Board Stays Lawyers, Won’t Appeal Award in Dog’s Death

An almost 4-year-long battle over the accidental death of a dog at the county’s animal shelter ended abruptly Tuesday when a member of the Board of Supervisors yanked the leash on county lawyers who wanted to continue the fight.

Supervisor Todd Spitzer scolded lawyers who urged that the county appeal a $3,000 judgment over the death of Madeline, a 2-year-old Catahoula hound owned by William and Shirley Simon of Yorba Linda.

The supervisors unanimously declined to seek an appeal and ordered the county to pay the Simons.

“I have some real issues about the fact that we destroyed a pet inadvertently and now the county wants to appeal,” Spitzer said.

The owners of the dog, a breed named after Catahoula Parish in Louisiana, could not be reached for comment. The dogs are similar to blue tick hounds and are bred for hunting.

The family’s troubles began in November 1994, when Madeline was impounded at the Orange County Animal Shelter as being a chronic stray. Animal control workers decided to keep the dog while they investigated what conditions they were going to impose on the owners before allowing her release.

Less than two weeks later, the Simons were told that Madeline had been accidentally destroyed.

“We were devastated,” Shirley Simon said after filing a lawsuit against the county last year. “My husband still hasn’t gotten over it.”

County officials admitted the mistake and blamed it on human error. A county worker at the shelter, they said, had failed to read a notice on Madeline’s file ordering that she not be euthanized.

Initially, the Simons had asked for up to $25,000, saying they were emotionally devastated by the death of the pet they considered a family member.

County lawyers countered that Madeline’s market value was only $300.

So they went to trial.

During the trial, the Simons produced an expert witness who testified that the dog was worth $5,000. Eventually, the judge reduced the amount to $3,000 and ordered the county to pay.

“County staff believed that was outrageous and that the $5,000 opinion should never have come into evidence,” County Counsel Laurence Watson said on Tuesday.

Spitzer would have none of it.

“I don’t see a floodgate of litigation by pet owners opening,” he said. “This was an accident. We should pay the $3,000 and move on.”