Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Priscilla Presley fights to save Sheba

Episode Date: August 24, 2020

Sheba, an 11-year-old German Shepherd, has been locked up in a California animal shelter for over a year. She came to the attention of county officials after two altercations with the same dog. Neither incident harmed the dog. Yet, officials have ruled that Sheba will be put down. She has never been aggressive with humans or other animals, just this one dog.Joining Nancy Grace today: Priscilla Presley - Animal rights activist Bruce Krider - Puppy Coalition, animal rights activist -Saving Sheba  Darryl Cohen, Former Assistant District Attorney, Fulton County, Georgia, Defense Attorney Russ Alba - Managing Director at Black Swan Law Penny Douglas Furr - Atlanta Attorney, Animal Rights Advocate  Angie Wood - "The Atlanta Dog Whisperer," Dog Behaviorist with US Canine, specializing in treating and rehabilitating dogs with aggression, fears, phobias and behavioral issues www.uscanine.com  Reporter - Dave Mack Crime Online Investigative Reporter Tipline Call the Mayor of San Bernadino John Valdivia [phone] Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Why does an 11-year-old have to die? Why? Take a listen to this, one of my favorite verses. All things bright and beautiful. All creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful.

The Lord God made them all. Our friends Wasserman and Alexander wrote that. The 11-year-old is Sheba. She's a German Shepherd. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. An 11-year-old puppy dog, as I call our dog, Fat Boy, is to be put to death. But why? We begged the county attorney who is arguing that this dog should die. But for some reason, he cited ongoing litigation and he couldn't come on.

Now, isn't that quite the coinkydink? Why does this dog have to die? I want Sheba to come live with us. First of all, take a listen to our friends at KTLA. Jose Sanchez, known as Pepe, is overcome with emotion as he talks about his 11-year-old dog named Sheba, who's been incarcerated at the DeVore Animal Shelter for over a year. She was my friend. She took care of me. In 2018, Sheba got out of her house and into a fight with a neighborhood dog, resulting in a $200 vet bill for the other dog's owner.

She was declared potentially dangerous by San Bernardino County officials who placed terms and conditions on keeping her. One of those was that she never escaped home again. Unfortunately she did and based on that they can declare her vicious and they may kill her. This dog owner, Pepe, and he is a senior, drives 40 miles one way, three times a week just to pet and visit Sheba. And when he gets there, he can only be with her for five minutes. He admits Sheba got loose the second time and it was all his fault. But why does she have to die? And why won't the county attorney speak? Why won't he answer the tough questions I have for him? Question. You got to look at that motive. Joining me, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again.

First of all, joining me, you know her well. She is a renowned animals rights activist and a celebrity in many ways. Priscilla Presley joining us. Bruce Kreider, Puppy Coalition, Saving Sheba. Russ Alba, the managing director at Black Swan Law in Florida. Penny Douglas-Furr joining us from the Atlanta jurisdiction. She's an animal rights advocate. And taking the side of the county attorney, believe it or not, former prosecutor and now civil and defense attorney, Daryl Cohen,

Angie Wood, the Atlanta dog whisperer, dog behaviorist, and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Dave Mack. Before we get started, take a listen to CrimeOnline.com. Sheba is an 11-year-old German Shepherd. Her owner, 80-year-old Pepe. Sheba came to the attention of Animal Control after the Shepherd had gotten loose and attacked another dog, but no humans. It happened again in less than a year. There were injuries to the animal in the first incident, but not in the second because the other dog's owner was present and intervened. During this period between the two incidents, Pepe was late complying with county requirements about Sheba's care. He had to get help reading the notices,

and he didn't understand the seriousness. That hurts me so much. My mom lives with us now. She's about to turn 89. I have to read her mail to her. I have to dial numbers on the phone. And 80-year-old Pepe could not read the notices and needed help. Straight out to Bruce Kreider, Puppy Coalition, trying desperately to save Sheba. Bruce, I don't understand. With so many people willing to take Sheba, why does she have to die? Well, we can only speculate. I think a few of us believe that because Pepe was difficult to work with from the county standpoint over the course of a year, that they got an attitude about who they were going to show him who was boss.

