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| Forrest behind bars in Denver, CO. |
Writers need time to write. Sometimes we steal time—paying bills late, not returning phone calls, and turning down dinner invites — because an inner voice is louder. At times, the voice is so loud nothing else seems as important as it once was. Again, I have to hit the pause button on life because the time is ripe for me to tell you and the world about a dog owner’s nightmare in Denver, Colorado…
Sonya’s story could have been mine or yours if we had been living in Denver in May of 2005…
Who is Sonya Dias and why she is my hero
Sonya is a past resident of Denver who was living the good life with her pit bull mix Griffie until she learned that her city wanted to kill her dog! She founded a small group named the Pit Bull BAND (Breed Awareness Not Discrimination) in a desperate attempt to stop her city from enacting their proposed breed ban on all Pit Bulls and any dog having the physical characterizes of a Pit Bull — aka mutts!
When the group’s wholehearted attempts to reason with the city council failed — all hell broke loose in May 2005. Animal control officers received their marching orders to round up innocent family dogs and put them to death. Dog owners were forced to surrender their dogs or face fines and the threat of jail time.
Sonya hid her beloved Griffie for 6 months — never letting him outside during the day — taking him out only at night and before dawn to relieve himself until she could get her house sold and the hell out of Denver. She and Griffie fled to a nearby city and rented an apartment where they live today. Forced to choose between her Victorian dream home and her dog, she knows she made the difficult right choice.
Sonya is remarkably strong and incredibly determined. Working with very little capital, she and other members of her group hired an attorney to represent them and other dog owners suffering from Denver’s legislative abuse of power. Doing most of the leg work herself (tons of research and piles of paperwork) to save on legal fees, she is truly a force to be reckoned with and quite a modest heroine.
Important side note: It was recently announced that the American Kennel Club (AKC) has joined the class action lawsuit that has been filed against the city of Denver. Please send a love note to the AKC! They stepped up to the plate BIG time. They know the stakes are high. They know Denver must be defeated to stop copycat cities from becoming another Denver killing field.
It’s been almost 4 years since Sonya woke up a sleepy veterinarian some 800 miles away in California. On the spot, I pledged my full fighting support to stop Denver and other breed ignorant cities from attacking dog owners with a canine breed elimination Gestapo regime. On that panicked day when Sonya and I spoke on the phone, I heard the terror in her shaky voice. The unbelievable was really happening!
In that moment, I vowed to wake up my fellow dog loving Americans and be a catalyst to end the regime of Breed Discriminatory Laws that are sweeping this country. It was not a decision, it was a duty. I envisioned an army of dog rebels working together to stop the deadly dog regime of breed discrimination. It was time for a ROVERlution!
The saga of Chris McGahey and his dog Forrest continues…
Fast forward to August 23, 2008: After an intense 10 day shout out to Denver officials (phone calls, emails and letters) demanding the release of Forrest, I woke early on a Saturday morning and found this message in my inbox: Protest Rally at Denver Municipal Shelter 666 Jason Street tomorrow Sunday, 24th at 11am. Bring protest signs! The campaign I started just 2 weeks ago, (Mission: Save Forrest) had now mushroomed into a full fledged protest! Without thinking — knowing my rational mind could come up with a least a dozen reason why I should NOT cancel my Sunday beach plans to fly the blue skies of Denver — my fingers hit the keyboard. Within minutes, Expedia.com booked me a direct flight leaving for Denver at 6am and returning at 6pm — giving me 12 hours to help save Forrest from another tragic death, another family destroyed by the Denver Dog Dictatorship.
After a 30 minute taxi ride from the airport to the Denver Municipal Shelter (DMS), I would finally meet a pack of dog rebels inside enemy territory. Their faces, like mine, showed anger and panic. I wanted to flip off the city that called us to war — stealing countless hours of daylight and sleep. The city that has filled us with rage and sadness knowing they have marched hundreds of harmless family dogs straight into their killing camp at the DMS. Damn you Denver!
