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The "Short Story"
- Brady was a beloved rescue dog pulled from a high-kill shelter in California with his sister. Behavioral analysis tests concluded that he was very timid of new people and growled in response until you earned his trust but at no time exhibited aggressive behavior nor did he demonstrate aggressive behavior during his 3 years of Angels N Paws Rescue while primarily spending many of those years in the founders personal home.
- An application to adopt Brady was received by Liz Martin in Ketchikan, Alaska in late 2015. A detailed background check of her as well as personal references suggested she would be a great pet owner.
- During the five month process, Brady's fearful growling was discussed extensively and the rescue was in frequent contact with Liz Martin.
- In April of 2016, the CEO of Angels N Paws Rescue (Royce) personally escorted Brady from Washington to Alaska (he had previously undergone transport from California to Washington.) Alaska Airlines prohibits short nosed dogs from flying so Royce and Brady took a two-day ferry ride.
- Liz Martin picked Royce and Brady up at the ferry and took them to her home which she alleged to be the sole occupant of the home with her adult son and granddaughter visiting "occasionally"
- Within 30 minutes of arrival to her home, Liz Martin's adult son, Anthony Knuteson, arrived with his daughter.
- Royce spent time with both Liz and her family members aquainting Brady with them, going on a walk, and making sure both the family and Brady were comfortable before taking a flight back to California.
- The following morning, Monday April 24, Liz Martin called Royce at Angels N Paws citing he needed to return because her son had "threatened to harm him" if he growled one more time. Please review that Brady had been repeatedly evaluated as timid around new people and would low growl in fear in a request to have some space take in his environment but had never exhibited aggressive behavior in encounters with hundreds of people.
- Royce from Angels N Paws immediately began to look into a return ferry option.
- Liz Martin called that evening to report that her son had taken Brady on a hike in a very remote area of the island and he "ran away" and has not been seen or found in the two months since
- Liz Martin permitted her son to take Brady out alone mere hours after contacting rescue to express concern for his safety near her son, who threatened him harm and he mysteriously vanished without a trace that same day.
- Exhaustive search efforts were performed by many people but Brady was not found. Liz Martin's son, Anthony Knuteson, reported his remains would be found by hunters in the woods.
- Liz Martin has now filed a lawsuit AGAINST THE RESCUE FOUNDER, Royce, alleging she slandered her business, harassed her, and caused her emotional pain and suffering and seeks unspecified monetary damages
- Royce now has to hire an attorney to represent herself in these allegations which appear to many of us to be completely unfounded. She has had to pay a retainer fee and costs may reach as high as $15,000. Already a victim of the tragic loss of Brady, a nearly constant rescue companion of three years, she now has to endure a malicious lawsuit by the person ultimately and entirely responsible for the death of Brady (either by way of allowing her son to harm Brady, allowing her son to take Brady anywhere for any reason within hours of her reporting his intent to cause Brady harm, or by allowing Brady to not be on a leash and permitting him to allegedly run away and suffer until he died from the elements.)
- The true victims, Brady in death and Royce who has been paralyzed by this tragedy, must now pay the costs to fight this ridiculous lawsuit and endure the entire process of losing Brady all over again as Liz Martin claims HERSELF as the victim despite being the one ultimately responsible for his death.
The LONG STORY
No one can really be prepared for tragedy to strike but when it does, it sends out ripples of sadness and Brady's story has continued to attract attention from around the world. And as if his tragic loss and no closure to date, you may not be able to believe this could actually get any worse but now, to add insult to tragedy, but the adopter responsible for Brady has now filed a lawsuit against the rescue organization. The adopter, responsible for his safety and care, is suing Brady's mom for a multitude of things, including emotional pain and suffering.
No, you read that correctly: Liz Martin, the woman who the animal rescue worked with for five months preparing for Brady's move to his new home in Alaska and facilitating all of the adoption details, discussing Brady's unique personality and history of very fearful behavior including fear growling, and the same woman who was so eager to adopt Brady but then requested to return him less than 24 hours after his adoption, citing that her adult son had "threatened to harm him if he growled one more time" followed by Brady's disappearance on a walk later that day with the same son who alleges that he ran away, is now suing Brady's mom. It seems she has also deemed Brady's mom guilty of slanderous behavior and harassment which somehow impacted her business in Alaska all the way from California.
In true reality, it is very important to know the fine line between slander and freedom of speech. Please take a moment to read over the definition of libel, as provided by a legal dictionary, to understand where your right to the freedom of speech ends and where libel begins.
Please carefully read over the following statement: LIBEL: to publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander, which is oral defamation. It is a tort (civil wrong) making the person or entity (like a newspaper, magazine or political organization) open to a lawsuit for damages by the person who can prove the statement about him/her was a lie. Publication need only be to one person, but it must be a statement which claims to be fact and is not clearly identified as an opinion.
The following statements are not considered libel, as they are absolutely indisputable facts. At no time have any of the persons working towards justice for Brady encouraged harassment of any individual but rather, we have encouraged everyone to remain focused on finding Brady. The following statements of fact are not suggestions or meant to encourage any response but are merely statements of fact that do not constitute libel.
1) Brady was adopted after a 5-month process via an internet application for his adoption, submitted by Elizabeth Martin, aka, Liz, in Ketchikan, Alaska.
2) The application submitted by Elizabeth Martin listed her as the sole occupant of the home with an adult son and grand-daughter who "occasionally" visited.
3) A background check on Elizabeth Martin was performed, as would have been done on any additional household members if they had been listed.
