Outcome of March 9 court date

The judge agrees that she must hear from an expert on whether Brindi is dangerous and granted me extra time to arrange for a report. The first was positive but is a year old, so she agreed to the need for a new one. 


The new hearing date is set for April 16. The judge may not make a decision that day, though; she likes to take time. I tried to avoid this extra delay by arranging for an assessment on Feb. 27, right after HRM gave permission. But the trainers were not allowed to see Brindi then, due to some mixup between HRM and the Animal Services department. The trainers were unavailable after that day for the rest of the month. I have now arranged for another trainer to see Brindi later this month.


The city will not be offering any assessment and says it is not calling any expert to the stand to argue that Brindi is dangerous. I do not know who it will be calling to the stand, if anyone.

A few points to make:

1. Neither the Halifax by-law nor the provincial law require a dog to be put down solely because it is labeled "dangerous". The by-law allows "dangerous" dogs to be kept under certain conditions. 
While Halifax does seem to put down a lot of dogs, all of them have caused serious harm to people or animals. Brindi is significantly different, and pre-emptive action is not called for.

3. I am being asked about the "plan" to re-home Brindi that has been publicized by the SPCA and Bob Ottenbrite. 


I heartily welcome the main message behind this plan, because it confirms is what I have been saying all along: that Brindi should not be killed. It supports the evidence I will present to convince the judge to keep her alive. 


4. Under the law, and given the circumstances, to put my dog down can only be justified as an "additional penalty" for the charges, an unnecessary and needless waste of life. 

4. Halifax dog owners are commonly charged and fined without any question of losing their dogs because of it. I will be fined for charges due to one incident that did not involve an attack on a human or serious (or any proven) injuries to a dog. I am no different from scores of other dog owners whose dogs remain in their care.

As it seems all are now saying that Brindi is not a dangerous dog, why can't she just please go home?  

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. -Anatole France

Sad developments:
A reporter told me this morning that trainer Bob Ottenbrite says he received some sort of email threatening to steal Brindi or cause him or his business harm if he were to take her to his kennels, where he had offered to keep her for the rest of her life. Because of this he says he is taking back his offer. 


This is the first I've heard of this. Anyone who would do such a thing is badly misguided. 


I myself have been harassed and cyberstalked throughout this ordeal but I have chosen not to share it all with the press. But this month alone, I've gotten about twenty such messages. From time to time, I bring some of them to attention of the RCMP. 


It's really regrettable that people are getting so carried away and emotional. I like to think that people who really love and understand dogs know that dogs love and forgive unconditionally, and out of respect for this, they are uninterested in engaging in violent or threatening behavior towards others. 


Dogs are my role models. They are hard to emulate.


However, I did feel it was important to ask the Herald for a retraction of the unfortunate message they conveyed in an article published yesterday.  

Another story: heart attack after dog seized

Every time something appears in the local paper, I seem to get another phone call from a stranger with a story to share. Yesterday, a woman left a message that made me hold my breath. She said she knows exactly how I feel and what I am going through: in fact, after her dog was taken away, she had a heart attack. The pain behind her voice was tangible.

"We are supposed to be kind to animals," she says on the message, "But we are not being kind when we take it away from the person they love. I would like to talk to you. I would like to support you to the highest."

This morning, I called her back and left a message. I'm hoping she'll phone tonight, though I almost dread hearing yet another painful and senseless story. I will share whatever she allows.

Humane Halifax hits the streets for Brindi

"I am SO GLAD you are fighting to get your dog back!" said a blonde woman in a white ski jacket yesterday. "Please keep it up! I just think the city is really abusing their power to do this to you."

