The pitbull, it came running at my dog
and before I could really react, he had a hold of his neck
and, like, he was just shaking him,
and then I was yelling at him to stop.
Their pitbull grabbed onto your dog.
Yes.
- Uh, but, when I, um... - Look at me.
They have the capacity to kill you.
- Well... - "Well" is not an answer.
[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Pamela Pitre is suing her former neighbors,
Anthony Opulencia and Cady Mulnix
for vet bills and emotional distress,
resulting from a dogfight.
[Kevin] Court come to order.
Have a seat, please.
Case number 1172 Pitre versus Opulencia, Mulnix.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
[Judge Judy] Ms. Pitre, this is your son.
[Pamela] Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] What's his first name? - [Pamela] Zion.
- [Judge Judy] Zion's 12? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] And you got him a puppy.
- [Pamela] Correct. - [Judge Judy] When?
May of 2019.
What kind?
[Pamela] I'm not quite sure.
[Judge Judy] Zion, would you stand up
because even your mom wasn't a witness to this dog incident?
Zion, what kind of dog did your mom buy you?
He's a Frenchie, and then, uh,
I believe a Terrier and Falcon.
Do you have a picture of him?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] May I see it, please?
When you say a Frenchie, you mean a French Bulldog?
Yes.
[Pamela] I'm sorry.
[Kevin] Thank you.
[Judge Judy] And how much does he weigh, do you know?
Right now, he currently weighs 12 pounds.
[Judge Judy] An incident happened on the 15th of April.
Yes.
[Judge Judy] You weren't present during that incident.
No, Your Honor.
Would you change places with Zion?
I want him to be right in the middle.
Zion, you were out walking your dog.
- Dog's name is? - Tony.
- You were walking him on a leash. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] At what time of day?
[Zion] Like afternoon-ish.
[Judge Judy] Okay. Now, you're walking, Tony.
And he was on a leash.
And what happened next?
[Zion] Me and my friend, we were walking going on to the trail.
And then...
[Judge Judy] Okay. So you were with a friend.
Yes.
Explain to me where the trail is.
[Zion] It's...
like if you go from my house, uh,
directly down from the lion fountain
and then you take a left
and that's how we were going on to the trail.
[Judge Judy] Where did the defendants live?
- [Zion] They live... - Do you have the pictures?
I do, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] I'd like to see them,
so I can get some idea of what you're talking about.
[Pamela] Yes. So you can, uh...
Your Honor, so you can get a full visual.
Zion was walking this...
- [Judge Judy] Okay. No, no... - Oh, I'm sorry.
No, no, no, you can't tell me where he was walking...
- [Pamela] Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Yes. - ...you weren't there.
Just hand me the photographs.
- Thank you. - [Kevin] You're welcome.
[Judge Judy] Zion, is this the complex where you live?
[Zion] No.
[Judge Judy] Is this the complex where the defendants live?
[Zion] Yes.
You live on the first floor or the second floor?
- Second. - Second.
- We did. Yeah. - [Judge Judy] Second floor? Okay.
And this is the trail
where you will going to walk with Tony?
- Don't shake your head. - Oh, sorry.
[Judge Judy] You weren't there.
- Do you understand? - [Pamela] Yes, Your Honor.
Otherwise, you could sit,
uh, as a matter of fact, it's better.
- Sit down. - [Pamela] Okay.
[Judge Judy] Zion, this is where you were going to walk with Tony?
Yes.
[Judge Judy] Did you have to pass the defendant's house
in order to get to the trail?
- Yes. - And your dog was on the leash?
Yes.
[Judge Judy] Tell me what happened as you passed their house.
[Zion] So as I passed, like, uh,
me and my friend were going on a trail.
And then from behind us, uh,
the pitbull, it came running at my dog
and before I could really react, he had a hold of his neck.
Like, he was just,
like, shaking him and then, uh,
I was yelling at him to stop, like, I was in shock.
And then by the time he stopped with his neck,
he immediately moved like, uh, by his thigh
and then he started gripping it
and then we were all yelling at him to stop.
And then by that time, um...
[Judge Judy] When you say you were all,
so I have you and your friend.
Yes.
[Judge Judy] Were either of these two people there?
[Zion] Uh, her.
- [Judge Judy] You. - Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] She came after her dog?
