All she can do now is pray for clemency for Punky, her blue heeler that is slated to be killed Thursday
Credit to Author: Gordon McIntyre| Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2020 22:38:02 +0000
His legal avenues having reached a dead end, Punky’s last chance of having his life spared has come down to pleas for clemency.
The four-year-old blue heeler, impounded in September 2017, after he bit a woman at a park at Spanish Banks that summer, has been on doggie death row since a provincial court judge ruled that he is a dangerous pooch in July 2018.
He is scheduled to be put down Thursday.
“He’s my family,” Susan Santics, Punky’s owner, said. “I love him. It’s true I didn’t know much about blue heelers before I got him, but I learned about them, saw how intelligent they are and loyal. He’s just a special dog.”
She believes the best outcome for Punky would be for the dog to be back in her care. She will take him to behaviour modification classes for the rest of his life if need be, she said.
“But if the only option the city will give is to adopt him out, his life would be saved,” Santics said.
Santics’ visits with Punky have been limited to once-a-week from the start of his confinement. She had her final visit Monday, putting her hand through the bars so he could lick her. Her request to go into the cage to hug him, just this once, just for the last time they’ll see each other, was denied by animal-services officials, she said.
“I asked (manager of animal services) John Gray why, he just said, ‘We don’t do that.’ ”
The keeper who has been caring for Punky for these past 29 months is having a hard time as well, according to Santics.
“I talked to her and I am concerned about her. She was handing me the pamphlets for the cremation, I asked her how she’s doing, she said, ‘Not good’ and turned away. She was tearing up. Of course she loves him now too, he’s really bonded with her, she’s the one who lets him out to play. She’s very good with the dogs there.”
The team of four lawyers representing Santics and Punky are shaken too.
“It’s pretty dire,” Victoria Shroff said from London, England, where she is giving a lecture on animal law. “I’ve received an email from a doctor in the U.S. who said he can make arrangements for dog sanctuary in Montana if we can get him to the border.
“Susan is crying herself to sleep at night. Even (U.S.) states that have the death penalty (for people) have an option for a pardon.”
Shroff also points to the 2 1/2 years Punky has spent in custody, a time in which, to Shroff’s knowledge, Punky hasn’t once displayed aggression.
“What about time served and good behaviour?” she asked.
Vancouver City Hall said no one was available to speak about clemency, although Kathryn Holm, the city’s chief licence inspector, did send an email outlining the legal history of Punky’s case along with a generic mission statement regarding the city’s approach to dogs and public safety.
People from around the world have responded to Punky’s plight. Offers to adopt him have come from all over Canada and the U.S., Santics said. She has been inundated with emails (as has Postmedia News) of support and as of Tuesday more than 7,000 people had signed a petition on Change.org pleading for Punky’s life to be spared. One signee, Samuel Allemang of Hamilton, wrote Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart pleading for Punky’s life.
“I am writing with urgency,” Allemang wrote, “plead(ing) for you to demonstrate clemency and creativity, and avoid the needless murder of a beautiful animal.”
The mayor had no comment, a spokesman said.