Bruce the dog, deemed to be 'vicious,' euthanized despite emergency SCOTUS filing
A 3-year-old Great Pyrenees mix named Bruce was euthanized after being deemed vicious following several biting incidents, despite an emergency request that reached the desk of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday.
Bruce had been placed up for adoption by the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center. At the time of the bite incidents, he was in the care of Claire Birgy, whose daughter said the family was homeless and that Bruce was going through transitional and unstable periods.
Ventura County Animal Services released photos of the victims of the incidents and said Bruce's bite history began in February 2024, continuing into September and November 2025. Each time, the agency said Bruce bit victims so severely that they required medical attention, including treatment for severe lacerations and, at times, skin grafts.
Bruce's final offense took place this February, when Ventura County Animal Services said Bruce lunged at a man and knocked him to the ground. The agency said it called for the dog to be declared vicious in order to protect public safety.
In March, a hearing officer determined Bruce to be vicious and ordered him to be euthanized. Then in April, the Ventura County Superior Court affirmed the determination that Bruce is a vicious dog and also ordered that he be humanely euthanized.
There was a temporary restraining order against the euthanization while Bruce's owners pursued additional legal challenges. Then in August, the United States District Court denied an emergency application seeking to prevent enforcement of the Superior Court's order, which lifted the temporary restraining order.
"Obviously, we're not denying the bites, and we're not denying the harm that might have been caused by or was caused -- but the larger issue is, do we just kill an animal based on things that happened a long time ago? Or do we take into consideration the totality of their behavior, and more importantly, do we try to find a life-saving alternative?" asked Dan Bolton, an attorney for the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center.
Bolton represents the rescue center, which filed an emergency motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to save the 100-pound Great Pyrenees mix. The motion made it to Kagan's desk, but not in time to save Bruce.
"It went wrong because the Ventura County Animal Services and its director, Esteban Rodriguez, decided to proceed with killing Bruce, despite the fact that they knew, very well, that we had filed an application -- an emergency application in the United States Supreme Court. So they had utter disregard for the judicial process," Bolton said.
Ventura County Animal Services says at the time of Bruce's euthanization, there was no court order preventing the county from complying with the Ventura County Superior Court order.
"We do not take the loss of an animal's life lightly. We have compassion for Bruce and for those who care about him, just as we have compassion for those who were injured. Our responsibility is to follow the law, comply with court orders, and fulfill our mandate to protect the community," the agency wrote in a statement.
In an updated statement released on Wednesday, Ventura County Animal Services wrote, in part, that Bruce was euthanized "after the United States District Court denied a temporary restraining order and lifted a previous temporary stay on Aug. 6. On Aug. 11, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied two emergency motions seeking injunctive relief. The following day, the Ninth Circuit denied an emergency motion for a partial administrative stay. At the time Bruce was euthanized, there was no court order in place preventing the County from complying with the Ventura County Superior Court's April 15 order."
The agency published a page on its website with more details about Bruce's euthanization and the four bite incidents.
Winona Birgy-Krasnoff, the daughter of Bruce's owner, said the family was not seeking to place Bruce in a situation where the public would be exposed to him.
"We were not proposing a solution in which the public would ever be exposed to Bruce. That was never a part of our agenda," Birgy-Krasnoff said. "Our agenda was that Bruce got to live out his natural life in a way where he was protected from the public, and the public was protected from him."
Bolton said more legal steps will be taken to seek accountability from Ventura County Animal Services.