Yes, she was there.
[Judge Judy] When their pitbull grabbed onto your dog,
- was she there? - [Zion] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Was the pitbull on a leash? - No.
- [Judge Judy] Was your dog injured? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] How did the pitbull finally let go of your dog?
[Zion] A man was walking down the trail.
He parked his dog, he had to punch the dog a few times
and then the dog finally loosens it-- loosened its grip.
- [Judge Judy] He punched the pitbull. - [Zion] Yes.
[Judge Judy] Did you know who the man was?
[Zion] Uh, I think my mom got in contact with him.
Now you can stand up.
Did you find out who the man was?
Yes. Yes, Your Honor.
Did you speak with him?
Yes, Your Honor.
How did you find his name?
[Pamela] Um, there's, uh, a group called Neighborhood Group
on, uh, social media for our community.
And I had asked for the gentleman who stepped in and helped my son,
if you could please reach out to me.
And he announced himself and who he was.
And so we got together at that...
[Judge Judy] Got it. Now, sit down.
You weren't home at the time of this alleged attack?
No, ma'am.
Who is this?
It's my girlfriend Cady.
[Judge Judy] Your girlfriend was home with your pitbull.
Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Judy] And at the time, I'm reading these papers,
you were under house arrest?
Uh-hmm. Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Judy] And you were wearing an ankle bracelet?
Yes, I was.
And you live on the second floor?
Yes, I do.
[Judge Judy] So you let the pitbull out to relieve itself
because you couldn't go out
because you had an ankle bracelet on
because you were under house arrest?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] The pitbull walked down the stairs by itself.
Yes, Your Honor.
Is this your apartment?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] So you were standing here
when the dog ran out, was unleashed.
By the time you got to where the dog had Zion's dog,
tell me what you did.
- Yes, Your Honor. - To get the dog off Zion's dog.
[Cady] Yes, Your Honor.
- Well, uh, when I, um, uh... - [Judge Judy] Look at me.
- Don't look there. - When I was--okay.
And make sure you know I know everything.
[Cady] Okay. Um, so...
- [Judge Judy] Do you understand? - Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] So, now you're on the second floor.
You've got an ankle bracelet. You're not allowed to leave the house.
So you let the pitbull out by himself.
He runs and attacks his dog.
Do you either hear or see the commotion?
I did, Your Honor. Um, I was already...
like I was out there before the, um,
before the attack even happened.
Then I tried--actually, uh, um, like...
- Now, look at me. - [Cady] I let him know that, um,
that my dog was out there loose. And I was--I was going to get, like,
- I was trying to get it like... - [Judge Judy] Just listen to me.
Just because you say it fast
doesn't mean I miss it.
- You're on the porch. - [Cady] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] You let your dog out. - Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Let's take it from there. Step by step.
- [Cady] So I know... - [Judge Judy] Don't look over there.
I saw him into--walking his dog.
And I went to let him know that my dog was out there.
- And I was going to go and get him. - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
You saw him walking his dog.
- [Cady] Yes. - [Judge Judy] With a friend.
- [Cady] Yes, Your Honor. - [Judge Judy] On a leash.
[Cady] Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] And when you say you let him know,
what did you do?
Just-- what did you do?
Don't cross your arms.
What did you do or say to let him know?
I said, "Hey, my dog's out here loose. So, you know, I'm trying..."
- [Judge Judy] Hey, no, let's go slow. - [Pamela] Lord, have mercy.
"Hey, my dog's out loose out here."
[Cady] And I'm going to go-- I'm trying to go get him.
- [Judge Judy] And you're going to? - Get him.
And when you say that, you're on the porch.
No. Well, no, I'm not on the porch at this point.
I'm going to get my dog, that's what I'm doing.
Well, why would you let the dog out if you were going to get the dog?
I didn't know--I wasn't--I didn't think I would have to go get the dog.
Like, uh, he comes back normally,
so I didn't think I was gonna have to go get him.
- Well, so... - [Cady] Right.
...it is your routine to let the dog out.
Not--only when--
- only when I was on the bracelet. - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
Only when I was on the bracelet.
In what month were you placed on the bracelet?
- [Cady] Um, May... - [Judge Judy] No, no, don't look at him.
May what?
I don't know the exact date, Your Honor.
