Judge's ruling stuns Marysville family in dog dispute

He lost his construction job when the economy went bad.

Johnny Chavez, 44, a single father with a son and two daughters at the family's home in Marysville, was surprised by a judge's advice at the end of a small claims case.

In Yuba County Superior Court on Monday, Chavez noted his unemployment and his earlier offer to pay half the veterinarian's bill when the family dog Jade got loose March 24 and bit the animal belonging to a couple who were walking by the Chavez home along Triplett Way.

Visiting Judge Ann Rutherford ruled Chavez would have to pay the full $922 to the couple to cover the vet bills.

She said his unemployment wasn't her concern.

"Sell the dog," Rutherford added. "That would be a good idea."

Chavez and Jacob, 18, Sarah, 15, and Ciara, 13, spoke Tuesday at their home about the judge's statement.

"That's just plain mean," Johnny Chavez said. "It's either a mean remark or sarcastic or hate against the breed of the dog." Jacob, a Marysville High School senior, said: "I was just surprised she actually said it."

He wasn't sure just what happened that March day. Jade never runs out to the front where people regularly walk their dogs, he said.

"This all happened in a matter of seconds," Jacob said.

Sarah, a Marysville High sophomore, said the sell-the-dog advice "made me angry."

"That's my dog," she said.

Johnny Chavez said he adopted the 11-year-old American Pit Bull when she was 2 and that the animal appears to have had a rough couple of first years. She had scars.

Four years ago, Jade got into a scrape with another dog that led to $4,000 in vet's bills, Chavez said, a previous incident that he said the judge referred to in court.

"You have a dog that doesn't like other dogs," Rutherford said in court before her ruling. "Your dog is dangerous to other people's dogs."

Rutherford, who declined to comment on her decision, said the couple who brought the small claims case "have a right to walk their dog down the street."

The couple also declined to comment.

Chavez said Tuesday that he is sorry about the March dog bite and remains prepared to pay half of the $922 vet bill.

But he plans to appeal the judge's ruling and believes he never got his say in court.

Neither does daughter Sarah.

"I think there's no justice," she said.