Judge to hear Padi the dog case in Bradenton

MANATEE -- A judge Wednesday will hold a hearing in the Padi the dog case.

At 2 p.m. at the Manatee Judicial Center's Courtroom 5A, Judge Andrew Owens Jr. will hear the case about Padi and the constitutionality of the state law that requires dogs to be killed if they cause a severe injury.

Padi, a 4-year-old male Labrador mix, bit a child's ear June 4 when the child and his babysitter were visiting the Pet Clinic at 714 60th St. Court E. in Bradenton, which is owned by Paul Gartenberg.

Accounts differ on whether the child lunged at Padi in an effort to get him out from under the desk or if Padi lunged at the child when he bent over to pick up a toy by the desk.

In the summer, Robert Eschenfelder, Manatee County's chief assistant county attorney and attorney Charles Britt, on behalf of Gartenberg, filed a joint motion asking the circuit court to intervene and rule on the constitutionality of the state law.

If the court rules the law as unconstitutional, then Padi will be permanently released and the case will be closed.

"The county would not appeal such a ruling, but would instead suggest it would further support the need for the Legislature to revise the law in its 2016 session, as our county commission requested recently," Eschenfelder has said.

If the court rules the law is constitutional, then Gartenberg would have the choice to either return to the hearing officer process or appeal the court's ruling to the Second District Court of Appeal.

On Sept. 25, Britt filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that the state's Dangerous Dog Law is unconstitutional.

Manatee County subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment, saying that if the 12th Judicial Circuit finds the Florida Statute unconstitutional, Padi should be permanently released to the owner's custody with no further restrictions.

In the motion for summary judgment, the defendant states Florida Statute 767.13(2), which is the state's Dangerous Dog Law, is unconstitutional "because there are no genuine issues of material fact and based upon the case law as applied in this circumstance."

"The Respondent respectfully prays and requests, based upon the forgoing facts and case law, that the Court find Section 767.13(2), Florida Statutes, as written and subsequently applied in this case to be unconstitutional ab initio, as violative of the Due Process Clause of the U.S. and Florida Constitutions," the motion for summary judgment reads. "In addition, the Respondent requests further that the case and charges against 'Padi' be dismissed with prejudice, and that all previously imposed conditions of release be revoked."

In the county's motion for summary judgment, the county states that they seek a "declaratory judgment from this Court declaring: 1) whether Florida Statutes 767.13(2) is unconstitutional as written and as so found by other courts which have examined the question, and 2) if so, pursuant to this Court's authority to grant supplemental relief as set forth in Florida Statutes 86.061, that the underlying citation be found void ab initio and that Defendant's dog be permanently released to his custody with no further restrictions."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 12:13 PM with the headline "Judge to hear Padi the dog case in Bradenton."