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ANIMAL WATCH - Helene Jackson was enjoying an evening walk with her mini-poodle, Lily, near their home in the city of Sierra Vista, AZ, on June 23, 2023, when they were fatally mauled by one or both of the American Staffordshire Terriers (aka Pit Bulls), belonging to neighbors Shimira Marie Sanches and Ashlee Sanches, which had jumped a residential block wall, according to the Arizona Daily Independent.
The Sierra Vista Police Department said officers received a call to report to a home near Meadowlark Drive and Calle Del Norte, where they also found “a dog was attacking 55-year-old Sam Sanches, Jr., in the backyard of a home in the area.”
Sanches Jr. was airlifted from the scene to a trauma hospital in Tucson.
A third dog then approached and officers were forced to kill it, according to the police report.
Helene Jackson, 84, was found injured in an alley near the home. She was transported to a local hospital but died. Jackson’s dog, her beloved mini-poodle, was found dead near her body, 13 News reported.
As a result, a $7.5 million claim has subsequently been filed against the City of Sierra Vista.
According to the report, “The notice of claim contends an even bigger act of negligence occurred when the staff failed to impound the dogs earlier for being dangerous or vicious as addressed by Ordinance 90.05(B) even though city staff had knowledge Thor and Panda were “vicious animals” as defined in the city’s Animal Control Ordinance 90.01 and as an “aggressive dog” as defined in Arizona Revised Statute 11-1014.0l(D)(l).”
RECAP OF PIT BULL ATTACK ON JUNE 23, 2023, LEADING TO NEGLIGENCE CLAIM AGAINST CITY
The Aug. 10 indictment additionally charges the two women with negligent homicide, assault by vicious animal, and two counts of an aggressive-dog violation. A summons was issued which required them to appear at Cochise County Superior Court on Sept. 5 for arraignment.
The Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner had recently released Helene Jackson’s autopsy report, describing the severity of the injuries inflicted by the Pit Bulls, “including a transected right brachial artery and vein.”
“Other injuries noted by the medical examiner included a fractured left fibula, fractured right fibula, and fractured right tibia. Jackson, who also suffered multiple lacerations to her head and extremities which coincided with teeth marks, died at a local hospital a short time after the attack,” the Arizona Daily Independent reported on August 14, 2023.
INDICTMENT ANNOUNCED
On August 15, 2023, a SierraVista.gov media release announced, “Grand Jury indicts 2 local women on charges stemming from that attack,” and confirmed that, “Sierra Vista residents Shimira Sanches, 43, and Ashlee Sanches, 35, were indicted on charges of manslaughter, negligent homicide, assault by a vicious animal, and aggressive dog violation,” stemming from that attack.
“SVPD confirms that Shimira Sanches and Ashlee Sanches have been served by the Cochise County Constable and are due to appear in Cochise County Superior Court on Sept. 5, 2023,” the release stated.
At the September hearing, the owners of two Pit bulls that killed Helene Jackson and her dog, and critically injured 53-year old Sam Sanches, Jr., in June, pleaded not guilty to multiple felonies in connection with the attacks.
“Both women were granted permission by the judge to take part in a confidential settlement conference with a retired judge in an effort to reach a negotiated plea agreement in both cases,” the DogsBite.org report states. (Read entire update here.)
CITY ANIMAL CONTROL’S FAILURE TO ENFORCE
According to the Herald/Review, part of that hearing could also focus on an attack the same dogs inflicted in February, four months before the Jackson attack.
At that time, the two Pit Bulls escaped their property and attacked a dog being walked in the area. A Sierra Vista animal control officer took custody of the Pit Bulls, which were not vaccinated, and placed them into quarantine. Upon release, the officer advised the Sanches’ to update their vaccinations. But they never did, according to the report.
Although “the injuries inflicted on the dog in the first dog-on-dog attack are unknown, “DogsBite.org reports, “it’s clear that the pair of pit bulls were not declared “vicious” under Sierra Vista code at that time.”
