[1]Jann Propp-Estimo holds back tears as her son Jason Estimo speaks with their lawyer.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A Lewis County judge ruled today the county should proceed to euthanize a pit bull terrier after viewing new evidence by an eyewitness that seemed to exonerate him in the killing of two goats.
The session this morning in Lewis County District Court follows a winding case in which the dog was deemed a dangerous animal under a county administrative process, but instead of being put down, was wrongly adopted out by the shelter to an unknowing Centralia family who handed Hank over when law enforcement came to retrieve him.
[2]Detained April, 2016
Jann Propp-Estimo, seated next to her attorney, let out a sob as Judge R.W. Buzzard made his pronouncement.
“I find by clear and convincing evidence Ms. York got it right,” Buzzard said. “This dog by our codes is dangerous.”
Propp-Estimo’s lawyer Adam Karp shared information with the court about Hank’s disposition from those at the Lewis County Animal Shelter had the dog in custody for several months and once again are holding him and from Propp-Estimo whose family owned him from January until May.
Karp brought the Winlock man who owned the goats to testify and filed a declaration from a neighbor who saw what happened last year.
Julianna Engel, according to a deputy’s report at the time, made statements such as the two dogs chased, bit and killed the goat, Buzzard said. Her more recent sworn declaration specified it was Hank’s mother who engaged in the attack.
“These two statements could not be more different from one another,” Buzzard said.
Judge Buzzard noted that Engel was not present at the hearing to be questioned, but a statement given so close in time to the event is presumed to be more believable, he said.
At the end of the approximately 90 minute hearing, Lewis County Civil Deputy Prosecutor David Fine was instructed to bring back an order for Hank to be euthanized. Judge Buzzard said his signature would start a clock ticking for 48 hours.
Karp said he will appeal and / or file a new lawsuit against the county.
“This is bullsh*t,” Winlock resident Steven Rohr said. “He was not part of it, he was wrongly accused.”
Rohr, the owner of the goats, was visibly upset as he and a fair-sized crowd exited the courtroom.
He had taken the stand in defense of the dog, pointing out what he saw on the video taken by his dash cam that day. At first, he was prejudiced against the pit bull he then knew as Tank, he said. But after speaking with Engel, he changed his mind.
“Hank is sitting right there, wagging his tail,” Rohr had told the court as he pointed to a segment of the video that was shown. The actual killing did not appear on the tape.
Also among those assembled in the lobby on the third floor of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center was Debra Parscal, who owned Tank at the time. She said that after the incident, she had to tell her children she couldn’t come up with the money to meet the county’s demands for $500,000 worth of liability insurance to be able to keep their dog.
Today’s hearing was held simultaneous to a meeting by the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners in which they approved an amendment to the dangerous dog ordinance that allowed the appeal in Lewis County District Court.
The dog’s situation came to to the attention of county authorities in May, when Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer advised commissioners he learned that instead of putting the dog down last year, the Lewis County Animal Shelter changed its name to Hank and adopted him to the new family, without disclosing his pertinent background.
Propp-Estimo took Hank to her rural Centralia home in January, then relocated him to her grown son and grandson’s home in town, because her other dog, Bruce Almighty, didn’t care for the new addition.
Jason Estimo was disappointed and unhappy with the judge’s ruling.
“It seemed, uh, kind of intellectually really dishonest,” Estimo said. “They changed the ordinance to save Hank, and Hank’s still going to be put down.
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For background, read “Possible reprieve for dog implicated in goats’ deaths” from Wednesday May 31, 2017, here [3]