Help Lucy stay with her family

This is Lucy and her person, Esmae. Animal Control says they can’t be together. They say that Lucy is dangerous. Animal Control is wrong. The City of Leawood is wrong. We're fighting to keep Lucy with our family.

EDIT: We are now in year 3 of litigation and legal bills continue to rise. Please share our story and give if you can.  Our family is so very grateful for our supporters!  Watch a recent story about us in the local news here:  https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/leawood-amends-dangerous-animal-code-adds-objective-standards

Edit: Over the last year, Lucy has lost her eyesight (no injury, it just slowly went away). She is sweeter and more cuddly than every before. She lives a great life of love and walks and treats. But we worry that at any time she could be taken from us... We continue to fight the ignorant decision-makers who will not even add a discussion about BSL to their meeting agendas, yet changed the wording with no public comment and behind closed doors. Please sign up for updates. Lucy and her people thank you for sharing and caring!
_________________________________________

At 5-months old, Lucy came to us from a local shelter. She was a recent survivor of parvo, and small for her age. Lucy had been found crated in an abandoned house, all alone. She needed us. At that time, we were in the middle of some family upheaval and we needed Lucy, too!  She was the perfect addition to our little family - we bonded with her quickly, and she made so many things better. Fast forward several years and everyone is doing great!  Lucy has 4 kids to love on and be cuddled by.

Then Animal Control happened.

One day, Lucy somehow got out of our yard.  We were frantic! We called every Animal Control near us, as we live near the junction of three suburban cities.  I finally found her after calling the local police station. The next morning, I went and got her as soon as I could. We thought the trauma of losing her overnight would be the worst of it.

The next week we received a letter from the City of Leawood saying Lucy was a "dangerous animal" because she looked too much like a pit bull type dog. Not because she behaved dangerously, but because of the way she looked. They gave us 3 days to re-home her.

We're into the second year of a legal battle with Leawood to keep our furry family member who was identified by our veterinarian as a Boxer mix. Lucy is a sweet, cuddly, well-loved, and loving dog. She adores people, especially kids, and plays with other dogs easily and gently. Her best friend is a pug (George), and we've fostered dogs that she's welcomed in as another member of her "pack." 

As we work hard to keep Lucy, our legal bills are rising.
We tried to sell our house and move to a more friendly city, but in the current housing market, we were unable to do so. We, and other Leawood residents, asked city council to consider a repeal of the city's pit bull ban, especially so more mixed breed dogs aren't caught up in this antiquated ordinance. Leawood City Council wouldn't even put the issue on the agenda. This GoFundMe is a last-ditch effort to raise funds to pay for legal expertise for our hearings. 

We KNOW there are many families in similar situations to ours - but we were targeted as an example. There are 17 cities in Johnson County, Kansas. Leawood and Overland Park are the only cities in the metro area with an outdated ban on breeds of dogs. We are challenging this ordinance in court to save Lucy and any other family who may find themselves in a similar situation.

Ultimately - we want Lucy to stay with us, in our home, in Leawood, as long as she has breath. For now, we’re renting a home in a neighboring pet-friendly city.  She's around 4 years old, so we have lots of time left for her sweet cuddles. We will NOT give Lucy up - SHE IS FAMILY.
Thank you for anything you can spare. Please share this with others whom you think would like to help. Lucy and the kids who love her will be so very grateful.

Please help us to keep our family together. Lucy says thank you.

                                                             _________________________

Any donated funds are nonrefundable, and you will not receive confidential information about the legal work being done. Also, contributors may not interfere with or otherwise exert control over the lawyer’s work, and this is not intended to qualify as third-party litigation financing.

If there are any donations remaining after the appeals process, they will be donated to the capital campaign for the non-profit The Symbiotic Behavioral Treatment Center (SBTC).  SBTC 

*The SBTC was born of the idea that the symbiotic benefits that exist in the human-canine bond can be used in a therapeutic sense for not only people suffering from stress and anxiety disorders, but also for dogs seized or surrendered from animal cruelty cases.