The Pit Bulls’ owners were indicted on felony charges—which included manslaughter—after the attack, and will reappear at the Cochise County Superior Court on Feb. 16, 2024, unless a plea agreement resolves the cases by that time, according to the Herald Review.
$7.5 MILLION DEMAND SERVED ON CITY OF SIERRA VISTA FOR NEGLIGENCE IN FAILURE TO IMPOUND DOGS EARLIER
“Even if the criminal prosecutions are resolved, the filing of a $7.5 million notice of claim by the Jackson family provides notice that civil litigation is planned against the City,” the Herald Review announced on December 26, 2023.
According to the report, “The notice of claim contends an even bigger act of negligence occurred when the staff failed to impound the dogs earlier for being dangerous or vicious as addressed by Ordinance 90.05(B) even though city staff had knowledge Thor and Panda were ‘vicious animals’ as defined in the city’s Animal Control Ordinance 90.01 and as an ‘aggressive dog’ as defined in Arizona Revised Statute 11-1014.0l(D)(l).”
GROWING CONCERNS NATIONWIDE CITE FAILURE OF ANIMAL CONTROL
A concern that is growing within the public and elected officials is not isolated to Sierra Vista, as increasingly multi-million-dollar settlements are being made and approved for attacks by primarily Pit Bulls that have a documented history of attacks and severe maulings, yet were released by animal shelters to adopters, in order to maintain a “no kill” status, as defined by Best Friends Animal Society.
“The City had the ability and authority to ensure that the impounded dogs would not harm anyone else, but nonetheless returned them to their owner(s) without taking meaningful action,” the notice of claim states, noting the dogs would have been euthanized or other “appropriate safeguards” would have put in place prior to their release, if animal control staff followed Ordinance 90.05(B), the Herald Review report states.
“At no time did Helene provoke either Thor or Panda, or do anything to invite the canine attack upon her and Lily by Thor and/or Panda,” the Notice of Claim states. “She was not at fault in any degree or to any extent whatsoever.
At all relevant times, Helene and Lily were in a place they had the legal right to be.”
“Fabian’s law” Pertains to Dog-on-Dog Bites in Arizona
Although not mentioned in this case, AZ has a specific law to protect dog-on-dog attacks. Richard H. Polsky, a Los Angeles-based Animal Behavior Expert Witness for Attorneys, states, “As an Arizona dog-bite expert witness, I am familiar with dog-bite law as it pertains to what an owner should have known about the vicious propensities in their dog.” (See more here.)
“This knowledge is central to the substance of why Fabian’s law, as it pertains to dog bites in Arizona, was signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2011 (Health Bill 2137),” he adds.
“The impetus behind Fabian’s law was a fatal dog attack on a Miniature Poodle by an unleashed Pit Bull,” Polsky explains. “The owners of the Poodle [Richard and Sally Andrade of Glendale, AZ], lobbied state lawmakers to take action in 2009.”
“At that time, dog owners in Arizona were not liable for an injury inflicted on another dog by their dog. In essence, dogs in Arizona henceforward were legally treated as if there were a person rather than a piece of property.”
AZ LAW REQUIRES NOTICE OF CLAIM
A notice of claim is required under Arizona law to be served upon a public body, public official, or public employee within 180 days of an incident to give the public entity an opportunity to settle a claim without litigation. The claimants in the Helene Jackson case are her husband, Michael, as well as her son and daughter.
The notice of claim served on city officials on Dec. 19, according to the Herald Review, describes how “Helene Jackson gathered up her very small dog, Lily, in her arms in an unsuccessful effort to protect Lily from the attack by Thor, one of the pit bulls,” but it is alleged that he was able to “wrestle Lily from Helene’s arms” and kill both. (The involvement of the second Pit Bull, called Panda, also owned by the Sanches family, has reportedly not been confirmed.)
PRIOR INCIDENTS AND NEGLIGENCE CREATE ADDED LIABILITY CLAIMS
The impoundment of the dogs last February was also added to the claim, according to the Herald Review, alleging that, “... although both dogs were taken to the city’s Animal Care Center and held for a 10-day ‘bite quarantine’ as required by ordinance, they were released without being current on their rabies shots.”