4) Over the course of five months, it was disclosed numerous times and in no uncertain or unclear terms that Brady had a history of "fear growling" and temperment tests indicated that he did growl a lot when meeting new people but the behavior was professionally deemed as "fearful" and he had no aggressive indications nor did he display any aggressive behavior in his three years at Angels N Paws Rescue in California, where he initially spent most of his 3 years in rescue living in the home with the founder of Angels N Paws.
5) Brady was transported to Seattle where he lived with a foster family without incident for a few months awaiting his ferry ride to Alaska after learning the airlines did not accept Pit Bull breeds.
6) Brady's human mom and founder of Angels N Paws travelled to Seattle and then to Bellingham where the two of them boarded a ferry to Alaska, a ride taking just over two days. They were then picked up by Liz Martin in Ketchikan at the ferry terminal where they travelled to his new home.
7) Shortly after arriving to the home of Liz, Brady's adopter, her son and granddaughter visited, merely minutes after Brady had arrived to town with a known history of being fearful of people until he has had time to warm up.
8) Royce, Brady's mom of 3 years, introduced Brady to the family and took him on the walk with the entire family and asked numerous times if Brady's continued, low-growl to show he felt uneasy, was a concern. Liz Martin repeatedly said over and over that Brady just needed to "decompress" and that it was fine. The entire 5-months leading up to his adoption help numerous conversations regarding his fear-growling to make certain that it would not be a problem before taking Brady so far to Alaska and it was explicitly conveyed that this was a trait of his but had been deemed as a fear growl repeatedly and he had never, at any time in his 3 years of rescue, indicated any sort of aggression. Liz Martin indicted she felt comfortable and stated she was fine with Brady and Royce, his momma of 3 years, departed on a flight out of Alaska and returned to California.
9) The following morning, Liz Martin contacted Royce from Angel's N Paws and stated Brady needed to immediately return to rescue and told Royce that her son had "threatened to harm Brady if he growled one more time." Efforts to have Brady board the ferry out of Alaska to return to California were immediately initiated.
10) On Monday, April 25th, just a day after Brady had arrived to Ketchikan and Liz Martin indicated he needed to be returned because her son, Anthony Knuteson had threatened to harm Brady, tragedy struck. On the evening of April 25th, Liz Martin contacted Royce at Angel's N Paws and said that her son had taken Brady "on a hike" and Brady had "run away". Royce from Angel's N Paws immediately expressed concern and initiated efforts to begin having people look for Brady. On the morning of Tuesday, April 26th, the small island of Ketchikan woke to the news of a missing dog named Brady. Search efforts were hampered by a lack of information shared about the area in which Brady went missing. Stories ranged from stating he had gone on a walk and Anthony Knuteson lost Brady and looked for him before having to walk home without him. Other reports said that he had gone hiking 8 miles down a dirt road and Brady had run away. Eventually it seemed Brady may have been walking in an area called Settlers Cove, 18 miles down a road in Ketchikan where the road ends and a recreation area is present. Police reported that in a report Liz Martin made, not concerning Brady's loss, that said he was lost in Refuge Cove.
Rewards were offered and people looked far and wide for Brady but despite efforts, he was never found. This is a heartbreaking tragedy and injustice to animal rescues everywhere. Regardless of if Brady "ran away" (he was never a runner and always preferred to stick close to a person because of his fear) or if Anthony Knuteson carried out the threat Liz Martin reported to rescue the day of his disappearance after reporting "her son would harm Brady if he growled one more time", Liz Martin is responsible for the ultimate death of Brady. By Liz Martin's account and as reported by her son, Brady ran away in a very remote area of Alaska and has never been found. We can more than conclude that Brady has passed away, whether "harm was inflicted for growling" or he "ran away" and succumbed to the Alaskan wilderness elements.
It is truly baffling that Liz Martin would allow her son, Anthony Knuteson, to take Brady out by himself after threatening to harm him.
As earlier stated, if this tragedy wasn't heartbreaking enough, Liz Martin has now filed a lawsuit against Royce from Angels N Paws for harassment and libel and damages for her "emotional pain and suffering" and damage to her business that she owns, Two Hippie Chicks in Ketchikam, Alaska.
HER pain and suffering? If a 5-month adoption process and background screening can't prevent such a tragedy, what can? This is a tragedy for all animal rescuers everywhere to have faith in an adoption process and have a placement go so wrong, and so quickly. All the same, Liz Martin has taken it upon herself to file a lawsuit against Royce and seeks unspecified financial damages.
In order to defend herself, Royce has had to obtain an attorney to fight these charges and the legal costs could reach as much as $15,000, though, some of these costs can be recovered when the suit has been completed and it seems obvious Royce and Brady are the two victims in this situation, not Liz Martin who remained responsible for keeping Brady safe and not only failed to do so, but also allowed her son to take Brady out mere hours after she had reported he had threatened to harm Brady and stated she needed to return him to rescue. The victims are many: Brady, for whatever happened to him and his ultimate death whether by harm or succumbing to the Alaska wilderness after "running away"; Royce at Angel's N Paws, for putting faith into a system meant to protect animals and place them only into loving homes that will care for them and keep them safe; Animal Rescues everywhere who are shaken by this event and question how such a thorough background check and intensive process could have such a tragic outcome; and lastly, the animals: the ones awaiting rescue still that rescuers are too shaken to place fearful that even a perfect home on paper can end in tragedy so quickly.
All money raised will go towards the legal costs to fight this lawsuit until the true victims are revealed: Brady and Royce. Any additional funds leftover or any recuperation of costs paid will go directly to animal rescue.
Please take a moment to consider a donation and sharing this story so that others can be aware how quickly a rescue can turn into a tragedy. To not only ultimately cause the death of a beloved rescue dog loved by so many over the years but then to sue the rescue as a victim is absolutely reprehensible.
The truth will be revealed.
Please help us find the truth.
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