Dog owner fights city euthanasia order
Jul. 18—Six months after losing his dog, James Mayer was finally ready to get another one.
A pit bull named "Layla," deteriorating at a shelter in Cowlitz County, caught his eye.
"I was finally ready. I thought I had the capacity to help another dog," Mayer recalled. "Layla came across my feed and I was like, 'Oh man, that dog is beautiful and she needs help. This is the one.'"
Little did Mayer know that just a few weeks later he would be fighting to keep Layla alive after she killed a cat in Astoria.
In August, he will go before the Circuit Court to appeal a euthanasia order from the city.
Layla was staying with Mayer's girlfriend, Kristin Hooper, in Astoria in June. While Mayer and Hooper are from Portland, Hooper stays on the North Coast while she works shifts at Columbia Memorial Hospital as an emergency department nurse practitioner.
One morning, Layla bolted out the door and took off before Hooper could corral her. Layla ran several blocks before she came upon "Jack," a 12-year-old cat. The encounter left the cat with fatal injuries.
Astoria police arrived to find Layla chasing another cat. They took statements from witnesses before impounding the dog.
Under city code, animals at large that kill other animals are designated level five, the highest level of dangerousness. With some exceptions, the law also states that animals receiving that classification shall be euthanized.
Soon after Layla was seized, Eric Halverson, the interim police chief at the time, designated Layla as a level five dangerous dog.
Mayer, while expressing remorse for the death of the cat, had objections to the wording of the city code and filed an appeal in Municipal Court.
"It needs to be reworded ... So if a cat kills a squirrel, is that what we're talking about? Because cats kill birds all the time. Is any judge in their right mind going to euthanize a cat for that? It's the same situation here," he said. "That's where it's up to the judge, in my opinion, to inject some logic and humanity."
Kris Kaino, a Municipal Court judge, supported the level five designation and ordered that Layla be euthanized.
Mayer challenged claims made in Municipal Court that because Layla had shown aggression toward a cat, she would soon be aggressive to humans.
"Around people, (Layla is) fantastic. She's a very sweet dog, no signs of aggression whatsoever toward people," Julia Johnson, a staff member at the Clatsop County Animal Shelter, said.
Johnson added that Layla has a "very high prey drive" and will go after other animals.
Kaino put a hold on his euthanasia order as Mayer appealed to Circuit Court. Mayer hired Geordie Duckler, an attorney in Tigard who specializes in animal-related legal issues, to assist with the case.
City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard filed a motion to dismiss Mayer's appeal. Judge Cindee Matyas denied the city's motion last week.
Mayer, who has owned several pit bulls, feels like a bias against Layla's breed has played a role.
"Every form from the court and every form from the city attorney, it emphasizes a 'pit bull dog,'" he said. "Do you think they would do that (for) a 'black Lab dog' or a 'German shepherd dog?' It would just say a dog. They're trying to point out, specifically, I think, that Layla is a pit bull."
Earlier this month, Mayer started an online petition to rally support for Layla. As of Sunday, it has reached over 25,000 signatures.
"It's gone kind of bonkers," Mayer said. " ... It feels good to know that there are folks that really understand how difficult of a situation this is.
"They are as sad as I am that a cat had to lose its life, but they don't feel that a dog should have to lose its life as well."
