An Unlikely Emergency Appeal to the Supreme Court From a Dog Named Bruce. (Ann E. Marimow, NY Times, August 14, 2026)

Interesting story about a dog bite case in the Supreme Court.  The New York Times reports: "Bruce was euthanized at 4:14 p.m. on Wednesday — about 45 minutes after his lawyers filed at the Supreme Court."

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"Twas the night before my first trial as a young Government Accountability Project public interest lawyer litigating against powerful corporations and government agencies. The case was an epic nuclear power plant whistleblower victory against U.S. Tennessee Valley Authority.  My co-counsel and Memphis State U law school friend, the late Christopher J. Van Riper of Oak Ridge, Tenn., said that he'd have more trust and confidence if I had ever "tried a dog bite case."

 I never did get to try a dog bite case. , 

Back in the days when the St. Augustine Record was not owned by heinous hedge funds, it covered the dog bite case saga of Cyrus, a small dog who was accused of being dangerous and vicious and set for execution.  Cyrus never bit anyone, but was nearly executed.

St. Johns County Executive MICHAEL DAVID WANCHIK (2007-20190 appointed his o2n Assistant County Administrator, JERRY THOMAS CAMERON, to hear the case. CAMERON was not a lawyer, not a judge and not a special magistrate.  

CAMERON's appointment was an appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest, as animal control was one of the functions in CAMERON's portfolio as the Assistant County Administrator, and the lady who complained Cyrus was dangerous or vicious worked for the  County, in an organization over which CAMERON had suzerainty.  

Happily, the life of the little dog, Cyrus, was saved in an out-of-court legal settlement, thanks to dog lovers who helped his family hire a lawyer.  There was an out-of-court settlement in which the life of Cyrus was spared and it was agreed he would depart St. Johns County.  

Postscript:  JERRY THOMAS CAMERON ordered a little fourteen pound dog killed. CAMERON later became Flagler County Administrator.  He once ran for state legislature as a libertarian.  He was the former police chief of Fernandina Beach.  In 2016, he ran for St. Johns County Commission against PAUL WALDRON,who won by seven (7)  votes after a recount. 

Despite CAMERON's being the developers' favorite in fundraising, perhaps it was  the lingering resentment of St. Johns County residents about a small dog elected PAUL WALDRON to County Commission, where he was sensitive to residents' concerns about overdevelopment, overspending and other issues.  

The late, great news reporter Peter Guinta reported on St. Johns County's efforts to Cyrus in the St. Augustine Record, which then printed letters and columns from readers (including dozens from me over the years.  The Record once informed public discussion and debate.

More here:

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2015/12/cameron-not-qualified-to-hold-hearing.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2010/06/blog-post_98.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2010/07/blog-post_7015.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2015/12/candidate-jerry-cameron-ordered-little.html

https://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2015/12/2004-record-article-on-machiavellian.html

From The New York Times:

An Unlikely Emergency Appeal to the Supreme Court From a Dog Named Bruce

A last-ditch filing this week came on behalf of a dog that a judge found to be “vicious” and shows how the court’s emergency docket has been growing.

Listen · 6:27 min

The Supreme Court has been inundated recently with emergency requests.Credit...Allison Robbert for The New York Times

