was fair, even though Stokes was not allowed to cross-examine her neighbor. Because the neighbor and Stokes were highly emotional during the hearing, Hornburg asked Stokes to give him questions so he could ask the neighbor, Herr said.

Herr also said Hornburg was a fair judge, and Tauscher has not submitted evidence from other animal control hearings to prove otherwise.

Stokes didn’t attend the hearing, but in a court declaration, she said her dogs are important to her because was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and is unable to have children. “My dogs Armani, Gianni and Mademoiselle are like children to me,” Stokes wrote in her declaration. “They are members of my family, not just property.”

If the city kills Armani, Stokes said: “I will be heartbroken.”

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Woman says city is trying to kill her dog. But pet is given a temporary reprieve."