And so through the sequence of a couple of hearings that resulted in the verdict that you know about now, they just decided to throw the book at him. The biggest issue in this, really, in terms of the second hearing is when the hearing officer said, I'm declaring that Sheba must be destroyed because we cannot return her to you. And that was never the only option for Sheba. A dog that's only ever been in one dog fight, never bitten a human, never growled at a human, has a lot of options. And that county is not offering to her what they offer to many dogs all the time, which is to release them to a rescue, to be rehomed, rehabilitated, and live their life. It seems to me to you, Priscilla Presley, animal rights activist, that they are trying to not do what's best for everyone involved, but to punish this

80-year-old man, Pepe. Now, Bruce Kreider just told me that from their point of view, they have problems dealing with Pepe, but I don't believe that's true. What happened, Ms. Presley? Well, first of all, I've been with and know Pepe. And Pepe, yes, he is 80 years old. He had just lost his wife, actually, when this happened. And of course, he was grieving the loss of his wife. And he doesn't read really well and doesn't have someone to help him. So I think, and then one of those who, um, at the shelter said that she, he was going to teach, uh, Pepe a lesson. Oh, wait a minute, Ms. Presley. I never thought in my whole life that I would interrupt Priscilla Presley, but did you just say, I want to make sure I understand this because this is significant and Daryl Cohen, I know you're taking the other side, but Penny and Daryl, I think this is very probative. I think it proves something. Did you just say somebody there at the divorce shelter

said they were going to teach Pepe a lesson? That's correct. Yes, that is correct. Right there, Penny Douglas-Fern, give it to me in a nutshell. That is prejudice. You're supposed to be seeking justice and doing the right thing, even at an animal shelter, not trying to teach some 80-year-old guy that can't read a lesson. That sounds vindictive. It is very vindictive. And the fact that they didn't bother to follow the law makes it even worse. Absolutely.

When you say they didn't follow the law, Penny, what do you mean exactly? Speak in regular people talk. Under the law there, if you have a dog and that dog can be rehabilitated, you're not supposed to put the dog to death. You send it to a rescue and let the dog be rehabilitated. This is not a vicious dog. This dog got in a fight and had $200 in damages. You know, I've dealt with dog fights. I've never had a vet bill. Yeah, you have. How many Rottweilers running through your house right now? Four or five, but I've never had a vet bill under $2,000 if they get in a fight. A $200 means a little spat

between two dogs. And it's ridiculous because dogs innately will fight with each other if you have two alpha dogs. And that's just what they do. It's not right to kill the dog over something that they do from instinct. Back to Ms. Presley. Priscilla Presley joining us along with Bruce Crider, Russ Alba, Penny Furr, Daryl Cohen, Angie Wood, and Dave Mack. Ms. Presley, I hear you saying something as Penny was talking. What were you saying? No, I just agreed with her, absolutely, that, you know, this, first of all, they were superficial scribes, you know, that required, yes, an examination and cleaning.

But the mere fact that, you know, this dog has been in prison, really, in a five-by by five cage for one over actually a year so um this is a good old boys club i'm sorry but uh they all protect each other and they're they're they're after uh yes peppy this is to prove pe, you know, is not suitable to keep Sheba. Now, it was the same dog that Sheba went after the second time. But as we said earlier, the owner had stopped it. So it was just, like you said earlier, I don't know who the lady who just spoke was. Dogs will be dogs.

I've had six dogs at one time. And, yes, there's the alpha situation here where they will, you know, at any minute look at one of them and just go after them. You have to be aware. You know, you said something else, Ms. Pressing. I want to get to the bottom of it. Bruce Kreider, Puppy Coalition animal rights activist, intent on saving Sheba, as am I. I'm not going to stand by and do nothing while this dog who has never bitten a person, never attacked a person, got in one dog fight, then gets out a second time and now the animal is going to get the death penalty.

I think it's the first time in my life I've argued against the death penalty. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We're talking about the fight to save this beautiful, loving, 11-year-old puppy dog, Sheba. She's gorgeous. When you see a picture of a German Shepherd, that's her. Beautiful. And when I look at her, she's in a little bitty cage and she's been in that little bitty cage over a year because she got out from her 80-year-old owner, Peppy. Bruce Kreider, I keep hearing that the second time the other dog's owner was there. Was the owner not there the first time? I believe that they weren't there immediately to stop anything. So let me understand this. Both dogs were out without an owner when the first dog fight occurred.

And I agree with Priscilla Presley. I just took the guinea pigs, rescue guinea pigs. My daughter was in the guinea pig phase. To the vet, they just got a checkup. It was $350. So a $200 vet bill, I'm not impressed. That's basically an examination, as Ms. Presley was saying. Another thing I don't understand, Ms. Presley, is why the, give me that letter, Jackie, that the county attorney sent us trying to explain why he can't speak.

Talking about his ethical duty that he can't speak out about Sheba's case ethics what about putting the dog to death over nothing isn't that an ethical violation why won't he speak out well if i can interject sure is that okay yes every every attempt that is we've had to try to communicate with the county including presentations to the county board and individually with the chief executives this falls on deaf ears they refuse to speak and say and and they say they can do nothing because it's in superior court um well that's not true that is not true i know i know they've said they've been coached to say this matters in litigation. It would be improper to discuss it, which effectively shuts down all ability to resolve anything. Or to question them. You can't question them because the county attorney is hiding behind an ethical duty.

