Keane Says He Will Demand Answer on Cash Monday Morning

High-profile Healdsburg chef Douglas Keane said he will demand an answer this morning from to his request Friday to remove the dog Cash to an animal care facility for evaluation and rehabilitation.

"I'm very hopeful," Keane said Sunday, adding he has had no word from the shelter since his request Friday. "There's really no negotiation involved -- it's either a 'yes' or 'no.'"

Keane said he has asked for Cash, an 110-pound, 3-year-old male Mastiff/pitbull mix, to be placed under the care of dog behaviorist Colleen Combs, proprietor of King's Kastle animal care facilities in Cloverdale and Windsor, for six months.

Keane, chef-owner of upscale restaurant and a certified dog trainer, has filed a lawsuit against the shelter seeking Cash's release.. Keane, who was trying to adopt Cash, Shelter Executive Director Julie Seal that started just before Thanksgiving weekend.

Seal, who could not be reached for comment Sunday, swith the adoption procedures she requested. She also claimed Keane was "insulted" by precautionary steps and additional paperwork she wanted Keane to take because of what she said were Cash's aggressive tendencies.

Seal insists there were no plans to euthanize Cash. But at least one of the three dog specialists who evaluated Cash on Nov. 21 said Sunday that Cash was "fear aggressive" and "not a safe dog," and "should not be adopted out," the specialist said.

"I could not handle his feet or touch his rear end without Cash reacting and trying to bite," said dog temperament evaluator Sue Bunte of Napa in her notes from the Nov. 21 evaluation. "Stroking his back caused him again to whip his head around and try to bite. If there had not been a safety line on the dog I would have been bitten."

Bunte said she did not state that Cash should be "immediately euthanized," as has been reported in some published articles. However, she did say that if Cash were on a list of dogs to be euthanized, she "would not request that he be taken off the list," she said Sunday.

"A professional trainer can possibly rehabilitate Cash to the point that he will behave appropriately in their hands, but if he is placed in another home, his unpredictable nature will resurface," Bunte said in her Nov. 21 evaluation notes. "Adopting Cash to the general public would be reckless."

Nonetheless, two other dog specialists -- Brian Campbell of Guerneville-based Miracle Mutts, and a Santa-Rosa based certified dog trainer who asked that her name not be used for personal reasons -- said Cash needed some work but otherwise seemed open to instruction and able to be rehabilitated.

"He never growled at me, he never even raised a lip," Campbell said Sunday. "He backed away from me at first, but in 15 minutes, I had him in a collar and on a leash -- you would have thought he had been my dog for the last five years."

Campbell said he made a few "corrections" to Cash, who he said picked up on them right away and who seemed amenable to learning.

"By the time 30 minutes were up, I was rubbing his belly and petting him," said Campbell, who specializes in training service dogs and who also is experienced with so-called "bully breeds." "He just needs someone who is committed to training and working with him who is wiling to put the time in with him."

Similarly, the Santa Rosa trainer said she "did not see any of the things" mentioned by Bunte, and that "he never barked at me," she said. "He barked at other dogs, but I never saw him ever go over the top."

She also said she "grabbed {Cash's} tail and pulled on it" and the dog did not react aggressively, she said.

Meanwhile, turmoil over the fate of Cash has ignited strong emotions in the Healdsburg animal lovers community and in the shelter's already unraveling board of directors.

"It's absolutely outrageous," said former Healdsburg Animal Shelter Board Member George Dutton of the conflict over Cash. "It's pathetic."

He said the controversy over Cash was "being handled all wrong" and appeared to him to be a power struggle between Seal and Keane. Dutton said he didn't understand why Keane, who has worked with Cash for several months as a volunteer and who has said he would pay for Cash's rehabiliation, was having trouble adopting the dog.

"The dog was fully adoptable five days ago (on the shelter's website) and then, all of a sudden, it's too aggressive," Dutton said. "The whole thing doesn't connect - there's no rationale."

Board President Kathleen McCaffrey could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Dutton, board treasurer and project manager for the new resigned Friday after three and a half years on the board.

He said he objected to a "significant" salary increase for Seal and was removed from his treasurer and project manager duties by a vote of 4 to 3. He declined to say the amount of the increase or the amount of Seal's salary.

With his duties taken away, Dutton said he had no choice but to resign.

"I just could not on good faith continue with an organization would treat me that way," he said Sunday. "I'm so disappointed -- I've worked so long on this."

He said the controversy with Cash was "negative publicity that the shelter couldn't afford," he said.

"I'm frustrated beyond belief," Dutton added. "It's sickening."

Over the last three and a half years, Dutton said he, as a volunteer, did all the work with Sonoma County, the city of Healdsburg, state Fish and Game and county Water Quality agency to arrange for permits, utilities and other paperwork for the new shelter building.

Then, he said, he oversaw the new construction -- now more than 95 percent complete, he said.

He said that, aside from a few minor installations, the new shelter building was almost ready to be occupied, but "the organization is out of money," he said.

"There's no money to occupy it, no plan to raise the money and no committee to organize the fundraising," he said.

Dutton's wife Karen Dutton resigned from the board in the spring, he said. Her resignation was related to a disagreement over Seal's job responsibilities, he said.

Two other former board members, John St. Dizier and Michelle Thayer, also have resigned within the last two months, Dutton said. He said he expects two more people to leave shortly.

"If you ask me, this is the worst way to run an organization," Dutton said. "If there's any disagreement, you are asked to leave."