Clackamas County Commissioners reject all rescue offers. Euthanasia set for tomorrow, January 13

Please write, FAX, call and protest.

Report delivered by Clackamas County Counsel

Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 9:36 AM
Subject: Lladk

• “They [The Clackamas County Commissioners] have decided to comply with the Hearing’s Officer order and Circuit Court judgment directing euthanasia of the dog Lladk.
  
  After considering the requested accommodations of returning the dog to the Kollenburns and sending it to a rescue, they decided that those options are not reasonable under the circumstances.  Of particular concern is that there is no way to ensure the dog is kept away from children in the future.  That is true regardless of whether the dog is returned to Kollenburns or whether it is released to a rescue where it would likely be re-homed.
  
  As a courtesy, and per my prior emails to you, staff will not euthanize the dog until after the expiration of 24 hours from this email.  Thus, my understanding is that euthanasia will be scheduled for tomorrow afternoon."

This decision was made this morning by the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners, leaving 24 hours before Lladk is killed.

Rebuttal 

From: Gail O'connell-babcock <gocbwatchdog@aol.com>
To: bcc@clackamas.us <bcc@clackamas.us>
Cc: kristinewil@clackamas.us <kristinewil@clackamas.us>; mikebez@clackamas.us <mikebez@clackamas.us>; kwohlers@pamplinmedia.com <kwohlers@pamplinmedia.com>; rbabcock@bhcslaw.com <rbabcock@bhcslaw.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 12, 2021 11:53 am

Subject:  Lladk

To: The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners

       Mike Bezner, Assistant Director of Transportation,
       Supervisor of Clackamas County Dog Control
       Kristine Wallace, Clackamas Shelter Manager

I received the news today that you can only be satisfied by killing Lladk. Your arguments for killing him have nothing to do with reasoning. They are about absolute power not need. They are made up:  What if an Asteroid hit a house in which Llakd had been re-homed where there were no children in the home but there might have been and if one had been there, but wasn’t, the child that was not there had crawled through a dog door accidentally left open. and the child that was not there got bitten? Is that reasoning? No, it is a will to kill despite all consequences and harm done. It speaks to who you are. 

I am truly stunned and shocked by the inhumanity and the arrogance of the decision of the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners to kill Lladk despite expert and professional rescue and humane options that protect and address everyone's concerns [including the most nationally recognized and respected no-kill animal sanctuary]. Could he bite another child in a home without children? Hardly. He is not motivated to bite children. But you are motivated to kill. 

It is barbaric that the only way the county can feel "safe” is to kill a service dog with an extensive pro social history following a single preventable provoked incident with a toddler who went back to playing that afternoon with the only treatment sutures to his head, antibiotics and Tylenol. (had you bothered to read the medical report.)  It was in fact an inhibited bite given the size differential between dog and child secondary to a history of incidental provocation. Such events can be easily prevented. With all due respect an idiot would know that. You are killing him because you can. There is no other reason, demonstrated in this case by your refusal to consult or listen to animal behavior experts, Dr Christopher Pachel, a diplomate in animal behavior science and your arrogant rejection of an offer from the most highly regarded animal welfare organization in the country whose skills and knowledge far surpass yours and most certainly surpass Joe Turner, the hearings officer, who is the only party in your herd you care to "protect."      

Your decision is unacceptable, cruel and ignorant. There is a reason Clackamas County is known throughout Oregon for its poor welfare decisions animals and persons alike (recent media reports the county commissioners flouted mask wearing and encouraged mass gatherings (Thanksgiving) during a pandemic despite government orders as an example of how much they care about human lives). This county has earned its reputation.

I challenge it.    

Gail O'Connell-Babcock, PhD

Citizens for Humane Animal Legislation/Watchdog 

Contact information:

Clackamas County Board of Commissioners
Phone: 503-655-8581
Fax: 503-742-5919
bcc@clackamas.us
 
Tootie Smith, County Commissioner - Chair 
Paul Savas, County Commissioner, Position 2
Martha Schrader, County Commissioner, Position 3 
Mark Shull, County Commissioner, Position 4
Sonya Fischer, County Commissioner, Position 5 
 
Other contacts

Mike Bezner, Assistant Director of Transportation,
Supervisor of Clackamas County Dog Control
Telephone: 503-742-4651
E-mail:  mikebez@clackamas.us

Kristine Wallace, Manager, Clackamas County Dog Services  
Telephone: 503- 655-8628
E-mail  kristinewil@clackamas.us