And he thinks that's more ethical than putting the dog to death. I mean, Darrell Cohen, when you were still a prosecutor, you and I grew up as prosecutors in the same office in inner city Atlanta. And our boss, the elected DA, Mr. Slayton, did not want us speaking to the press. Why? Because it could taint the jury pools, and then you could get the case ending up in a mistrial because you tainted the jury pool. There's not going to be a jury here. He's hiding. He doesn't going to be a jury here.

He's hiding. He doesn't want to face our questions, Daryl Cohen. There's no reason for him not to speak out. But Nancy, there is a jury. There's the jury of public opinion. Stop it, Daryl. Stop. Stop. I'm serious, Nancy.

No, use the law. There is no such thing. He's hiding. He is appropriately such thing. He's hiding. He is appropriately shielded, not hiding, but he's shielded and he's analyzing his position because he knows whatever he says is going to be wrong. If he says that Sheba needs to die because she bit that other dog and tore it up. And by the way, was there a... Didn't tear the dog up. Well, how do we know that well hold on I think that

I think they do know go ahead Miss Presley no the dog it was just scraps $200 it didn't do it and not only that I must say the owners of that dog do not want Sheba to be put down and it's in writing he's choosing not to follow the law

what's the size of the's choosing not to follow the law though. That's why he's hung. What's the size of the other dog? The size of the other dog? You know, Daryl Cohen, I've got to get you back on. Cut his mic. Cut his mic, Jackie. You need to get out of the weeds and back in the middle of the road,

Daryl Cohen. You've gone off the deep end. What size was the other dog? Who gets a flying fig? The reality is the other dog was not horribly hurt. That was an exam. $200? Are you serious? I can charge that up at the Kroger for Pete's sake. Nancy, maybe the vet was a friend. Why is he still talking? Okay, I want to get back to the facts. To Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. So, let me understand this.

Actually, Dave Mack, let me throw this to Bruce Kreider because he's there on the scene right now. Bruce, isn't it true that the dog gets out, Sheba gets out, she starts a fight with a neighbor dog, or she gets in a fight. I don't know who started it. That's true. The other dog goes for an exam. It's $200. There's no stitches, nothing. She goes back to eight.

I can't say there's no stitches. All I know is that the case was minor. It was a total of $200. And I believe that Pepe actually even paid part of that. So the dog goes back to Pepe, and then the 80-year-old owner, Pepe, the dog gets out again. Right. The second time, she does no harm. Can I just, I need to include something, Nancy. Please do.

The other dog is a yapper. Barks, barks, barks, barks. So obviously, that is to another dog. It's like an open invitation to come after me. I hear you. To Angie Wood, the Atlanta Dog Whisperer at USK9.com, explain what Ms. Priscilla Presley just said. Yes, Ms. Priscilla, you are correct.

So what it does, it arouses the other dogs. And many times when one dog is barking at another dog, they're challenging that dog. That's right. So, therefore, many times a fight will ensue, especially if dogs are off the leash. Right. You know, my little dog, Ms. Presley, is, well, they told me at the pound,

he was a full thoroughbred dachshund he is a thoroughbred mutt okay and he's very short but he has doesn't know that he's short when we take him on a walk for about two miles he growls at other dogs not people he loves wants everybody to pet him but he'll growl at another dog. Even big ones like Great Danes, like Scooby-Doo dogs. You know what? If someone tried to put my little fat boy to sleep, which is a nice way of saying kill. Yeah, and I believe actually, Nancy, it was a dachshund. Right, Bruce? I believe so, yeah. Yeah, that's why he went after. And dachshunds, yes, they do that.

I have one myself. I have a little long-haired Jack Russell, and I have a pit. My pit is the sweetest dog ever, and the Jack Russell's all over him, barking, barking all the time. And, yes, I get in a little scuffle, and I have to stop it. It's an open invitation. Straight out to Managing Director, Black Swan Law in Florida. Russ Alba, how does a busy white-collar crime expert like yourself get involved with saving a dog?

Nancy, for many years I've been involved with the rescue community, and it's a national network of people that care about animals. And so even though this dog is located in San Bernardino County California which is east of Los Angeles the network took up her sheba's cause and so that's how you found out about it through the network sure yeah what I cut all that alba how many pets do you have nancy what we say is numbers don't matter current count um well we live in two houses so we have 12 dogs okay location you know i was giving penny douglas for a hard time hard time for having five rottweilers running through our house at all times

they're huge and they sleep in the bed with them and she feeds them peanut butter on a spoon penny you know that you do so you have 12 dogs not judging not judging because I started off with one pound puppy fat boy and then somehow we got cinnamon now we have two guinea pigs and it's going higher. I promise you. The children want another dog and another cat. But we were talking earlier about how Fatboy is supposed to be a dachshund. I don't know what he is. But when I take him on a walk, he growls and carries on it every other dog he sees. He doesn't bite people. So this is basically sentencing Shiva to death