You don't know the date that somebody put an ankle bracelet on you?
How old are you?
- Thirty-four. - Probably March.
[Judge Judy] How many times have you had an ankle bracelet on?
- One. - Well, then I would know the exact date
when somebody came and slapped an ankle bracelet on me.
[Cady] I remember the date I got it off,
- but I don't... - [Judge Judy] No, on.
I know, I don't remember the exact date that I got it on.
What date did she get the ankle bracelet on?
I'm not sure. I'm not sure what that even has to do with anything.
- [Judge Judy] You're not sure? - No.
[Judge Judy] You're not sure? I'm gonna tell you what's sure.
What's sure is, is that she says
because she was wearing an ankle bracelet,
that's the reason she let the pitbull out alone.
- Correct. - Well, then it becomes important
because she said he usually comes back.
That means she's let the pitbull out alone before.
Now do you understand?
Two hundred people died in your state
as a result of pitbull attacks.
- And that's a sad situation. - [Judge Judy] Yeah, just a second.
So you have to be a moron to allow a dog like that around children.
You have to be a moron.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Pamela Pitre claims her former neighbors,
Anthony Opulencia and Cady Mulnix owe for vet bills
after their pitbull attacked her son's dog.
Anthony is countersuing for threats and harassment.
[Judge Judy] Okay. What county do you live in and what state?
[Anthony] King County, Seattle, Washington.
- [Judge Judy] Whose pitbull is it? - [Anthony] Mine.
- [Judge Judy] How long have you had it? - About two years now.
[Judge Judy] How long has she been your girlfriend?
About three years now.
What kind of work do you do?
I was a maintenance supervisor.
[Judge Judy] In the complex where you live?
Not that complex, but another property.
- Did you get fired? - [Anthony] Yes.
Is that because you had a pitbull?
- No. - Why?
Why? Because of her constant harassment, calling corporate.
[Judge Judy] Are you allowed to have a pitbull?
- [Anthony] Yes. - [Judge Judy] Are you?
- I was, yeah. - [Judge Judy] Let's see. King County.
- I'm looking into it. - [Pamela] Your Honor.
Just a second.
[Sarah] So I know January 1st of 2020,
the state of Washington undid
their initial ban on pitbulls outright.
So pitbulls were allowed in the state of Washington
and counties were not allowed to ban them outright
after January 1st of 2020.
But I'm on the King County Government website
to see if there's anything specific.
[Judge Judy] So when you got the dog
because you said you've had the dog for two years,
pitbulls were banned in your state.
You know how much it takes to ban a dog
to get that through a legislature to ban a dog?
And I don't know why Washington undid the ban,
but they did in January.
But when you got the dog, the dog was a banned dog.
And I don't know why you think
because the girlfriend knows she let the dog out.
She says, "I let the dog out.
And I've done it before, usually comes back."
I told him, "Hey, my dog's out loose."
And why you would think that an unmonitored dog
and you as the owner are not responsible for all their vet bills
- is mindboggling to me. - [Pamela] Hmm.
I never once said I wasn't responsible for the vet bill.
[Judge Judy] Oh, well, then what are we doing here?
You said in your answer,
- "We agreed to split them 50/50..." - Yeah.
[Judge Judy] "...and I paid my half."
Why would they split
the vet bills with you 50/50 if it's all your fault?
Well...
- "Well" is not an answer. - [Pamela] Hmm.
Sir, "Well" is not an answer.
If she's lazy
and instead of walking the dog on a leash,
a dog that can cause significant damage
because the dog might have
just as well attacked the child as the dog.
[Anthony] That would never attack a child.
[Judge Judy] But only attack another dog, is that what you're saying?
- No, that's--no, no, no. - [Judge Judy] Is that what you're saying?
- I have pictures of my dog. - [Judge Judy] You want me to show you...
- My dog around other dogs, around kids. - [Judge Judy] Do you want me--
- well, let me tell you. - It was the actions of that other dog.
Let me--let me--let-- I wanna tell you this...
- Yes, ma'am. - ...sir,
I have drawers full of letters
from grandparents and parents
who say my pitbull is wonderful, I thought,
and then one day, it turned.
And when a dog that weighs ten pounds
or twelve pounds turns on you
and, you know, snaps at you,
I have a dog that weighs four pounds.
