The county’s website offers little information about the board and an out of date contact.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMotiryo Keambiroiro, a former director for Durham County General Services who is one of the senior members of the board, said the group gets four to six appeals per year. Their approach is to engage the community \u201con both sides of the fence,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut a review of recent cases shows the process can also leave bitter feelings. Owners of some of the attack victims said watching the board overturn the \u201cpotentially dangerous\u201d designation can be a cold and insensitive process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n***<\/span><\/p>\nIn the case of Savvi-Blue, her owner, Necole Hope, argued that her dog did not instigate the encounter, and therefore did not deserve to be deemed potentially dangerous. In her written statement, she recalled that Stormi \u201cgot through the gate and ran toward us.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBut when Bunch described the event, she claimed that Savvi-Blue was \u201cbarking and pulling at the leash\u201d which caused her dog, Stormi, to bark back and slip through the fence toward Hope\u2019s two dogs, \u201cas if playing with and greeting them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nSome facts were indisputable, though: Ultimately, Savvi-Blue caused severe wounds that killed Stormi.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBunch, who had endured the death of her dog, arrived at a virtual meeting on Dec. 22, 2021 that was immediately canceled because the case officer for the incident was not available that day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe video recording of this meeting shows Willie Darby, an attorney for the county and member of the board at the time, behaving\u00a0 jovially during the serious proceedings. At one point, he asked if they were \u201cin the midst of a superstar,\u201d referring to Necole Hope, the owner of the dog who killed Stormi, because Hope played basketball for North Carolina Central University. Darby shouted, \u201c<\/span>my alma mater!<\/span><\/i>\u201d as other members of the board whooped and laughed. One board member put two thumbs ups toward her camera and smiled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBunch is still miffed about that. \u201cIt\u2019s not just an animal. That was my dog, and nobody is taking it seriously\u201d said Bunch, a 24-year-old video editor at Warner Bros. Discovery, growing emotional on the phone.<\/span><\/p>\nBunch said that she felt the board was biased. \u201cThere was essentially nobody on my side, rooting for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAlso frustrating to her: The hearing was postponed twice without formal explanation, and without a new date in sight. \u201cI have to take off work for this,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nEventually, the postponements became too much for her. \u201cI was traumatized enough\u2026 I didn\u2019t even care to know what was next,\u201d said Bunch. She alerted the board that she did not wish to attend any further meetings, and was later informed of the verdict via email. The board overturned the sheriff\u2019s determination that Savvi-Blue was \u201cpotentially dangerous.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nMimi Davis, a Duke University research administrator and a member of the board, acknowledged that Willy Darby\u2019s comment was strange. In response to Bunch\u2019s complaints, Davis said, \u201cIt was an awkward moment simply because the person whose dog was injured \u2013 killed \u2013 expressed that she didn\u2019t like the interaction.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDavis said that the tone of each meeting \u201cliterally depends on the people involved\u201d and that each process is case-by-case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDespite this explanation, Bunch remains disgruntled.<\/span><\/p>\n***<\/span><\/p>\nAnother dog owner, Nancy Gray-Terry, said the board was disorganized when it considered the case of Buddy, her mini-dachshund poodle mix that was injured by Bella, a boxer mix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe attack occurred when Buddy was being walked by Pradeepraj Krishnappa Babu, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke, in January 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBuddy died after being attacked in January 2022. His case went before the Dangerous Dog Appeal Board. Photo courtesy of Pradeepraj Krishnappa Babu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKrishnappa Babu was neighbors with Gray-Terry. She remembers him being afraid of many dogs, but \u201cmy little guy decided to befriend him,\u201d she said, referring to the special bond he shared with Buddy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nOne day, Krishnappa Babu was walking Buddy down Orient Street when a dog slowly approached them from a nearby house and became violent.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cBefore I could lift Buddy completely in my hand, it had grabbed his belly,\u201d Krishnappa Babu wrote in his statement to the board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe attack caused severe damage to Buddy\u2019s abdomen and led to major surgery. It was so expensive that Gray-Terry set up a GoFundMe page. Although Buddy survived the attack and surgery, he died a few months later from cancer, which Gray-Terry suspects spread as a result of the attack.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nA sheriff\u2019s deputy investigated and determined Bella was potentially dangerous. In a letter addressed to Ashley Carr who was listed as Bella\u2019s owner, the office of the sheriff wrote, \u201cour investigation has shown sufficient evidence to prove that the dog described above, while being off your property, attacked and injured \u2018Buddy.\u2019\u201d Carr appealed on a technicality saying she did not live at that address.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen Gray-Terry arrived at her virtual hearing, the woman representing the accused dog denied that the dog was hers. This led to confusion. \u201cIt was kinda like the homework had not been done,\u201d Gray-Terry said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nWhen the committee realized that Carr, the supposed owner, was not in attendance, a woman named Christine Miller unmuted herself and explained that Bella was Carr\u2019s dog, but had been in Miller\u2019s possession due to Carr\u2019s inability to care for Bella. Darby felt comfortable proceeding: \u201cSomeone is claiming ownership\u2026 so let\u2019s go with the hearing and see where we end up,\u201d he said, according to a recording of the meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe board and Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Wendy Pinner, the investigator on the case, then had opportunities to ask questions of both dog owners. After roughly an hour of questioning and collecting evidence, it was time for closing statements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nMiller went first. \u201cI have no argument,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m devastated at what happened to their dog\u2026 But other than that, I have no argument. I rest\u2026 or whatever. Thank you.\u201d She was crying, her camera held close to her face showing her teary eyes, blue hair and the moving scenery behind her, as she was in the passenger’s seat of a car.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe board then went into a separate, private meeting to deliberate and decide the case. When they returned to the public Microsoft Teams room, the witnesses and dog owners had left. The board had forgotten to ask them to stay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nThe verdict: The board upheld the deputy\u2019s decision that Bella was potentially dangerous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nNow, months later, Krishnappa Babu and Gray-Terry said they were not satisfied with the process. It was disorganized, they said, and they weren\u2019t convinced it made a difference. When Krishnappa Babu walked by the house where Buddy was attacked, he did not see the required warning sign.<\/span><\/p>\nGray-Terry reflects on her experience with the Dangerous Dog Appeals Board as \u201ckinda like a waste of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n***<\/span><\/p>\nWhen asked about these criticisms of the board, County Attorney Alan Andrews told The 9th Street Journal, \u201c<\/span>I will do all within my power to ensure that these proceedings are conducted with decorum and due regard for the seriousness of the matters at hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nPhoto at top: Stormi, who died on her 1st birthday after being attacked by Savvi-Blue. After Savvi-Blue was determined to be “potentially dangerous,” the owner appealed to dog court. Photo courtesy of Jazmine Bunch.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Dec. 2, 2021, Jazmine Bunch had a small birthday celebration for Stormi, her Maltese\/Yorkie mix. The dog wore a pink party hat and got…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[359],"yoast_head":"\n
Dog court: County appeal board decides fate of \u2018dangerous\u2019 canines after an attack - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n