over one dog fight and frankly, a $200 vet bill. I'm not impressed. That's like you take a look at the dog and say, she's fine. Goodbye. And that's $200. Yeah. The problem is we really don't know much about the interaction that Shivaba had with this other dog. But dogs are often reactive against other dogs, especially if they've been raised or they live on their own. And sometimes the sheer excitement of seeing another dog can be misinterpreted by the other dog as aggression. And so you need to be really careful. That's why I tend to stay away from dog parks because you never know how dogs are going to interact with each other. Russ, I know a few of you live in a dog park. Yes, I do, gladly.

Ms. Presley, Pepe drives 40 miles one way three times a week to see Sheba. Yes, that's true. And not only that, he can't even talk about Sheba. Tears are streaming down his eyes. He misses her. He raised her from seven weeks old. And the departure from her has hurt him just as much as it has the dogs. When he goes to see her, Sheba comes alive and cries and jumps and wants to be in his arms.

And he can only pet her through the fencing of the gates where he is, or the enclosure, and she can just put her nose in through the hole, so he can only touch her nose. Take a listen to our investigative reporter with Crime Online. Sheba was taken from Pepe in June of 2019. She's been locked up in a small cage in San Bernardino County's infamous DeVore Pound ever since, with no blanket, no bed, no toy. For the record, Sheba has no bite history with people. She has only had two incidents with just one neighborhood dog in particular. The first incident resulted in a vet visit for the other dog.

After seeing his dog suffer, the owner has agreed that Sheba would be best off in another setting where she can best recover from a year of neglect in a county pound. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We are talking about the impending death penalty for an 11-year-old German Shepherd, Sheba, who has been by her owner's side for 11 years. He is now 80. He goes to see her three times a week, traveling 40 miles, one way, 40 miles home, and the two of them cry the whole five minutes he gets to pet her. Why does this dog have to die? I don't understand it.

Take a listen to Peppy, Sheba's owner. I'm Peppy, and I want you to help me get my dog back. I've had her for 10 years. She's my life. She's my life. I need her home. I need her home. Well, we have till the 21st, Pepe.

Don't lose hope, okay? Okay. Just hang in there, buddy. I will, I will. You are hearing people from the Chris Kelly Foundation. Take a listen to more of Pepe. Oh, no, no, no, no. Don't say goodbye yet. How was your spirit? All I did was cry and cry all the time. I didn't say goodbye. Oh, no, no, no, no. Don't say goodbye yet. So we have friends out there on Facebook land,

and I'm hoping that you guys can see Pepe's heart and that we might be able to rally together in order to help Pepe and get his dog back Sheba you know when I go on various programs and I argue the law or the facts I don't get paid and I don't want to get paid because I want to always be telling what I believe to be the truth and this is what I believe to be the truth. You want to do something good today? Try to save this dog and try to help 80-year-old Peppy who has all alone now in his home

and no one to help him. The number is 909-384-5133. Repeat, 909-384-5133. That's the San Bernardino Mayor, John Valdivia. Let him know what you think. You know how politicians are, no offense politicians, but they do anything they can to get reelected. That's what they're all about. And I hate to throw him in the pot, in the stew with everybody else to cook that are bad politicians, but how on your watch could you let this happen? We still have time to turn it around. I want to go straight back out to Priscilla Presley, renowned animal rights activist. When is the date that Sheba is to be put to death?

Well, there is a hearing again to save her on September the 11th. That will be the deciding factor. You know, she's been locked up in this cage in solitary confinement for a year, never having been let out of her cage, not even to walk around. And she's decomposed. She's battling mentally and physically. And to me, this is the height of animal cruelty. They wouldn't even let her owner go in the cage, you know, to pet her.

And this is what I don't understand about the shelter itself. I mean, why be so cruel? Why is this, you know, why does she have to be locked up in this way? This is the owner. He's not going to kill and bite the owner. So, yes, this is a plea for people to help us out and to save Sheba. And, yes, we'll relocate her. Hopefully, maybe, if we close by where Pepe can see her and she can live out her life,

make sure she really doesn't have much longer, especially in solitary confinement. You know, I'm very curious as to why the county attorney turned down our request to hear his side, the one that wants to put Sheba to death. Now, he is claiming in a letter to me that's full of legalese. You know how lawyers love to throw around Latin phrases. Anyway. I hate that. I know. I would love it when lawyers would do that to a jury. But that said, he's hiding behind his ethical duty. Now, isn't it true, Russ Alba, you're the managing director of Black Swan Law. You've handled thousands of complicated cases. The reason prosecutors are, or government authorities are disallowed from speaking out, lawyers, is because you don't want to taint

your jury pool. That's what it's all about. Because if you speak out publicly and I say, oh, Russ Alba, he's a killer and he robbed a bank and he on and on and on, you're tainting your jury pool. And if one juror heard that, then you could get a mistrial. That's why you're not supposed to make public statements. There's not a jury here. There's nobody to taint. So why is he hiding, Russ? This is a power play on the part of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the administrators of their animal services department. The divorce shelter in San Bernardino County has a national reputation of being an enormously active kill shelter.