If I annoy her and she's sleeping,
and I wake her up, and she nips me,
which she hasn't done, smart,
I would get hurt a little bit.
But when a pitbull attacks somebody,
they can kill them.
And if you choose to have a dog like that
and you're a grown man,
that would be on you.
And if girlfriend over here decides that that's okay,
she's a grown woman.
But when you subject children to your dog,
you're making them take a risk
that they didn't ask for.
Why would you subject a child, yours or anybody else's,
from an animal that's capable,
capable of causing serious physical injury?
Read the papers.
There's a list of dogs in most states
that insurance companies won't even insure your house.
[Kevin] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] If you have a particular breed of dog,
why do you think they do that?
They're in business to make money.
And all you pitbull owners out there, I've heard the hate mail.
Don't bother. I don't read it.
There's a lot of bad owners out there.
[Judge Judy] I'm sure that there are terrific pitbull pets
that are wonderful.
They have the capacity to kill you.
They have been known to kill you.
I never knew anybody that got killed
by a Shih Tzu,
or a Yorkie,
or a Chihuahua.
Never.
But if you go on Google
and find out how many deaths
and serious physical injuries were caused
in the last year by pitbulls,
I tell you what we're gonna do.
Sarah's gonna look at it.
I've never looked at the number.
- [Cady] Um, uh, Your Honor... - [Judge Judy] Uh, I don't speak.
What you're supposed to do is put a leash on your dog
and get your behind out of the house
and walk the dog, because there's no question in my mind
that you and boyfriend went out downstairs to the grass area
because you actually went out of the house,
they didn't come and arrest you for leaving the house, did they?
- When you ran outside after your dog? - No, no, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] No, they didn't arrest you. - Uh-uh.
All right. So you could just as easily have taken the dog out
to one of these grass areas that's right near your house
to relieve itself, but you were too lazy.
Do we have a number?
[Sarah] Well, it looks like out 430 dog-- fatal dog attacks,
185 were caused by pitbulls
- in the state of Washington. - [Pamela] My God.
- Not even half. - [Judge Judy] Just...
- are you... - [Sarah] It's a life. My God.
[Judge Judy] You know how many
hundreds of breeds of dogs there are, you idiot?
Do you know how many hundreds of breeds of dogs there are?
So, practically 50% of the deaths
in the state where you live
from dog attacks were pitbulls.
I want you to look and see how many dog deaths
in the state of Washington
were caused by Chihuahuas in the same period.
[Anthony] Oh, my God.
And your counterclaim for harassment
is dependent upon this number.
Because if this number is more than zero,
I will actually entertain your counterclaim for harassment.
Otherwise, I'm tossing it.
- How--that's crazy. - [Sarah] Between 2005
and 2018 in the entire United States, two.
[Judge Judy] From a Chihuahua?
- Appreciate that. - [Judge Judy] The entire United States.
- [Anthony] I'll take it. - From 2005, 2005...
- More than zero. - [Sarah] Until 2018.
[Judge Judy] From 2005...
you'll take what?
[Anthony] It's more than zero. What you just said.
[Judge Judy] Oh, that I'm gonna hear your counterclaim.
Do you understand?
Two hundred people died in your state as a result of pitbull attacks.
- And that's a sad situation. - [Judge Judy] Yeah, just a second.
So you have to be a moron to allow a dog like that around children.
You have to be a moron.
- I'm not a moron. - Oh, absolutely.
Now you have a counterclaim for terroristic threats,
loss of employment, moving expenses, and emotional distress.
- Yes, ma'am. - Whose? Other than mine.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Pamela Pitre is accusing her former neighbors
Anthony Opulencia and Cady Mulnix
of refusing to pay vet bills
after their pitbull attacked her son's dog.
Anthony says Pamela threatened to shoot their pitbull.
[Judge Judy] Now, can I see your vet bills, please?
- [Pamela] Yes, Your Honor. - Now you can stand up.
What's the balance that he owes on the vet bills?
[Pamela] Currently right now his, um,
he paid a total of $780
with a remaining balance of $289.
[Judge Judy] Why did you stop making the payments?
Because I got fired because of her.
[Judge Judy] Oh, good, $289. Okay.
