San Francisco, CA: The American Pit Bull Examiner has been following the case surrounding Charlie, the AmStaff that was involved in an incident last August at Chrissy Field off leash dog park. When a mounted policeman galloped into the off leash designated dog park, Charlie reacted to the horse.
www.examiner.com/article/san-francisco-trying-to-kill-a-family-pet
In court hearings, the owner, David Gizzarelli, was pressured into making a decision to turn Charlie over to SFACC. Gizzarelli made the decision to save Charlie's life with the court mandating he was to have input as to the sanctuary selected to give Charlie refuge.
Charlie was kept for months at SFACC which is now insisting former owner Gizzarelli pay $3600 for keeping Charlie in a dark cell since August. Gizzarelli has tried to call shelter director Rebecca Katz and has not received a return call.
SFACC has a long history of abuse and high kill statistics. Placing the choice of sanctuary in this director's hands is questionable, especially in light of so many DNA groups being raided on an almost daily basis.
In violation of the settlement, SFACC has reportedly turned Charlie over to an unknown sanctuary. However, the splinter Facebook group, populated with hostile anti-Gizzarelli posters, has claimed knowledge of Charlie's whereabouts.
Justice has not been served in Charlie's case and questions have now risen whether the decision is still even legal.
For some unknown reason, these posters have obtained alleged photos of Charlie at his new location. According to these posters:
"2-1/2 weeks after his former owner relinquished ownership oif {sic} Charlie through a Settlement Agreement, the City has still not received a single suggestion through legal counsel as to any permanent placement options for Charlie.
The trainers report that Charlie has no, in fact, zero basic obedience skills. He is coming along, however, and beginning to respond.
We are very glad that SFACC moved Charlie out of the kennel and are giving him the opportunity to be worked with, receive some training, and most importantly, just be a dog."
Pictured in the group's series of photographs is a dog sitting and walking on leash, a dog this group and quoted 'trainers' claim has 'zero basic obedience skills.' This alone begs the question, what was happening all those months at SFACC in which some of the angry posters claim to volunteer at the facility. No one could obtain a leash and take Charlie for a walk?
SFACC claims Gizzarelli owes $3600 for Charlies 'care' during the long impound. That amount doesn't include a walk by a non-paid volunteer? Or maybe the volunteers were too busy posting on Facebook pages and sharing photographs and protected information.
Everything about this case is suspect. It seems in Charlie's case the law is being used to protect some of the people only some of the time.
It's shameful that Charlie has been caught up in this drama instead of being allowed due process. The American Pit Bull Examiner hopes Charlie is truly in one of the few good sanctuaries. When reading the Help Save Charlie, the REAL deal Facebook comments, many from people who live out of state and have never been to SFACC, a sad thought comes to mind. So many animals' lives could have been saved with the unnecessary energy which has been used to fuel these thoughts.
The American Pit Bull Examiner and Reunion Rescue have a long history helping the animals in San Francisco. We try to maintain a count on the many pit bulls being killed at SFACC whose remains are sent to rendering plants. Just last week, three more lives disappeared at that facility:
Marla, A331263 and A331277 did not have Facebook pages or anyone concerned with minor things like obedience skills. They only shared one thing…a long walk by a stranger down the hall to room 132.
Many of the 'REAL deal' posters have objected to American Pit Bull Examiner's coverage of Charlie's case, protesting any monetary exchange for readership. Every penny from ABFE 'clicks' is donated to Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge where all animals are cared for and given sanctuary for life. Our resources are shared to help animals on our website http://www.reunionrescue.com. Our dream is that one day, all shelters will take a page from our book and begin to save the animals currently being killed.
Cindy Marabito of Reunion Rescue writes the American Pit Bull Examiner stories to save lives. Every click on a story donates to the animals.
Reunion Rescue: www.reunionrescue.com
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