It's basically a slaughterhouse for dogs and cats. And the mission of a good animal control department in any jurisdiction is to maximize the number of adoptions and rescues. And in some places, the kill rates have gone down to almost zero. So these are people in San Bernardino County who are not accustomed to being told what to do, not being held accountable to the community. And the fact that they claim they can't speak to anyone outside the system with respect to this pending case is nonsense because the county of San Bernardino is the client. The client can determine

what to do with this case in the same way that any client can direct its counsel to dismiss the case and terminate the prosecution. When you said kill shelter, that the DeVore shelter in San Bernardino has a national reputation as being a kill shelter. First of all, how do you put kill in the same description as shelter? But what do you mean by kill shelter? Certain shelters in the United States have a reputation of very high kill rates. So they devote most of their energies to killing the dogs that are either surrendered or seized or found, as opposed to working actively with rescue groups who are active in every county, every jurisdiction in the United States trying to reduce the level of euthanizations in the shelters. And so some shelters have very high rates of

killing dogs and shelters like DeVore are considered to be quote kill shelters. Okay I think we've got another guest joining us. You know, I've often said, and I've said this to you, Russ Alba, that the best witness I ever put on the stand was a dog. And I'm not kidding. I am not kidding. It was a drug dog that did a demonstration in the courtroom about how that dog found a cache of drugs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars behind a fake wall that was in the back of a closet of a drug lord and the defense attorney threw a fit when I brought the dog into the courtroom and I remember, oh, this really burned him up, when I said, don't worry, you'll have a full opportunity

to cross-examine the dog. Anyway, I thought that was incredibly funny. He did not. That's great. I want you to hear what Priscilla Presley said as she addressed the Animal Control Board back on July 28 listen she actually has many local community supporters because of her ten years of being a fixture around town with her last owner we realize however and agree

with animal control that we trying there is not an appropriate alternative based on the story there she will need both natural and physical rehabilitation after confinement for a full year in the shelter. We will ensure that those arrangements are provided for in concert with the rescue organization. I personally want to assure you that our efforts to restore Sheba to well-being and at the same time safeguard the public will be carried out in the safest and most professional manner possible. You may depend upon it, and I give you my word, that the people of San Bernardino County will never need to be concerned

that she will be a threat to anyone in this county or actually any other county as well. You know, Priscilla Presley, with all of your fame and celebrity status and everything you have going on in your life, tell me why you care so much about Sheba and why you went in front of this animal control board begging for her life. Because I care, Nancy. I love animals.

I love all the animals, to be honest with you. They have every right to live on this planet as we do. And when I heard the story, I couldn't help but get involved. I heard the story from my friend who has a dog rescue in the Big Island of Hawaii. And she's the one who told me about the story and asked me if I could help in any way and when I heard it there's no doubt of course she knows that that when I believe in something you know I take it to heart and I'll do my very best to get it done and when I met Pepe it was so my god it was very difficult to not just hug him because tears were streaming down his face that he loved his dog so much.

But the mere fact that the dog is not a vicious animal and to have this county do this to her, you know, it's cruel. And it's literally, I'm really having doubts about this whole San Bernardino County board. I mean, it's unthinkable to confine Sheba over a year now in this five by five cage and have her whine and cry. Where is the human touch here? Where is the care? Where is the, and this is a shelter. This makes me think about how many other animals that are there that are being mistreated. To Angie Wood, the Atlanta

dog whisperer at uscanine.com. Angie, I understand that if her life is spared, that she will have to have rehab. Why is she being kept like that in a cage and not let out? I don't understand because quite frankly, that type of confinement typically is reserved for a rabies protocol, not just for housing a dog that's in for her type of situation. So this is animal cruelty at its worst, not only physically, but psychologically. And a year, this is insane. We let people out for an hour a day in prison, right? So it is absolutely insane. And so we do operate a rehab center here in the Atlanta area that specializes in exactly this type of thing. Sheba does not seem to be a severe case to me at all. And in fact, you know, we are in Atlanta

on the other side of the country. If we can get them to release Sheba, Sheba can come live with me. Well, the fact is that the muscles atrophy sitting there and she won't be able to get up and run and be anything. She'll be a shadow of the dog that she was. And that's if she gets saved. Bruce Kreider, Puppy Coalition, animal rights activist, Saving Sheba. Question to you, Bruce, why are they doing this? Well, I've heard some people say they just want another notch in their belt. What? I kind of believe that they just want another notch in their belt.