Now you have a counterclaim for terroristic threats,
loss of employment, moving expenses, and emotional distress.
- Yes, ma'am. - [Judge Judy] Whose?
Other than mine.
- Other than mine. - Mine and hers.
[Judge Judy] You have to understand something.
She's a wrongdoer.
- Who's a wrongdoer? - [Judge Judy] She is.
You don't know that.
She allowed a dog off leash
because she was lazy.
And she let the dog go out
and the dog attacked another dog.
And you recognized your fault
because you paid the vet bills to your credit.
You paid the vet bills until you said you got fired.
The suggestion is you got fired because of her.
- It's not a suggestion. - [Judge Judy] So that--just a second.
You had a pitbull in the house.
She reported it to whomever,
animal control, the management company that you worked at.
- Yes, ma'am. - She reported it, which is her right.
Other than that, what are you complaining about?
It's her right to report
that because you maintained a dog
in your house and your girlfriend
let the dog roam free
not once, but according to her regularly
that she felt that that created a threat
to everybody in the neighborhood.
The truth is, so do I!
So if you have something to show me
about terroristic threats that she did,
I'll be more than happy to see them.
I wasn't there when it happened. She was, so...
- [Judge Judy] Terroristic threats. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] Okay. Tell me about the terroristic threats.
When the--when the, uh, after-- so after the incident happen,
um, uh, and she came over to talk-- to talk to me about it.
Um, she was, uh, just, uh, completely, like,
freaking out and I was trying to calm her down
and trying to calm her down a bit.
She's telling me that she--that she--actually,
she brought her gun over with her to shoot my dog in the head and like...
[Judge Judy] She was gonna shoot your dog?
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge Judy] Did you see a gun?
I did not see a gun.
[Judge Judy] Okay, next. What's next?
What's next is that she continued to call me
separating me from the work I needed to do almost daily,
uh, at least every other day.
She's texting me, calling me,
"What are you gonna do about this bill? Where's my money at?"
I stopped answering her
and she starts calling corporate and calling my, my management company
and harassing multiple people on the--on the board there.
So they're calling me telling me
to try to smooth the situation out,
do what you can to...
so okay, I'll do that.
But even though I did, she still kept calling still.
It wasn't good enough for her.
Your counterclaim is dismissed.
Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of
the remainder of the vet bill, which is $289.
- Your Honor. - We're finished here. Thank you.
- Thank you. - [Kevin] Court is adjourned.
I'm irate right now.
I just wanna say I've been watching Judge Judy for a long time.
And I knew that coming here
that my case will be heard and justice will be prevailed.
Thank you, Judge Judy.
She called the animal control I think it was, uh,
like a few days later, a week later or something.
Our dog, um, he's a all white dog,
so he was just full of blood.
The dog wasn't there by then.
- We already lost the dog. - We'd already gotten rid of him.
You should have your dog on a leash.
There's not much to really say about it.
I was teary, I mean, like, it's a horrible thing.
We don't want them hurting other people.
Nor do we want, um, our dogs being hurt
vice versa, just please leash your dog up.
[Sarah] You know, I might have to adjust that number a little bit
as I kept looking for the fatalities caused by dogs,
there's so many different accounts and different numbers.
But one consistent thing from all of the accounts is that
pitbulls did account for a majority of fatalities
from dog bites and dog interactions.
It's been my experience here
that those people who have dangerous dogs,
and there is a couple on that dangerous list
have to be really mindful of the fact
that if an animal and it is an animal has the capacity to kill,
it doesn't mean that it intentionally does that.
I mean, if you're a homeowner,
and if you can't get homeowners insurance or renters insurance,
if you have a particular breed of dog,
I would say to myself, doink,
there is a reason that insurance companies
that are in the business of making money,
they have done the math,
they understand that eventually
they're gonna pay out on a claim.
So they say, "You know what, you wanna have that dog,
either you're gonna pay a double premium
or we won't insure you."
And I would say to myself as a rational human being,
there are over 200 breeds of dogs,
- find another breed. - Yeah.
And I say that even though I regularly get this onslaught
of vocal mail, so don't bother, don't send it.
I don't read it. That's my opinion.
You're entitled to yours.
Goodbye. Have a good day.
[announcer] Want justice? Go to JudyJustice.tv.
[theme music playing]