{"id":42917,"date":"2026-08-13T10:21:31","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42917"},"modified":"2026-08-13T10:21:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T05:21:31","slug":"california-dog-named-bruce-accused-of-four-attacks-is-euthanized-after-months-of-court-battles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=42917","title":{"rendered":"California dog named Bruce, accused of four attacks, is euthanized after months of court battles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>After months of legal wrangling, Ventura County Animal Services on Wednesday euthanized a 3-year-old dog that they said had attacked and seriously injured four people, including a teen.<\/p>\n<p>The latest development comes about a week after a U.S. District Court judge denied an emergency application seeking to prevent the county from euthanizing Bruce, a 100-pound black and tan German shepherd mix.<\/p>\n<p>The Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, a nonprofit that spent months fighting the county in court, filed the emergency application. An attorney for the nonprofit did not respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n<p>The group, which had rescued the dog before it was adopted three years ago, said on social media it had appealed the court\u2019s ruling to the 9th Circuit and called on the county to delay euthanizing Bruce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe federal stay was lifted, but that does not require the county to execute Bruce immediately,\u201c the group wrote on <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/santapaulaarc\/posts\/pfbid02nXyHd5oL6KK2S5tHP97T4hHxh7AHAk7erk7R2g1F4S9C6yrcHMymiZMTZMUapuUQl\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Facebook<\/u><\/a>. \u201cIt does not prevent the County from agreeing to a standstill. It does not prevent the county from returning to court with a stipulated resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But by Wednesday evening, county officials said Bruce had been put down humanely after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the group\u2019s motion. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cDecisions involving the humane euthanasia of an animal are difficult and complex,\u201d the county agency said in a written statement. \u201cThey require us to balance compassion for animals with our responsibility to protect people and ensure public safety.<\/p>\n<p>Animal services officials said that before the dog was euthanized, Bruce\u2019s owners had used the courts to challenge their decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTheir challenges have been considered by multiple courts, and four different judges have either upheld the underlying decisions, or declined to overturn, modify, or otherwise interfere with the decision,\u201d the animal services statement read. \u201cVCAS respected the judicial process when courts placed a temporary stay, and we must respect that same process now that the stay has been lifted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The legal battle over Bruce\u2019s life began in March when animal services held an administrative hearing to determine if the dog was potentially dangerous or vicious.<\/p>\n<p>The hearing stemmed from a petition animal services had filed that same month against the dog\u2019s owners, Claire M. Birgy and Erick Krasnoff, and cited four separate and unprovoked biting incidents dating back to 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The first reported attack occurred in February 2024, when Bruce jumped up and bit Alexander Vera, 16, in the face.<\/p>\n<p>The teen told animal control officers that he was helping the owners move out of their home when the incident happened, according to the petition.<\/p>\n<p>In September 2025, Larry Graves reported to animal services that the dog had bitten him multiple times in the right knee, chest and left forearm outside of a CVS store in Oxnard. Graves said he was leaving the store when the attack happened.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2025, Beatriz Ziegenfus told authorities that she was passing the dog and his owner when it lunged at her and bit her on her right forearm, knocking her down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was taken to Ventura County Medical Center because of the severity of the wound and blood loss,\u201d Ziegenfus\u2019 sworn statement read. \u201cI had to have surgery \u2014 skin graft.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Animal services also documented at least two attacks involving Felton Johnson in January and February. Johnson lived near Bruce\u2019s owners and told authorities that Bruce, who was wearing a muzzle, knocked him down while attempting to bite him. He told animal services that he was walking with his wife, who uses a wheelchair.<\/p>\n<p>After reviewing the incidents, which included photographs of the injured victims, animal services determined in March that Bruce was a vicious animal and needed to be euthanize.<\/p>\n<p>Bruce\u2019s owners filed an appeal with the Ventura County Superior Court on April 8.<\/p>\n<p>A week later, Ventura Superior Court Judge Mark S. Borrell sided with the county and ordered the dog to be euthanized. The order was non-appealable. <\/p>\n<p>Still, the couple sought another appeal, but a separate Ventura County Superior Court judge denied their request, stating they could not file a second appeal. <\/p>\n<p>The couple then sought to put a stay on the order, but Borrell denied it, reminding the couple again that his original order was non-appealable.<\/p>\n<p>In May, the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center entered the battle when it asked a federal judge to stay Borrell\u2019s order while it sought a federal appeal of the case. <\/p>\n<p>The rescue center argued that Bruce\u2019s owners should have notified and surrendered the dog to them before relinquishing control to animal services.<\/p>\n<p>The federal judge granted the injunction. But last week, the federal judge lifted the stay after it dismissed the group\u2019s federal appeals case.<\/p>\n<p>The nonprofit filed an appeal with the 9th Circuit, requesting the county hold off on euthanizing Bruce until the court heard the case.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday evening, the Santa Paula rescue center updated its Facebook page to mourn the death of Bruce. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo us, Bruce was never just a case number, a legal dispute, or a public controversy,\u201d the group wrote. \u201cHe was one of ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After months of legal wrangling, Ventura County Animal Services on Wednesday euthanized a 3-year-old dog that they said had attacked and seriously injured four people, including a teen. The latest development comes about a week after a U.S. District Court judge denied an emergency application seeking to prevent the county from euthanizing Bruce, a 100-pound&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/6499921\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/456x239+0+111\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1a%2Fb2%2Fcd97d33d4670982e13cf7b2b5b73%2Fme-bruce-dog-bites.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}