Dear Lansdowne friends,

Please read this entire message, my goal is to have you sign our petition by Tuesday evening, January 17th at 8:00 p.m. As you might know, on Monday December 12, 2016, our precious little Coco was attacked by a Rottweiler that lives two doors down from our home. Due to complications associated with the vicious attack, and after surgical efforts to save her life, Coco passed away on December 14, 2016.

Based on testimony from witnesses and the defendant (Rottweiler owner) involved in the attack, the dog owner was taking delivery of office furniture to their home, and unbeknownst to them, their Rottweiler slipped out the front door and was roaming the neighborhood on its own. While the dog owners were in their home, the Rottweiler approached the corner of Vestals Place and Canoe Landing Court, where my 12-year old daughter Sophia was walking our two dogs, Coca and Willy. The Rottweiler attacked Coco, a 20 lb. Shi Tzu with no provocation as witnessed by our daughter Sophia. Sophia’s reaction was to pick up Willy and she started yelling as loud as she could for help. Thankfully, two adult neighbors, responded to Sophia’s call for help, and rushed to the scene. In a heroic event, these first responders were able to get the Rottweiler to release Coco from the clenches of his jaws in rescuing Coco from the scene. Sophia and Willy were untouched, but Sophia will be emotionally scarred for life. Our family is still in morning after Coco was ripped away from us due to the careless dog owner’s ignorance to their dog slipping out the front door of their home.

According to several neighbors, this is not the first attack by this Rottweiler, but unfortunately this is the first documented attack with Loudoun County Animal Services. According to the Virginia State law (3.2-6540) associated with this dog attack, the Rottweiler will likely be allowed to stay in the home and the dog owners are not required to remove the dog from their home. According to Loudoun County Animal Services, and our interpretation of the law, the Rottweiler is being charged and cited as a “Dangerous Dog” and subject to the consequences associated with this citation. The dog owners will be required to comply with specific procedures, with one item being the mandate for their dog to wear a muzzle anytime outside of the home. In our personal opinion, the consequence for the Rottweiler being cited as a “Dangerous Dog”, does not match the crime committed in this attack against our dog Coco.

In conversations with neighbors on Vestals Place and Canoe Landing Court, we truly appreciate your condolences, prayers, and well wishes to our family. We’ve heard your concerns about any future and potential mishaps by this dog owner to leave their front door open again, especially since the Rottweiler will not be required to wear the muzzle while inside their home. We’ve heard your fears about a future attack by this Rottweiler on another dog or against one of the numerous young children or adults walking the streets of our neighborhood.

The hearing for our case will be heard by a judge at the Loudoun County Courthouse on Wednesday January 18th at 10:00 a.m. The dog owners will likely plead guilty and accept the charge for their Rottweiler being charged as a ‘Dangerous Dog”. Our intent is to share the concerns of our Lansdowne neighbors via this petition to the judge. We will provide our testimony with a statement to the judge along with the results of this petition and ask the judge to remove the dog from the dog owner’s home. With your knowledge of this event, along with the concerns you have with this Rottweiler staying in this neighborhood, please sign our petition. By signing this petition, you agree and support our request that the homeowner residing at 43352 Vestals Place, Leesburg, VA 20176 remove their Rottweiler (known as Grizzly) from their home and find a new home for their dog outside of the Lansdowne Homeowners Association. Thank you and we appreciate your support. The McCann’s