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| Protester stands outside Denver Municipal Shelter, helping to create a world-wide boycott of the city. |
We shouted and waved protest signs at cars driving by. We told the story of Forrest to newspaper reporters talking faster than they could scribble down our outrage. That Sunday afternoon, a small but mighty group of dog rebels shined a bright spotlight on a dark Denver and helped to spare the life of an innocent family dog named after the movie character, Forrest Gump.
Back home, the following day in California I got the call: Forrest would be released. After a 2 month incarceration at the shelter, Forrest was loaded into a one way van headed to St. Louis, MO. Now, here is the rub: Forrest must never return to the state of Colorado or be released back to the family that fought so hard to save his life. Denver plays God again…
This is not one bizarre story. Dog owners are facing discrimination in cities all over the country where lazy, uneducated city council people vote in favor of breed bans — failing to address the real problem: Negligent dog owners!
Could your city become the next Denver — forcing you to move or surrender your dog?
The rights of dog owners are in grave jeopardy! You can help stop the killing of innocent dogs in Denver, Colorado. See the promise I have made to the Mayor of Denver:
4 responses so far ↓
1 Sharon // Sep 5, 2008 at 12:06 pm
How outrageous! Poor Forrest can’t go home? I looked on the Stray Dog of St. Louis website and did not see him listed there. Does anyone know where he is? I’ll adopt him and send him back to his owner. It is always funny how FEAR allows people to make wrong decisions
F—false
E—expectations
A—appearing
R—real
FALSE, EXPECTATIONS, APPEARING, REAL
It’s time they stop living and looking at a world through an illusion.
I am the proud owner of a beautiful Doberman. Will it be their turn next?
Where is Forrest? Sign the pettion again and again. Let’s keep the voice going for this cause!
2 Mandy Lion // Sep 5, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Dogs are the innocent victims in this… NOT the problem! The problem is irresponsible dog owners. Anyone that thinks otherwise is too stupid to be allowed to even take part in the discussion about the fate of these wonderful dogs. In fact, I would like to propose a breed ban on stupid people.
In closing I want to say one more thing. A Pit bull in the right hands is an angel… A Pit bull in the wrong hands is a terror. A Golden in the right hands is an angel… A Golden in the wrong hands is a terror… A Doberman in the right hands… Aaahhh… You get my drift…
Let’s stop this nonsense!
Mandy
3 Tomme Liam Bradaigh // Sep 8, 2008 at 12:55 am
Denver’s infamous record of hate crimes against pit bull dogs is common knowledge; so why then did
the Democrats still have their National Convention in that city of hate?
Well maybe because the media has a lot of folks believing the lie that pit
bull dogs are innately vicious, when the complete opposite is true; so maybe
a lot of folks erroneously believe that killing pit bulls is a good thing
and/or simply just don’t care. Also, the amount of revenue generated by that
convention, specifically including tax as well as other revenue received by
the city of Denver itself, was quite large. As long as Denver continues to
host such revenue producing conventions/events, this petition will be more
symbolic than effective, but regardless, and hoping for the best, I’ve signed
it, as well as forwarding it to others for their awareness and for them to
sign it if they choose to do so. Further, I see that as a result of the public
outcry over Forrest, Denver is no longer executing them, but is now
deporting them, as was the policy of Nazi Germany with the Jews, before
their Final Solution of the Jewish Problem was instituted. Fortunately in
Denver, the Nazi policys there have been reversed, but deportation because of race/breed is still a policy based upon
ignorance and hate.
4 Gayle // Sep 8, 2008 at 6:14 pm
I live in California and was forced to “sneak” my Pitty-girls in and out to go potty because when I relocated from Seattle my home owner’s insurance (that I’ve been with for over 20 years) reported that they would drop my insurance if I had a dog at even resembled a Pit Bull. Unbelievable. I had these dogs for 10 years and now they could be taken from me.
I’m grateful to see that there is quite the “movement” to stop breed banning!
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