Meaning? Meaning they want to win and that that's what's important to them now people are saying that i'm not saying i believe that but i kind of don't doubt it let me i'd like to uh get on to a point that priscilla started to make about the the other dogs owners and not them not wanting sheba to be killed i have four pages from the community where she's from, where the community members that have known her for 10 years have vouched for her. I mean, four pages of names and signatures and phone numbers. So that should say something.

The second thing, if I've got time, is the legal department strategy has been to avoid any dialogue that could detract from them from their goal of killing Sheba, you know, and keeping quiet and limiting the court conversation to the hearing officer's proclamation that she would be killed because her owner is not compliant. And so they're trying to minimize any kind of extra dialogue or anything else. And then they tell the board, you can't get involved in this. You can't talk about it. You know what people hate is bureaucracy. Long story short, I don't get the thinking behind the

divorce shelter because apparently many people, Russ Alba, have come forward offering to take in Sheba. She's had one dogfight. Then she escaped again from 80-year-old Pepe's house. I don't think you can see that well. She escaped, and now they're going to give her the death penalty after one dogfight? The obligation of the county of San Bernardino is to act in the best interest of the public safety of the citizens of San Bernardino County. In this case, we've got a solution that completely eliminates any risk to the county of San Bernardino, California. We've offered to take Sheba out of the county, out of the state, and put her in a rescue someplace where she can find a forever home and live out her life.

There is zero public interest in killing this dog except the political whims and the lack of responsiveness of the San Bernardino County government. You know, when you said, Russ Alba, this has a lot to do with the political whims. You know, I hate politics. I really do. Right. I don't want it to be political. What did you mean by that? I mean, politicians need to be responsive to the electorate, to the people that they serve. And in this case, and we can we can argue about left and right and Democrat and Republican all day long. And we're not going to. But the point is that politicians and elected officials and county officials who are often appointed need to act in the best interest of their constituents

and in the best interest of public safety and health of their communities. And there is no compelling reason to kill this dog. All it is, it's testimony to the lack of responsiveness, lack of sensitivity to animal rescue in that county, in that shelter. And it's wrong. And it's up to people like us to fight for dogs like Sheba. She's just one dog of many that are in divorce. They're going to be able to kill plenty. Don't worry. But this one spoke to us as being a particularly egregious case and one that highlights the malfeasance of this county government. You know, it disturbs me, and of course, pardon the pun,

but you don't have a dog in the fight, Alba. You live in Florida. Your law firm, Black Swan Law, is in Florida. This is no skin off your back. It just... Every dog matters to me. law firm, Black Swan Law, is in Florida. This is no skin off your back. Every dog matters to me. You know what is... Every piece of injustice and every act of senseless cruelty affects all of us, no matter where it happens. And as a point of fact, Nancy, I'm still a California lawyer, having

practiced in Los Angeles for many years. So my part of my heart stays in Southern California. And it troubles me to see a California government as a portion of the state government of California act in this inhumane, unresponsive and uncaring way. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about a sweet and loving German shepherd who got into one fight with another dog and is now getting the death penalty, has never bitten a person, got out of the home a second time, did not bite anybody else, didn't bite another dog. One dog fight is ending up in the death penalty for Sheba? I found out about Sheba's case through our friend Russ Alba, managing director of Black Swan Law in Florida. And at first I thought there had to be a catch.

I couldn't believe it. But it's exactly as he said. To you, Daryl Cohen, former assistant DA in Fulton, now defense attorney and civil attorney in the Atlanta jurisdiction. Daryl Cohen, could you give me any reason why the county attorney who won't be on with us today, and if you could give me that letter from the county attorney denying our request to come on, why not rehouse Sheba? Nancy, I am very concerned with Sheba, as you knew I would be.

Having said that, we do not know all of the facts. Priscilla, with all due respect, we're talking about a shepherd that went after a little dog, yapping or not, and I've been the owner of dogs. I have two now.

So why isn't he talking? He ought to say, I can't say anything. There's a way of saying no comment by saying. Why not address it? It's not like there's going to be a jury trial that he's going to poison a jury pool. Because it's a jury of public opinion and nobody in the public. That's not covered in the law or ethics. What other people might think about you?

I want to know what. Sorry, go ahead. Go ahead, Miss Presley. I want to know what you do. Can you please repeat that when you said that you're sorry that I don't know some of the facts? I do know the facts. Just what Bruce said earlier. He's got he's got four pages of people in that town close to Running Springs that love that dog.

