BBKC Forum: Nuns vs Pit Bulls Goes to Okla. Supreme Court

Nuns vs Pit Bulls Goes to Okla. Supreme Court

Posted by The King on December 9, 2008, 12:15 am
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By Amy Lieberman

The Oklahoma Supreme Court will consider a case involving a group of Roman Catholic nuns, who seek to shut down an American Staffordshire Terrier kennel down the road from their school. (Pet Pulse Photo Illustration by Tim Mattson)

OKLAHOMA CITY -- They have yet to attack, or even escape from their kennels, but the 23 American Staffordshire Terriers are bound to inflict harm, a group of Roman Catholic nuns say.

The Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa are so certain of this premonition -- and fearful for the safety of others -- that they are taking the case to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, hoping to remove the dogs from the neighborhood.

The courts are expected to hear the case in the coming months and will decide if Kenny Gonzalez, of Oklahoma City, is permitted to operate a dog kennel within 2,500 feet of a school.

"We are concerned about the number of the dogs," said Sister Veronica Higgins, principal of the Villa Teresa Moore preschool. "We are concerned for our children."

Oklahoma City Council members voted to appeal the decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday, marking a partial victory for the nuns in a case that has gone on for almost two years.

On the opposing end is Kenny Gonzalez, a commercial kennel owner who says his champion Pit Bulls do not present any potential to harm the children at the school, located 1,876 feet away from his property.

"These dogs have never gotten out of hand or harmed anyone," Gonzalez's lawyer, Brady Homsey, said. "They don't pose a threat to anyone."

"It isn't like this is a puppy mill. He is running a grand championship kennel."

Gonzalez should also be exempt from the law mandating 2,500 feet between a kennel and a school, Homsey says, since his client was in the process of acquiring a kennel license for Taylor Made Terriers in June, when the measure was passed.

Gonzalez has operated the kennel since 2005 and, at one point, had more than 40 dogs. Two of his terriers are show dogs, having competed at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, among others.

Taylor Made Terriers, though, only began to really receive attention in 2006, when Gonzalez received a ticket for operating a kennel without a license. The matter was later settled in city courts, which had him install handicapped bathrooms and enhance his fencing system, thus establishing a more public-friendly operation.

The nuns who operate Villa Teresa Moore sought inclusion in those proceedings, but were excluded by the courts from the hearings.

"When they tried to intervene in a case that affected them, they were denied the rights," said Kevin Calvey, the lawyer representing the nuns on a pro-bono basis. "That struck me as being unjust, that they were denied the right to present their concerns."

Despite the courts' order that Gonzalez reduce his number of dogs from 42 to 23, the nuns' worries remain.

"The settlement says he can have the dogs out from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., but that is when the children are out playing," Higgins said. "What if the dogs get out, or what if a tornado destroys the fence? We have 3-, 4-, and five-year-olds here. Why would you want to risk that?"

"They say that this isn't our business, but if any child gets hurt out there, it is everybody's fault."

None of Gonzalez's dogs have any history of aggression or attacks, Homsey says, adding that his client, who is a licensed dog trainer, has also had other behaviorists asses his brood.

Even if they were prone to run away -- which one did once, several years ago -- the dogs wouldn't be able to leave the enclosed property, Homsey says. In addition, an alfalfa field stands in between the kennel and the school.

"There are fences everywhere," Homsey said. "Mr. Gonzalez has spent excess of $170,000 securing the property, just like we were supposed to do."

Calvey, however, maintains that the fencing "is not adequate to ensure an animal of this strength and size will be kept in," referring to the breed's typical size of 62 to 83 pounds.

This level of minute disagreement, Homsey says, is ultimately moot, as he argues that the case's focus should really be the nuns' propensity to single out Gonzalez.

"The dogs have never gotten out and they are not a threat," Homsey said. "They keep on saying, 'This is for the children.' No, it's not. This is about Kenny Gonzalez. Period."

It is also about the dogs' breed, Homsey says. In Oklahoma, breed-based legislation is prohibited, meaning all dogs must be judged on an individual basis, and not by their breed's reputation.

Higgins, however, cited bully breeds' propensity to attack as a source of concern. If the dogs were not American Staffordshire Terriers, which the United Kennel Club considers essentially the same as the American Pit Bull, things might be different, she says.

Golden Retrievers, for example, "don't usually attack like Pit Bulls," Higgins said, adding that "these dogs are well known for going berserk."

Calvey agreed, saying that the dogs' breed calls for "heightened concern," but also noted the issue of quantity.

"No matter what the breed is, having 25 animals in an urban area should be a concern," he said.

It is difficult to speculate the number of attacks actually caused by bully breeds, says Adam Goldfarb, an issues specialist with the Humane Society of the United States.

"There's no real way of knowing," he said. "Dog bites aren't tracked nationally, and there is a secondary challenge of knowing how many dogs are actually in the neighborhood, or how many bites get reported."

Goldfarb cautioned, however, against drawing conclusions about bully attacks based off of media reports, which he said "tend to skew more toward these kind of things."

The case might not be re-visited for several months, but both parties expressed hope for a victorious outcome.

"I am quite confident that the courts will uphold the ruling that shuts down the kennel, and will uphold the constitutionality of the law," Calvey said.

Homsey expressed his client's desire to simply move on from the case.

"This has gone on way far and beyond the call of duty," he said of the nuns' efforts. "It's a joke that they have done this. We just want to go on with our lives and to be left alone."

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