Duke: Dangerous, or defending his home?

When a man claimed her American bulldog Duke escaped her fenced yard and bit him, Carissa Curry was confused — and with good reason.

She’d left the dog inside her Toledo home when she went to work that day. She’d secured the gate of the fence around her yard. And Duke, even if he did manage to somehow get out of her house, had never left the yard before.

Curry returned home from work to find Duke was gone.

A note was left on her door by the Lucas County dog warden. When she called the phone number on it, she was informed that she was being charged with failure to confine her dog.

Toledo Police had been to her home earlier that day, back in August, after a man said he had been bitten by Duke while strolling down the sidewalk. The man said Duke pushed open the gate, attacked him then returned to the yard.

Duke was seized by the Lucas County dog warden, labeled a potentially dangerous dog, and quarantined for ten days.

In the days that followed, Curry, a health care worker and single mother of a 2-year-old boy, would grow only more confused, and worried.

She faced a misdemeanor charge that could carry a penalty of 30 days in jail.

She worried about losing her job, and her home, and having to pay hefty insurance fees as the owner of a “dangerous dog.”

And — even though she had left the door to her home unlocked — she still had no idea how her dog got out of it, or the yard.

She heard from neighbors who had seen the man walking through the neighborhood. One said she never saw Duke leave the yard — but did see the man enter it.

It was looking more and more like Duke, as opposed to miraculously escaping both house and yard, had actually just been defending his home, as Curry suspected from the start.

This week, at a pre-trial hearing, the ”failure to confine” charge against Curry ws dropped.

She still faces a charge of “failure to vaccinate.” While she claims she has the paperwork, she was unable to present it within the two days the dog warden gave her. That charge was upheld in court.

And Duke still faces a determination on whether he’s a “dangerous dog,” which could lead to restrictions that include being muzzled, having signs posted to that effect in his yard, and having to kept in a pen with a roof, according to DogHeirs.com.

The Lexus Project is handling the case against Duke and representing him in court. You can learn more about Duke, and help support his cause by visiting these links:

You can read Curry’s explanation of what’s transpired so far in the comments below.

(Photos: DogHeirs.com)

Posted by jwoestendiek December 20th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
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Comments

Comment from Melanie
Time December 20, 2012 at 10:19 am

Why was the dog left unsupervised in a yard in an urban area? Why was the home left unlocked? Why could the owner not go to the vet who did the vaccinations and get a copy printed immediately if he was vaccinated? I don’t see a problem with the dog, I see a LOT of problems with the owner…

Comment from Liz
Time December 20, 2012 at 4:54 pm

Um, we leave ours dogs in the yard all the time (also fenced-in, as the yard in the article) unsupervised. We don’t leave them outside if we’re not home (which the owner said she left Duke in the house when she left). I have no idea why someone would leave the house unlocked but I don’t see any problems with the owner. I bet the problem stems from the mysterious man that let himself into someone else’s gated property.

Comment from Anne’n'Spencer
Time December 20, 2012 at 5:11 pm

Something smells fishy here, and it’s not Duke. If he was confined to the house, it’s hardly likely that he let himself out. Even with the door unlocked, opening a door with a doorknob is beyond the ability of most dogs. It seems a whole lot more likely that the “victim” decided to take advantage of the unlocked door for a little burglary, was met by the dog, who defended his territory, and decided to make the best of things with a little lawsuit. If the man left the front door and gate open as he fled, it’s only natural that Duke would have left the house to chase him. I could summon up a couple of pieces of advice for the owner: First, your vet always has a copy of your pet’s most recent vaccination certificate. I’m about to go pick up one from our vet, since I doused Spencer’s with a cup of hot coffee. Second, comfy little towns where nobody locks their doors are a piece of vanishing Americana. Duke will be safest if he’s confined in the locked house while his humans are away, allowed to play in his fenced yard when he can be supervised. But I’m still willing to bet he can’t manipulate a door knob.

Comment from Carissa Curry (Duke’s mommy)
Time December 22, 2012 at 11:45 am

Hi everyone,
I’m Duke’s owner and I’d like to a minute to respond to a few concerns that are being talked about here

