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Animal shelter ordered to turn over documents in pit bull case
Loudoun County's policy against adopting out pit bulls took another blow May 5 when a Loudoun County Circuit Court judge ruled the Loudoun County Animal Shelter must turn over policy information and records about the behavior tests done on pit bulls.This decision reinforced the court's previous ruling Oct. 15 that county-run shelters or pounds cannot euthanize dogs based on breed.
The shelter has had a policy not to adopt out pit bulls for more than two decades, according to shelter staff.
Shelter representatives say they have been transferring adoptable pit bulls to other rescue centers since May 2007, rather than euthanizing them.
But lawyers promoting the lawsuit said there is no way to tell what the county's idea of an adoptable pit bull is without knowing how behavioral testing is done.
Lawyer Lynne Rhode, representing the Animal Rescue of Tidewater, said the plaintiff was asking for these records “so we can verify for ourselves whether they are euthanizing based on breed or not.”
She and fellow attorney Elizabeth Billingsley argued to Judge Burke F. McCahill that the shelter could be deciding that all pit bulls are dangerous and not adoptable because of the dogs' breed. This would mean, Rhode said, that the county is still euthanizing based on breed, despite a court order not to.
Attorney Milissa Spring, who represented the county, said, “Even if the testing done by the county were considered pretextual, that wouldn't make them illegal.”
Spring, who filed a motion to end the lawsuit against the county, said the plaintiffs were still trying to argue against the county's no-pit-bull adoption policy, which was not in the scope of their complaint.
“The only relevant inquiry in this case is: Is the county euthanizing based on breed,” she said. How a decision is reached on whether an animal is adoptable or not is not on trial, she said.
The lawsuit against the county was first brought to the Circuit Court last fall when the Animal Rescue League of Tidewater filed an emergency injunction – on behalf of eastern Loudoun resident Ronald Litz -- to stop the county from euthanizing pit bulls.
Despite the court battle, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted in December not to change the county shelter's adoption policy regarding pit bulls.
Judge McCahill's May 5 ruling requires the county to comply with the plaintiff's request within 60 days.
A trial date has not been set.
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com
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