I came home from work yesterday to see tears streaming down my husband's face as he was reading the newspaper. He is an almost 80-year-old disabled veteran we were training an emotional support dog for.

Ten days ago, the neighbor who is afraid of big dogs called Animal Control telling them our Belgian Malinois dog, Jeb, killed one of his dogs. Animal Control came out, never seeing the dead dog, and told my husband he had to surrender Jeb. My husband was upset saying he was sure that wasn't true but Kenneth Jewell insisted the dog be surrendered even though there was no court order.

My husband, who has heart disease and had two strokes, is in no mental or physical condition to argue and did as he was told and surrendered the dog. The next day, I called Animal Control, who said the dog was going to be destroyed because it was surrendered voluntarily. That was totally untrue and illegal. Dorothea Knight had an article in the Times Herald telling people not to surrender their dog without a court order. Unfortunately that was too late for us.

Now we have to keep our rescue dog in Animal Control until Sept. 19 when we go to court. Yes, the dog is a big dog but my husband has a muscle disease also and has to wear braces in order for him walk. If he falls, the dog comes over to him and he can pull himself up on the dog. Now if he falls he has to lie on the floor until someone comes to help because he can not crawl to a chair. We cannot see our dog, take him any toys or his blanket, even though they said his shots and license are up to date. He is a little over a year old.

The emotional stress on us as well as the dog is terrible and I hope and pray no other family has to go through this ordeal. -Penny Job