1. Like I said above Duke is NEVER left outside when I’m not home. He is 100% an inside pet. I wouldn’t have a dog that lived outside. He is only outside to go potty, when I take him for walks (on a leash), to play fetch and to soak up some sunshine when he chooses to. If you reread the article you will see that it does not say that he “was left unsupervised.”
This is fact what it “She’d left the dog inside her Toledo home when she went to work that day. She’d secured the gate of the fence around her yard.” And that is the truth- Duke was left INSIDE my house.
2. My door is normally lock, I simply forgot to lock it that day, that was my mistake. And I knew/ know it. I realized I forgot to lock it when I got to work and I thought about leaving work to go back and lock the door. But then I thought to my self “No one is stupid enough to break into a house they know a big dog lives at, and Duke wouldn’t anyone in” Well I was was only half right, Duke didn’t let him in. But even though I did mess up and forget to lock my door that does NOT give anyone to right to enter my home. And there is no law saying my door has to be locked.
3. Again you are correct, in a normal situation, rabies paperwork can easily be pick up at the vet office however this was far from a normal situation. I used to live in WY so Duke got his rabies shot there. We now live in Ohio, it’s not such a quick easy trip from here to there. I did call to get the records but the lady I spoke with said they keep paper copies and that she couldn’t get it to me within the small time period I was given by the dog warden. But to be completely honest I didn’t care, it’s a ticket and a fine, not a huge deal compare to the much bigger issues I had to deal with at the time. I was scared and freaking out- they had my baby and wouldn’t give him back to me, I was a wreck. Someone had broken into my house and I was fighting with the police dept to try and get charges pressed. I had to come with with the money to get Duke out (after the quarantine period) and the money to file an appeal. Then I have to actually file it and get everything prepared for it. All while still working and taking care of my 2 yr old. The fact that I was going to be ticketed because I couldn’t produce the needed paperwork in the short amount to time that they gave to me was the farthest thing from my mind, I had to many much bigger issues to deal with, I just didn’t have the time or energy to worry about the lesser of the issues especially since not producing the paperwork had no negative effect on Duke.
I have never fought that charge because although he was vaccinated I knew that from a legal stand point it was my responsibility to have the paperwork to prove it and I failed to do so therefore I was guilty of the charge.

Comment from John
Time December 22, 2012 at 11:57 am

What you don’t see in this story is that the man has prior charges for breaking and entering. Melanie, if you actually read the story you would see that Duke was left INSIDE the home.

Comment from Carissa Curry (Duke’s mommy)
Time December 22, 2012 at 11:58 am

I’d also like to personally thank the writer of this article for helping to share Duke’s story <3 I really appreciate it :-)

Comment from Suzanne
Time December 22, 2012 at 12:04 pm

Melanie, if you had been following the story from the beginning, you know that Duke was left INSIDE his house. She does not live in Toldeo but around it. Also, I am sure that in all of the confusion and stress of this situation, getting copies of the vac report from the vet simply fell into the cracks. The “victim” was not just an innocent bystander but someone intent on being where he shouldn’t be and doing something that he should be doing. Duke was but defending his home.

Comment from Anonymous
Time December 22, 2012 at 12:12 pm

@Melanie
have you actually bothered to read the article?
It states clearly that he was inside and not in the yard.
I agree – somebody let himself in probably and was unpleasantly suprised by a dog – ran and decided to milk it….

Comment from jwoestendiek
Time December 22, 2012 at 12:35 pm

Thanks for you comment Carissa, and good luck.

John / ohmidog!

Comment from Deb F
Time December 22, 2012 at 1:59 pm

This is a case where a criminal is trying to place blame on the victim, and since it involves a ‘bully breed’ all this other crap has occurred.

Comment from Abeyta
Time December 22, 2012 at 3:32 pm

According to another report… the man who was bitten had previous burglary charges…. Hmmm…. Is it that hard to figure out??? So they are taking the word of a criminal??? Another detail not mentioned is that the gate is the kind that has those bars that go into the ground on each side, so tell me how the dog lifted those bars before pushing the gate open???
Unrelated to this case there was a man with 4 boxers, with puppies, and a person entered into his home uninvited. So the dogs attacked the person getting out of the house with dogs still attacking, but still on their property, when people tried to stop them… Well, all of the dogs were taken, including the pups… His dogs were sentenced to death, minus the puppies they were all adopted out… now he also faces charges… Just not right… all they did was protect the home & their pups!!!

Comment from Liz (Supporter of Duke)
Time December 22, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Thank you to the writer of this story for spreading the word… SUPPORT DUKE! (www.facebook.com/supportduke) :)

Comment from Rose O’Donnell Mulcahy
Time December 22, 2012 at 7:28 pm

I moved from one house, where I’d lived for abt 40 yrs, to another house three and a half years ago. And, I’m still looking for things and paperwork that are here, somewhere, but I just can’t come across them! Lots of stuff still packed in boxes, stored in closets, etc. Also, Carissa had recently moved into her own home, after living with her parents. I fully understand her being unable to locate the Rabies Vaccination Cert. Also, Duke had lost the metal tag that used to be affixed to his collar. Shame on that Vet Clinic in Wyoming for not making every effort to find a record of Duke’s vaccinations! They must be living in the Dark Ages, if their system is not computerized!

Comment from Lynn
Time December 22, 2012 at 9:27 pm

I’d like to thank those of you for being so supportive of this case. Carissa is my friend and I know she would never have to be going thru this if the guy, with a prior record, had not been a peckerhead. No way could Duke, by himself, open a door and then somehow bite someone if the gate was closed and
locked. Teleporting is not one of Duke’s many
attributes. If Duke was any other breed,let’s say chihuahua, this would not be an issue. BSL stinks and reeks of prejudice. Seems to me, some people have not evolved beyond the days of slavery.

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