Jul 23

Jul 23 Investigators: Rochester woman's viral post about her dog is not true

A woman's widely-shared Facebook post condemning the Rochester Animal Control for euthanizing her dog without an investigation is "a work of fiction," according to a member of the city council.

In the post, Krista Gilbertson claims a neighbor boy attacked her dog and the dog was acting in defense:

Ok. I have to share this. Today my "son" will be killed because of Rochester Animal Control not doing their job! My "son" was shot with a bb gun, had golf balls thrown at him, had a paintball gun shot at him, and when the boy doing all that climbed the fence and trespassed into my yard and kicked my dog, my dog defended himself. Rochester Animal Control never asked our side of the situation, just asked which dog it was (she couldn't even determine which dog was aggressive )and said "just put him down!" NO INVESTIGATION!!!! I feel that they failed at their job and I lost my son and my children lost their brother!!!! I included pictures, please share my story so no other family will have to lose a child!!!!!

The post has been shared over 2,000 times since Tuesday with readers expressing sympathy and concern for Gilbertson and her dog.

Upon hearing the story, council member Michael Wojcik checked in with investigators, who reported there had, in fact, been an investigation with over 50 pages of documents, photos and emails.

It’s reported that the neighbor boy, age 9, was invited to play in Gilbertson’s yard. No one made any charges that the dog was attacked or harassed. The neighbor boy, however, suffered serious bite wounds to his torso, head and arms.

One animal control officer, who visited the premises twice following the attack, reported the dog was snarling and growling at her and that she did not feel comfortable getting close to the dog.

According to Wojcik’s blog, Gilbertson was repeatedly contacted by animal control. He posted that she chose not to contest the dangerous dog declaration and instead opted to have the dog euthanized.

Update: After reading this article, Gilbertson edited her post and issued an apology to the Rochester Animal Control. Here's what she said in an email to the Med City Beat:

I have since spoke with the child's mother and we have resolved the situation. My post was intented to get feedback regarding the laws for animals. I am very sorry for the pain I caused Rochester Animal Control and asked everyone to share my new post. I was hoping there would be the same laws for a pet as there were for a human and I was wrong. I wanted neighbors inteviewed, both sides and a full investigation conducted before he was charged, as you would with a human. Unfortunately I was wrong and I admit that. Please ask people to stop harassing my family as I publicly apoligized on the original social media site.