David Null

ST ROCH DOG RESCUE

915 WEST FOOTHILL BLVD/ PMB 356
CLAREMONT, CA 91711
mutt.rescue@gmail.com

3 April2009

Claremont Insider
via email: claremontbuzz@yahoo.com

re: “Ban Uncastrated Owners and and Irresponsible Dogs...”

Dear Blogmeister:

It is apparent that the repeated attack by Mr Leonardo Reyes' bulldog on my dog Blitzen and
his assault on me must be resolved elsewhere than in newspapers and blogs, but because
your recent blog contains some misstatements of fact, that imply I am a liar, I would like to
take this opportunity to correct them.

However, please note that in my initial letter published in the Courier, nowhere did I mention
Mr Reyes' name. This was to a avoid stigmatizing his wife and children by his callous and
violent acts and to avoid the silly name-calling that I'm compelled to respond to now.

The silliness:

1. Contrary to Mr Reyes' I never claimed to be a “resident” of Claremont. Indeed my

address in Pomona is in the telephone book for all to see. However, my organization
“St Roch Dog Rescue” has used a Claremont address for many years (just Google it to
see). I wrote to the Courier using that address.

2. In passing, I mentioned attending law school at Oxford in my initial letter:

“this reminds me of a law professor I had at Oxford who wore a button "Not
Liable in Tort."

Mr Reyes has seized upon this as evidence of my perfidiousness because the Member
Information for the California State Bar states I graduated from La Verne Law School,
which indeed I did, Summa Cum Laude.

However, this member information pages show only the undergraduate college and the
law school relevant to Bar admissions. It does not include other education (for
example, my PhD from the City University of New York), or additional law studies. I
attended Oxford, University College London, and the London School of Economics. I
was awarded an LLM (Mark of Merit) from the University of London. The LLM is the
post-graduate law degree.

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 3. Mr Reyes points out that I have not been an active member of the bar since 1989.
Simply, this is because I do not practice law. However, I am eligible to be re-admitted
to the Bar anytime I am willing to pay the dues.

Of course, all these matters are quite irrelevant. It doesn't matter if I were an illiterate grade-
school drop-out living in a refrigerator box in Fontana, I still would not deserve to have my dog
repeatedly attacked by another, then be assaulted by the dog's owner.

In his final letter to the Courier, Mr Reyes claims I sucker-punched him from behind when he
was trying to restrain his dog. Obviously this brand-new claim is his panicked response to his
realization that there is physical evidence of his vicious elbowing of me. He made no mention
to the Police of this sucker-punch, nor does his wife mention it in her previous letter. No
witnesses saw it.

if I had punched Mr Reyes as he belatedly claims,he would have still been on the ground
when the Police arrived.

All of these matters are just diversions from what I wrote in my first letter, Mr Reyes'
bulldog repeatedly attacked my dog Blitzen during which his bulldog bit my hand.
Then Reyes assaulted me.

Here's the details, my dog Blitzen has had surgery on his right rear ACLs. On 14 March, I
exercised him in the small dog park. While walking through the common dog area to exit the
park, Blitzen was leashed and at my side. (Because few dogs willingly leave the dog park,
leashing a dog to remove it from the park is virtually universal.)

From the other side of the park, a young, uncastrated bulldog ran up and attacked Blitzen,
jumping on his back. I grabbed the bulldog's harness to remove him and gave to dog to his
owner, requesting that he control his dog. Blitzen and me continued toward the exit.

Moments later, Mr Reyes released his bulldog, who immediately attacked Blitzen again. Again
I pulled the bulldog from Blitzen's back and gave the dog to Mr Reyes. Some unfriendly
comments were then exchanged. I continued to walk Blitzen toward the exit.

Mr Reyes released his bulldog AGAIN. The bulldog immediately attacked Blitzen a third time.
After I pulled the vicious dog off again and handed the harness to his owner, Reyes elbowed
me hard in the chest, like a dirty basketball player under the boards. Then, he turned, swung
at my face but only grazed it.

Witnesses claim that the bulldog actually attacked Blitzen FOUR times,. I only counted three,
but I admit my primary goal was just to exit the park with my dog and self intact.

The Claremont police came. They did not summon Animal Control despite the fact that Mr
Reyes' bulldog was unlicensed and had no proof of rabies vaccination. In addition to the
wound on my chest from Mr Reyes' elbow, his bulldog bit me on my left hand. It bled
profusely. The Police took pictures and statements.

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Unfortunately, Mr Reyes did not submit a rabies vaccination certificate for the bulldog that bit
me. Consequently, I am undergoing the rabies prophylactic vaccination series of ten painful
shots.

I would grateful if my comments could be published intact, without editing. If you believe they
must be edited, I would appreciate it if you would submit the edited version to me for approval
so that I am insured that essential meanings are unchanged.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Yours very truly,

David Null

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