Blog note: This article references
two grand jury reports.
A Huntington
Beach woman in her ninth month of pregnancy was attacked two weeks ago by a pit
bull that county animal control officials had declared "vicious"
earlier in the year after a face bite, but later reversed that decision and apparently
placed no requirement that it wear a muzzle.
On June 19,
Veronica Nguyen was alone on an evening walk outside her home on Aladdin Street
near Huntington Harbour when Mark Harry, a neighbor, came around the corner
walking his two dogs. The pit bull, which was named "Blue," lunged at
Nguyen.
“When the
dog came at her she had turned to shield [it] from her stomach," said her
husband, Tim Nguyen, in an interview with Voice of OC. "Her first instinct
was to protect the baby.”
The dog tore
into Veronica's arm, leaving it "ridiculously bloody," Tim said, with
a chunk of her arm "totally gone." An ambulance was called and
Veronica was rushed to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, where doctors decided to
induce labor early due to the severity of her injuries and performed a cesarean
section.
Doctors
delivered a healthy baby boy and performed reconstructive surgery on Veronica's
arm. Two tendons were fused together because one was severely damaged,
according to Tim.
Blue was
euthanized following the attack. Meanwhile, Veronica and her baby were released
from the hospital last Wednesday.
Revelations of the attack on
Veronica will undoubtedly bring increased scrutiny on top officials at OC
Animal Care, who have been under fire amid multiple reports, including two by
the county grand jury, regarding management problems and deplorable conditions
at the county's 74-year-old animal shelter.
The Nguyens
said they were not told that Blue had a history until they received a call from
Voice of OC. In February, an attack by Blue had included a “face bite,”
according to county records obtained by Voice of OC.
After the
earlier attack, county officials had options that included requiring that Blue
wear a muzzle and physical restraint, according to the county’s vicious dog
ordinance.
That didn’t
end up happening.
Instead,
after a hearing where Harry presented witnesses, the interim OC Animal Care
director, Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, removed Blue’s “vicious dog” status.
While
Hawkins told Harry the decision was conditioned on him agreeing to restrain his
dog, she apparently placed no legally binding requirements, like mandating that
Blue wear a muzzle.
“You are
encouraged to ensure that Blue is properly controlled and confined at all
times,” Hawkins wrote in a March 13 letter announcing her decision.
Reached for
comment Friday, county officials emphasized that they reversed the “vicious
dog” declaration based on the hearing and other, unspecified, evidence.
“The
tentative declaration was considered at an administrative hearing, where the
hearing officer heard from various witnesses," county spokeswoman Jean
Pasco said in a statement. "Based on the witness statements and
considering the available evidence, the hearing officer recommended against the
declaration.”
Pasco
declined to elaborate on what evidence was presented at the hearing or the
rationale behind the reversal, nor confirm what injuries were caused by Blue’s
February bite. The county also would not release a transcript of the hearing
Friday.
Hawkins,
meanwhile, didn’t return a phone message seeking comment.
When Voice
of OC contacted Tim Nguyen for the first time last week, he was surprised to
learn about the dog’s prior bite and Hawkins’ handling of it.
“I was under
the impression that it was a good dog and that it was just a bizarre
accident," Tim said. The new information “definitely changes my
perspective on the whole situation.”
He added:
“It's one thing when you make an innocent mistake…but if it happened before and
you let it happen again, that is different.”
Harry, the
dog’s owner, declined to comment through his Los Angeles-based attorney,
Natalia Foley.
The bite
exposes not only Harry to potential legal liability, but also county taxpayers,
depending on how serious the first incident was, among other factors.
In their review of animal control,
grand jurors took the unusual move of issuing two back-to-back reports
criticizing the department’s executives for creating an environment that risks
public health and safety.
One of the reports alleged that
poor leadership has contributed to bad cleaning practices at the county
shelter that could spread disease, as well as a dead deer being left in
front of a home for five days after being reported to animal control.
The situation is so bad, according
to the grand jury, that the county should consider replacing the leadership
of the county's community resources department, which oversees OC Animal
Care.
The report
doesn't mention them by name, but the department's director is Steve
Franks, a former political aide to county Supervisor Jim Silva who later
transitioned into a top role above the county agency.
In addition
to the grand jury reports, former employees recently alleged unethical
behavior by superiors, such as pressure on field officers to bring in
money, and pursuing an allegedly false allegation of animal abuse that prompted
compensation for the shelter.
Huntington
Beach is among 18 Orange County cities that rely on the county for animal
control services.
As for the
Nguyen family, Tim says he and his wife are thankful their son is in good
health.
“One thing
that we've been talking about is that in total darkness there is still light…so
many things could have gone wrong,” said Tim Nguyen. “What if [it] got
her stomach?”
“We look at
kids in our neighborhood – they would have been defenseless.”
Tim says his
wife was fortunate to be matched with a good surgeon at Hoag Hospital, who
feels confident about her recovery.
“We remain
positive, but there’s moments where it hurts,” Tim Nguyen said.
While
Veronica is able to breastfeed, he added, she isn’t able to participate in many
of the moments that new mothers typically experience, like picking up her baby
and changing his clothes.
“Everything’s
kind of on standstill right now,” he said.
June 29, 2015
Voice
of OC
By Nick
Gerda
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