I was standing at the corner of South Park and Spring Garden Road, along with about ten members of Humane Halifax for Better Animal Control. About half of HH's members turned up, arriving before me and doing a valiant job. Veteran four-legged Brindi supporter Jessie the Chessie was there as always with her mom, Jenn Richardson, along with Peggy McIntyre, Bob Riley, Valerie Slaunwhite, Vidya Wang (who brought me tulips!!), longtime Truro SPCA volunteer Pat Mercer, and her friend (whose name I can't remember - my apologies; stress is bad for the short-term memory), both from Cole Harbour, and others, like a young mom named Brenda and her son, who saw the Facebook notice and decided to take along their pretty shepherd mix.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon, with a cool wind to remind us that spring wasn't quite here yet. As Jenn says, "We're not really the protesting type,  just people who love their dogs." So rather than march around, we stayed put for a few hours, while young and old, black and white, rich and poor, residents and tourists passing by paused to hear about Brindi. Scores of them asked for more information and how they could help.

A visitor from South Africa resting at the gates asked what it was about and apologized that she didn't think she could do much to help, being from out of town. Her surprised face beamed with pride, though, when I told her that one of the most fervent people out there fighting for Brindi right now is a woman from her country.

Trish Malkoff from Johannesburg has written and phoned Mayor Kelly several times, and last week she actually managed to speak to Mary Ellen Donovan, the head of the legal department. (Trish had the idea of recording the chat - no idea if this is legal or not, but it's interesting to hear.) I really admire her for not being easily put off. When Donovan claimed it's the police who are behind all of this, Malkoff asked, "Don't you mean the police of your city?" From then on, Donovan answered all questions with "No comment."


As the wind began to die down a little, things warmed up at the corner gates, and people were not in such a hurry to get wherever they were going. Over and over, I heard, "It's your dog!?!" alternating with "You're the lady on TV! When are you getting your dog back?" A pair of young girls who hadn't heard the story before opened their eyes wide at how long Brindi's been in the pound, and why. Seeing the birthday party photo from the SPCA, they promised to phone their HRM councilors on Monday.

A young couple who had left their rottweiler at home to go shopping expressed their concern to see Brindi go home and the law changed before one of their neighbors might get an idea. And so many people, from an elegantly attired lady laden with boutique purchases who nevertheless gladly accepted a flyer, to a tall woman with a friendly bull mastiff who kissed me on the lips (the dog, that is), said they've been following the story since the beginning and hoped things would turn out well.

Overall, it was a pretty encouraging experience. I got a lot of welcome hugs from humans and canines. HH even gained a few new members. Later, Jenn took flyers over to the Willow's pet store for Kyra Foster to give out at the counter. The Herald were kind enough to send over a reporter. We had no problems, although before I arrived, Bob noticed an HRM animal control van sitting across the street for a minute or two, but it didn't stick around long. Sometime later, we held our breath as a pair of patrolmen strolled over to the crosswalk, but they were apparently untroubled by the FREE BRINDI sign hanging on the park gates.

It was really great to get a chance to talk to Haligonians face to face. If I didn't live so far away from town, I'd be on that corner every weekend.

But as I drove all the way back to East Chezzetcook in the afternoon sunlight, I couldn't help feeling very angry at time and effort all this is costing, and all the harm it's done Brindi, when instead we could be going down to the beach for a nice, long walk together, enjoying the prime of our lives. That's all I want for us.

above photos: Robert Riley

This is where Brindi and I belong on a sunny afternoon - her home and mine.
Ed.: On a secure lead with her muzzle, keeping a good distance from all dogs, if any turn up, and otherwise, behind a fence and with private lessons twice a week. 

A new and welcome source of support

From Facebook...

Vin Diamond wrote

at 10:09pm yesterday

ABAS Society is a no kill society in Nova Scotia. We do not euthanize an animal unless this animal is in pain and suffering for the duration of its life. We support Brindi being returned to her owner with restrictions put in place for (life time leash while walking outdoors). We do not want to see Brindi euthanized. ABAS Society is presently advocating changes to Nova Scotia's Animal Welfare Laws. Our present Animal Protection Laws" are out dated." We feel that it is the fault of the province of Nova Scotia that the dog Brindi has been suffering in the SPCA shelter with lack of care. Many other animals are presently suffering in shelters across Nova Scotia. It is time to make these (family members) important. Nova Scotia needs to make the ammendments required to the existing Animal Protection Act Bill here in Nova Scotia , to further protect ALL animals from suffering. Sadly, it is not the fault of our animals. It is the fault of the people!

Our animals need these changes!