In May of 2005, Tiffany's beloved 4 y.o. Pit Bull, Knuckles, got loose from her backyard and wound up in jail at the Solano County Animal Services facility. Tiffany, who has had Knuckles since she was just a small puppy, knows her best friend inside and out. Most of all, she knows that Knuckles would never hurt a flea. She also knows that Knuckles' clownish way of "playing" is to run up to people and make a game of chasing them if they run from her. Unfortunately for Knuckles, this style of play is what landed her in jail.

The neighbor whom Knuckles chased called the police, reporting that he felt threatened by Knuckles' actions--not an unreasonable reaction considering the climate of hysteria the media has created over Pit Bulls. However, the fact that Knuckles at no time growled or threatened to bite the neighbor was ignored entirely by the police. Tiffany ultimately had to appear before the Solano County Superior Court to answer to the "dangerous dog" complaint and was handed down a long list of conditions she would have to meet in order to spare Knuckles' life.

Tiffany complied with all the conditions (including building a roofed kennel in her backyard) but one: Purchasing the required $100,000 liability insurance. Circumstances beyond her control had forced Tiffany to move from her residence with the newly-built kennel, creating an unforseen financial hardship, leaving her unable to afford the costly liability insurance. In her new residence, Tiffany again built the required kennel and posted all the warning signs, only to once again be forced to move, creating yet more hardship. At this time, Tiffany temporarily left Knuckles in the care of her brother while she searched for yet another residence which would accept Knuckles.

And so it was, when on March 18, 2006 -- nearly a year after the first incident and while Tiffany was out house searching -- that Knuckles chanced to get loose again when Tiffany's brother's children left a gate open. And again, Knuckles saw some neighbors and ran to them. The neighbors, not knowing Knuckles, panicked at the sight of a strange Pit Bull. Again the police were called and, again, Knuckles was impounded. But this time, because Tiffany had forgotten to notify Animal Control that she'd termporarily moved Knuckles to her brother's house, the relatively minor omission was declared a violation of the year-old court conditions and so Animal Control decided to make an example of her, refusing to release Knuckles to her pending a hearing to determine if Knuckles was a "dangerous" dog.

April 5, 2006 -- Knuckle's hearing was presided over by Sgt. Mike Rowe, Dangerous Animal Hearing Officer for the Suisun City Police Department. By this time, Knuckles had been locked in a cage and isolated from her family for 19 long days. Tiffany was anxious to get her beloved Knuckles home. She came to the trial with an armload of evidence--letters from vets, dog professionals and others, all attesting to Knuckles' sweet disposition and gentle nature. Accompanying Tiffany were several character witnesses, all of them prepared to speak to the goodness of both Knuckles' and Tiffany's characters. But, alas, Sgt. Mike Rowe had his own agenda and denied Tiffany the right to present all her evidence or allow all of her witnesses to speak. It was a kangaroo court, to say the least. Sgt. Rowe summarily declared Knuckles as "dangerous" and sentenced her to death.

Tiffany has spent the last fourteen days putting out S.O.S. calls all over the Internet, seeking advice and assistance from anyone who can offer the benefit of their time, experience and expertise. As a single, young woman with modest income, the ordeal before her has been overwhelming, as has been the emotional trauma of Knuckles' forced separation and pending death sentence. Through the many emails we've exchanged, it is very evident to me that Tiffany deeply loves and cares for Knuckles and would move heaven and earth to save her, were it in her power to do so. As a "mom" of two wonderful fur-kids myself, I cannot begin to imagine being in Tiffany's shoes right now. I only know that if I were, I'd hope to hell someone would be there to help me through the nightmare. I'm not an attorney nor am I wealthy, but I figure the least I can do for Tiffany is to give of my time and skills to help get the word out about Knuckles' horrible plight.

April 20, 2006 -- By law, the Suisun City Municipal Code states that authorities must wait fourteen days from the date of notice before the euthanasia order can be carried out. Tiffany was served with the notice on April 6th, the day after the "dangerous dog" determination hearing. However, if, within the fourteen-day window, the dog's guardian petitions a competent court for a stay of destruction, the dog is granted a temporary reprieve. Tiffany did, I am happy to report, find an attorney to represent Knuckles' case. The attorney filed the petition for stay of destruction on Thursday, April 20th, at the eleventh hour, giving Knuckles' a much needed reprieve.

As is also required by law, the attorney served Sgt. Rowe (Suisun City PD) and Officer Mendez (Human Animal Services) with copies of the petition to stay. While doing so, the attorney requested that Officer Mendez allow Tiffany to visit with her dog. Officer Mendez flatly denied the request. The attorney also requested that an independent dog behaviorist be allowed to evaluate Knuckles for temperament and aggression. (To date, Knuckles has never received any evaluation of this nature, by either an independent behaviorist or by one representing Suisun City's Humane Animal Services.) Regarding this request, Mendez passed the buck, referring the attorney to another department officer who was not available at the time of the attorney's visit. (The above paragraph was edited for correction on April 23, 2006 to reflect that it was Officer Mendez, not Sgt. Rowe, who denied the request for Tiffany to visit Knuckles.)

So although Knuckles has been granted a temporary reprieve, she must sadly remain incarcerated without any visitation from her family until the conclusion of the new hearing. Tiffany must now wait for the court to assign a hearing date, which is not expected for at least two weeks. Jumping ahead, if Tiffany and her attorney win a favorable decision in the new hearing wherein Knuckles' death sentence is repealed, Tiffany will still have to reimburse the Humane Animal Services $20.00 for every day Knuckles' has been incarcerated at the shelter. Knuckles' kennel fees alone are fast approaching $1,000.00. Add to this the attorney fees and the cost of the $100,000 in liability insurance Tiffany might still have to carry. The financial hardship this brings to Tiffany is enormous and, as one can imagine, seemingly impossible to bear when one is of average means. For this reason, I have set up a Paypal account for donations to help Tiffany with the costs associated with winning Knuckle's freedom. If you can spare a small contribution to help, please, please do. No amount is too small to give when it comes from the heart.

Apil 21, 2006: Launch date of this website. Over the next few days, I will be posting action alerts to a number of forums and discussion boards within the dog lovers community. Please pass this information along if you can, to give others the opportunity to help save Knuckles life. As the case proceeds, I will post updates which can be viewed by clicking on the "Case Updates" link at the top of this page.