They've known that dog for 10 years. She's now 11 because she's been in there a year. They know that dog, and they are signing that she is not a dangerous dog. So don't say I don't know anything about it. Well, I didn't say that. I said you don't know all of the facts. And if you knew all of the facts, for instance, people are saying it. I asked early on what size was the dog. Big difference. I thought you were talking about the other dog, sir. I thought you were talking about the small dog. The small dog was the one that was attacked.

Yeah, I thought you were talking about that dog. Well, I can tell you the size. It was a dachshund. And if it's anything like our dachshund, it comes up to your knees. Wait a minute. What do you mean it doesn't matter what size the dog is? It certainly does because if a large dog gets in a fight with another large dog, you say, okay, they're two alphas. But if a large dog goes after a little dog, that is not acceptable. Just not acceptable. I'm sorry.

If you have dogs if you have dogs i feel bad for them because you have no understanding i wouldn't feel bad for them they have a life the best luxury i've had forever and i'm glad to talk to you all in that case daryl cohen if one got out and started a fight with the docs and i guess he'd be okay with you if he got the death penalty if he did it a second time then there's a problem she didn't do it a second time all she did the second time was escape and another thing there are alternatives here so many people have offered to take sheba isn't that true crider other people will take sheba away from the area and rehab her and keep tabs on her. What more do they want? Do they just want to kill the dog?

Well, you're exactly right, Nancy. Right now, there's a local attorney working a pro bono basis for this case. He's put together a complete package for any one of three rescue groups in the area that the county can pick from that have signed written agreements for lifetime maintenance of Sheba and a series of other provisions for rehab, assurances, and liability waivers to assure San Bernardino County that they would never be liable. I want you to hear Bruce Kreider as he addresses the Animal Control Board.

And this is amazing to me. Listen. A hearing was held about it a year ago, last July. And then on July 18th, Mr. Beck, the presiding hearing officer, wrote in a letter to Sheba's owner, I'm ordering Sheba to be destroyed for San Bernardino County Code Title 3 Division 2 Chapter 14

Section 32.1407 because allowing you to maintain custody of Sheba would create a significant threat to public health, safety, and welfare. Well, there are a few problems with that. First, no word was required that Sheba's only attorney for a living existence be with her former non-compliant owner. She clearly could have gone to a rescue group like so many other dogs most every day. Second, there was never a finding

that she could not be re-homed. Third, euthanizing Shiba is contrary to your own policies. I could say, I don't have time, but there are several different, both state and county policies that speak to the merit of minimizing euthanization and utilizing rescue organizations. You know, I want to go to Penny Douglas, for Atlanta attorney, criminal defense attorney and animal rights lawyer.

Penny, isn't it true the law says that they are to consider rehoming Sheba before killing her? And there's no mention in all of these legalities that they ever have even considered rehoming her after one dog bite on another dog, for Pete's sake. It is my understanding that their law, California, says that if this dog can be rehabbed, they're not allowed to euthanize her. That's why this prosecutor is not talking to you. That's right. Because he knows he's not following the law and he doesn't want to respond to that. And as to public opinion, if he's correct, wouldn't it be better that he respond if he wants public opinion on his side?

I hear you jumping in, Ms. Presley. Go ahead. Yeah, I have it here. It's the Connie Divergence from State Law Section 17005 of the California Code. It states in the first sentence of the first subdivision, it is the policy of the state that no adoptive animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home. It is the state, it is the policy of the state that no treatable animal should be euthanized. A treatable animal shall include any animal that is not adoptable, so that could become adoptable with reasonable efforts. What about that, Daryl Cohen? I hear a long pause of silence as he's thinking, ooh, that's bad. Yeah, and you're going to have a long pause of silence because the reality is he's doing, as a lawyer, exactly what he should do, saying no comment because I cannot comment.

That's total BS, and you know it. Lawyers comment every day. But we've got a dog who, it's very sad, but Pepe obviously was incapable of taking care of that dog. Then why not rehome the dog? I can't disagree with that, Nancy. But on the other hand, if this dog is a threat to other small dogs, it would just threaten small dogs. I'm addressing it as a threat to small dogs. She's been around other dogs.

She's been around other dogs. What, Priscilla? She's been around other dogs. She's been around other dogs. What, Priscilla? She has been around other dogs. The city, the town that she's from, that Pepe is from, Pepe walks the dog. She has friends. They go in stores. She's never tried to bite anyone. After one dog fight, Penny, Sheba is going to be killed.

I don't even say euthanized or put down because that's sugarcoating, airbrushing the truth. They're going to kill her over one dog fight and because they got mad at her owner, 80-year-old Pepe. Penny, what can we do? It's in a dog's nature to fight. That's what they do. They are hierarchical animals. They will fight over position. All dogs will fight in the right situation.

