Owners fight to save 'dangerous' pit bull
The dog has bitten a meter reader and a vet's assistant. His owners defend him.
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published August 15, 2007
TAMPA - Tiffany Eckart and Tyler Burbank want their dog back.
Hillsborough County Animal Services says Kane, a 7-year-old pit bullterrier, is dangerous and should be euthanized. Twice, the agency has taken custody of the dog because of its aggressive behavior and sought criminal charges against its owners.
The Valrico couple went to court Tuesday, armed with an administrative hearing officer's order that said Kane shouldn't be on doggie death row.
Their lawyer, Joe Episcopo, argued that an assistant county attorney should be held in contempt for refusing to release the dog.
County Judge Nick Nazaretian didn't send any humans to jail, but he didn't let Kane out either.
Eckart and Burbank vowed to continue their fight. "He's a member of my family," Burbank said. "I'm not going to give up on a member of my family."
After chasing another dog and biting its owner and a gas meter reader, Kane was classified in January 2006 as a "dangerous dog." To keep the dog, Eckart, 26, and Burbank, 36, had to muzzle it.
Someone complained in February that the dog was running loose. When a dogcatcher came, Kane nipped his leg and tore his pants. Burbank was charged with a misdemeanor for a dangerous dog bite. Animal Services wanted to destroy Kane, but Nazaretian determined that the dog had been provoked, Episcopo said.
Kane got out; Burbank pleaded no contest and got probation.
During a visit to the vet in April, Kane was accused of biting an assistant in the face. She needed 14 stitches on her nose and upper lip. Animal Services took the dog again. Kane's owners were accused of allowing a dangerous dog to cause severe injury, a felony.
On Aug. 8, more than two months after a hearing on the dog's fate, hearing officer John F. Rudy III issued an order saying that Kane had reacted in fear at the vet's office. Rudy said the dog should be released to its owners. But when the couple went to get the dog last week, Animal Services refused to comply, Episcopo said.
On Monday, Episcopo got an order from Nazaretian enforcing the hearing officer's ruling. After a two-hour wait at Animal Services, the couple was again denied their dog.
On Tuesday, just before a 1 p.m. hearing, the county filed its appeal of Rudy's order.
Nazaretian didn't know about the appeal when the hearing got under way. He demanded to know why the county had not complied with two orders.
He softened his stance when Jan McDonald, an assistant county attorney, explained that the government had 10 days after Rudy's ruling to file its appeal.
Dennis McCullough, executive manager of field operations for Animal Services, said the dog's history makes it a threat. "Our concern is for the safety of our citizens," he said.
Episcopo will try to get Kane released pending the appeal.
Burbank, a tattoo artist with pending drug charges, and Eckart, who graduated this spring with a graphic design degree, have two other pit bulls. They named one Dangaust, Burbank said, to mock the county's "dangerous dog" classification.
Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 813 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.