Also, the notice of claim reportedly contends that “a bigger act of negligence occurred when the staff failed to impound the dogs for being ‘dangerous’ or ‘vicious’ as addressed by City Ordinance and Arizona Revised Statute 11-1014.0l(D)(l).”
The allegation contends that the City animal control department “returned them to their owner(s) without taking meaningful action,” and that, if they had, the dogs would have been euthanized or other “appropriate safeguards would have put in place prior to their release” by Animal Control.
It is also alleged that, if City animal control had imposed such safeguards, it could have included a requirement that the Sancheses build a more secure wall or fence to keep the dogs from escaping again and attacking another unsuspecting victim” or required they be restrained by a leash or chain when outside.
It was also reported by the Herald/Review, that Sam Sanches Jr., who lived with the women and was home June 23 with a young boy and the two Pit Bulls, was seriously injured and needed to have his left arm amputated, plus other injuries from “being brutally attacked as he tried to prevent one of the dogs from jumping a 5-foot fence as Jackson walked by.”
The report continues that, “The other dog joined in the attack on Sam Sanches, 53, who is the uncle of Shimira Sanches,” and ultimately the “dogs were fatally shot on scene by officers with the Sierra Vista Police Department.”
DOG-BITE ATTORNEY KEN PHILLIPS WEIGHS IN ON AZ ATTACK
I asked L.A. attorney Ken Phillips (aka “the Dog-Bite King”) to provide an opinion on the attack and proceedings in this case, and he responded, “Animal control officials better wake up and smell the coffee. Stop putting dangerous dogs on our streets!”
He added that the message to City, County and State lawmakers is: “Stop appointing animal control officials and shelter managers who love dogs more than they love people because vicious dogs cause immeasurable human suffering in the tens of millions of dollars.”
“We want animal control officials who would rather see a dangerous dog perish by humane euthanasia than a senior citizen savagely killed in a back alley like Helene Jackson,” he said.
“Yes, we have given our animal control officials the right to decide whether a dog is dangerous or not. In the past decade, however, that authority has been abused as ‘animal control’ has been twisted into ‘animal services,’ and humane euthanasia has been replaced by counter-productive ‘no-kill’ policies. [Emph. added]
“A ‘no-kill’ shelter is one that re-homes at least 9 out of 10 animals--frequently, dangerous dogs are among them,” he stated.
Attorney Ken Phillips’ message for shelter managers:
When dogs in the custody of our public shelters have a record of threatening people with violence, stop siding with the dogs instead of their victims. Our communities want to be free from violence of all sorts, including unjustified attacks by dogs. That’s what the people who pay your salaries want.
In this case, the dogs that killed Helene Jackson and caused the amputation of Sam Sanches Jr.’s left arm were pit bulls that previously escaped their yard and went after a different person's dog. In the city where this violence happened, the municipal code defines “vicious dog” as “any animal that has a propensity to attack ... other animal(s) without provocation ....” So, these were vicious dogs according to the laws of that city.
In this case, the city’s animal control officials knew that in the future, these pit bulls could escape from their yard and go after other people’s dogs. The shelter took custody of the dogs during the quarantine and then gave them back to their owners without conditions. Clearly, little or no thought was given to the danger presented by these dogs.
Why did the shelter officials return those dogs to their owners with no conditions? Ms. Jackson’s relatives are suing the city because there should have been reasonable conditions, such as keeping the dogs in a securely fenced area.
What needs to be fully understood is that if dogs are known to go after other people’s pets, those other people often get hurt in the attack. It is a human instinct to protect our companion animals. We react without thinking when our dogs are attacked. Indeed, we have even made it illegal – a felony in many jurisdictions – to be simply present at an organized dog fight because we find it to be so repugnant for dogs to be hurt, among other reasons.
I hope Ms. Jackson's relatives get the $7.5 million and that the City of Sierra Vista starts valuing the lives of its residents over the lives of dangerous dogs.
(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee, an animal activist and a contributor to CityWatch.)