So you should never kill a dog for what it does by instinct. That's what is just so wrong. She's shown no aggression to human beings. And if you think she's an issue with other dogs, she can be adopted into a family without dogs. That's very simple. A lot of people only want one dog. Is that true, Angie Wood? Angie Wood, is that true?

Can this dog be rehabilitated? She's had one fight for Pete's sake. The dog can absolutely be rehabilitated. I have dealt with thousands and thousands of these type of dogs, and she does not sound severe to me at all. It sounds to me like she got out, her adrenaline was a bit high, and they tend to act on that. She has friends, for God's sake, that are dogs. And there is hope for every dog. They just need to be matched with the right human. And a single family or a single dog family is certainly an option for a dog who may be a little feisty with other dogs. Russ, this is a very different hat for me to wear because typically, hate me or not I get involved in animal cases when for instance a child or person

has been mauled by for instance a Rottweiler and so I'm usually taking a side against a dangerous animal but in this case I don't believe that's true I think that sheba got into a dogfight Just like my little dog tries every single time we take it for a walk. He has to ground her and somebody Not a person always another dog. That's what nobody's nobody's been scratched. Nothing. You got she got one dogfight Where's the public interest in killing Shiva what does it do how does it help San San Bernardino County how does it protect anybody she was not a dangerous dog what do they have against Pepe it seems to me that when I heard Russ Alba that one of the employees at divorce said we're gonna teach him a

lesson they were talking about Pepe why about? About an 80-year-old man, why do you want to teach him a lesson? He's literally crying. If that statement is true, and I don't know that it is, it's just further evidence that the county government isn't acting in the best interest of its constituents, of its populace, and it's now become really a power struggle. And the county of San Bernardino will not be told what to do, will not be dictated to by local animal rescue groups, by national animal rescue groups, and certainly not by the media and malcontents like Nancy Grace.

You know, thank you. groups and certainly not by the media and and malcontents like Nancy Grace you know thank you Russ Alba very often we think of when you hear the word dog catcher or pound and has so many horrible connotations and there's a reason for that the thought that sheba has been kept in this cage for over a year now when there are people begging to home her i can't understand why they dug in their heels why is that the mystery of me but but it's up to us to speak up to this injustice, to this inhumanity, to this cruelty on behalf of Sheba and other dogs like her. Again, I usually don't take on the cause of a pet because I've got my hands full with

missing children, missing adults. Well, David and the kids. Yeah, and felony crimes on people but when i looked at this dog sheba and she looked at me through the camera and when that day comes that they put her to sleep that is going to be an injustice and you know what russ as i've told a jury, we are judged not on who wins what court battle or what we have in our 401k or who we got it over on or who we got the best of. We are judged by how we treat those that are the weakest in our world, in our society. And that is why we have rules to protect the weak against those more powerful or more cunning than they are.

And the thought that that day will come and Sheba will be put to death, it's just wrong. And it speaks to our world. Nancy, I'd like to speak to it this way and a little bit differently. While Sheba is very important to me personally and to a whole lot of other people personally, whether Shiba lives or dies is probably not a matter of global consequence. But what this is about is who we are as a people, what we do, how we treat the least powerful and the voiceless in our communities. And that includes animals.

And if we can do this to Sheba, we can do this to other creatures and people. So this is a test of our character. And that's why we fight for dogs like Sheba. Final word to Ms. Presley. I want to thank everyone for being with us. But Ms. Presley, you know, with all you have going on in your life, you take time to save Sheba. That means a lot to me that you care. And you and Bruce Kreider on the panel today have gone to the Animal Control Board.

You've led the fight. Tell us what we can do to help you and Bruce. Okay I'll jump in. Well there are probably three phone numbers that you might want to write down. Hit it. First of all Gary McBride is the chief executive of the county. His telephone number is 909-387-5417. Then I'll give you the chairman of the county board. His name is Kurt Hagman. His number is 909-387-4866. And then the chief legal counsel, not the lead counsel on this case, but the chief legal counsel is Michelle Blakemore. Her number is 909-387-3841.

We also have a website that's kind of a minor website, but it's saving-shiba.org that gives a lot of the detail. So if people want to visit that, that might be able to help. Oh, that's the answer right there. Saving-Sheba, S-H-E-B-A.org. Saving-Sheba.org. You know what? I usually cover cases that involve human victims, but I don't like any wrongdoing, any injustice. We still have time to turn this around. If we work together,

please help us. Please help us save Sheba. Thank you. And when I think of Pepe going on 81 years old, crying, this reminds me a lot of my dad, to tell you the truth. Please help us save this dog. 909-384-5133 or go to saving-sheba.org. Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. And we wait, God willing, as justice unfolds. Goodbye. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.