Motion to dismiss filed in dog euthanasia case

GALVESTON - The end may be near for a recent lawsuit arising from the tug-of-war between a canine legal defense group and the Galveston County Animal Resource Center, or ARCPETS.

Just two weeks after a local state district judge granted it a temporary restraining order to prevent euthanasia for a Harlequin Great Dane named Fine Wine, The Lexus Project Inc. filed a motion to dismiss. 

As previously reported, The Lexus Project, a legal defense group that specializes in litigation pertaining to dogs, sought legal action last month on allegations ARCPETS refused requests to release Fine Wine “to the many rescue organizations who have offered and begged to take her.”

Fine Wine was brought to ARCPETS after a Galveston animal control officer was reportedly seen abusing her.

The plaintiff alleges that ARCEPTS did not offer Fine Wine medical attention "until the media became involved," The suit also claims the veterinarian who examined the dog deemed it to be dangerous.

According to the allegations in the lawsuit, ARCPETS planned to "euthanize Fine Wine at the first opportunity" but a lot of people and “several licensed and reputable” animal rescue organizations have expressed their willingness to take Fine Wine.

“There is no reason for ARCPETS to kill Fine Wine, especially given that so many people are willing, able and begging to take her,” the suit says.

A dismissal order is currently pending before Galveston County 405th District Court Judge Michelle Slaughter.

Attorney Christiana Dijkman of Sanchez, Whittington, Wood & Dijkman LLC in Brownsville is representing The Lexus Project while Galveston County’s legal department serves as ARCPETS’s counsel.

Case No. 13-CV-1542