By Ann E. Marimow

Ann Marimow covers the Supreme Court

Aug. 14, 2026These days, it can seem like everyone thinks their request to the Supreme Court is an emergency.The court has been inundated in recent years with emergency asks from all manner of people and groups who want the justices to short circuit the lower courts and intervene in their cases immediately.But this week might have seen the first such request on behalf of a dog.His name was Bruce, and he was a 120-pound, 3-year-old Anatolian Shepherd dog who had been detained in Ventura County, Calif., and ordered to be euthanized after a state court found he was vicious. His crimes included biting three people, including a child, and knocking over a man pushing a wheelchair.Bruce’s lawyers asked the nation’s highest court to step in and, as a Facebook post created by the dog’s fans in California begged, “SAVE BRUCE!”“Applicants do not ask this Court to release Bruce, transfer Bruce, place Bruce in the community, or review the merits of the underlying state-court dangerous-dog determination,” his lawyer, Dan C. Bolton, wrote in the Wednesday filing.They ask only that Bruce, Animal ID A842188, remain alive in the custody of Ventura County Animal Services,” while litigation continues, according to the filing.Alas for Bruce, the request to the court came too late. He was euthanized Wednesday afternoon before the justices had an opportunity to act.But the plea was a reminder of the court's burgeoning fast-track docket, where the justices typically issue temporary orders with little briefing and no oral argument.The emergency docket often includes profoundly weighty questions, including final appeals from death-row inmates. Justices from across the ideological spectrum have spoken publicly about how seriously they take the emergency requests and how difficult they find them no matter the outcome.But by granting more fast-track requests, particularly during the Trump administration, they have opened the door wider to all kinds of requests. Justice Elena Kagan recently suggested that the court itself was in part to blame for essentially inviting people — and in this case, an animal — to seek emergency relief.“Why are all these people coming to us for this relief when they didn’t in the past? I think, partly, it has to do with the fact that the court did grant some of these petitions, and then you encourage everybody else to bring them to you,” she said during testimony before a congressional committee in July.Indeed, the court has issued more than two dozen emergency orders in response to various requests from the Trump administration since Donald Trump returned to office. The full court ruled on about 70 emergency applications each term for much of the late 2010s. By last term, the number was more than 130, according to Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck, who tracks the emergency docket as part of his One First newsletter on the court.“People see that there is, at least, a potential for us to grant relief. And so, why not file a petition?” Kagan continued in her testimony last month.Bruce’s lawyer acknowledged that a Supreme Court request to save a dog’s life was “a bit of a long shot.” He called the court “the last resort.”“We’re just trying to preserve his life until it’s sorted out,” Mr. Bolton said in an interview Wednesday before he knew that Bruce had been euthanized.

No one disputed Bruce’s record of bad behavior.

Ventura County posted a lengthy memo about the case, which included graphic photos of the severe injuries from Bruce’s bites, including to the bloodied lips of a minor and the mangled arm of a woman, who the county said required surgery and skin grafts.

Still, Bruce had won supporters who had urged county officials to spare him, citing county records describing Bruce as a “model citizen” while housed in the kennel during litigation.

According to court filings, Bruce was adopted from the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center by Claire Birgy, a Ventura County woman, in 2023, and lived with her and her then-spouse for about 10 months without any known issues.

But according to the county, Bruce bit a boy on the lips in February 2024, causing “severe disfiguring lacerations.” Then, in the fall of 2025, Bruce wounded a man in the knee, chest and forearm while tied to a pole outside a CVS pharmacy.

A Ventura County Superior Court judge determined this spring that Bruce should be euthanized because his release “would create a significant threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.”

Ms. Birgy then sued in federal court, arguing among other claims that Bruce had been taken from her without a fair or due process.

Bruce was euthanized at 4:14 p.m. on Wednesday — about 45 minutes after his lawyers filed at the Supreme Court.

Mr. Bolton said he was appalled that the county had proceeded with the euthanasia even after he informed officials early Wednesday that he planned to ask the Supreme Court to intervene, calling it a “shameful disrespect for Bruce’s life.”

In a statement, Ventura County Animal Services director Esteban Rodriguez said there had been no court order preventing the action.

“Decisions involving the humane euthanasia of an animal are difficult and complex,” Mr. Rodriguez said. “We do not take the loss of an animal’s life lightly. We have compassion for Bruce and for those who care about him, just as we have compassion for those who were injured.”

Bruce’s tale at the Supreme Court officially came to a close on Thursday when Justice Kagan, who handles emergency filings from the Ninth Circuit, formally denied the request.\

Ann E. Marimow covers the Supreme Court for The Times from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on Aug. 15, 2026, Section A, Page 15 of the New York edition with the headline: Emergency Appeal to the Supreme Court Comes Too Late for a Dog Named Bruce. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe