Showdown as Zeus the puppy’s owner tries to save dog from death in Elk Grove

Zeus, the German shepherd held for months at Elk Grove animal shelter, was alive and remained confined Friday at the city facility despite demands from the dog’s owner and her attorney that the puppy be turned over to them.

Just after 4 p.m. Friday, Faryal Kabir, her attorney Andrew Shalaby, and a handful of family, friends and supporters walked to the front counter of the city shelter at Union Park Drive.

They wanted Zeus released, they told a shelter staffer at the counter.

“We won’t be able to accommodate that request,” came the answer.

They wanted to see Zeus.

“We won’t be able to accommodate that request,” staff repeated. The staffer referred Kabir and the group to Elk Grove City Attorney Jonathan Hobbs’s office.

A tearful Kabir then led the group down the corridor toward the kennels calling out Zeus’ name as dozens of dogs waiting for their own homes barked, howled and whined in answer.

Saying he feared Elk Grove officials plan to euthanize Zeus the German shepherd puppy over the weekend, Shalaby said he and the dog’s owners would visit the Elk Grove animal shelter Friday to demand the dog be turned over to them. They did just that Friday afternoon and were denied.

Shalaby said he anticipated the result but that made it no less painful for Kabir. The Elk Grove woman said she had not seen Zeus since he was taken away by Elk Grove officers in July; the dog now in a legal tug-of-war to determine whether it lives or dies.

“They’re saying he will be ‘humanely euthanized’? That’s killing a puppy,” Kabir said before heading to the front counter. “I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive. What kind of cruelty is that?”

Zeus was deemed a dangerous animal after it bit a passerby walking near Faryal Kabir and the dog, and the city seized the animal after determining Kabir had not complied with city requirements for keeping a “dangerous animal.”

During that process, Zeus nipped an Elk Grove police officer standing by as Kabir led the dog into a city van.

Shalaby contends the seizure of the dog took place before the deadline for Kabir to comply, and that the seizure is illegal.

He also has argued that killing Zeus would amount to destroying evidence, and in the past week has asked city officials to hand over the dog and requested intervention from the Sacramento County District Attorney’s office.

An animal rescue group in Oakland has offered to take Zeus, but city officials have not budged in their position that he must be destroyed, and this week the city filed a motion in federal court seeking to dismiss part of a case Faryal Kabir filed.

Shalaby, who represents Ghesal Kabir, a co-owner of the dog with her sister, Faryal, said the family intended to seek release of the dog before it can be killed, insisting that city officials seized it illegally.

Shalaby said the Elk Grove woman has pushed past the dark thoughts that led Elk Grove police officers to detain her on a suicidal hold and was ready to reclaim her dog.

Elk Grove city and police spokespersons did not respond to an earlier request for comment on the suicide hold, and did not immediately respond Friday to messages from The Bee seeking an answer on whether they plan to kill Zeus and when; or why Zeus’ owners were not allowed to see him.

Zeus would stay in the family, Shalaby said. Sister Ghesal’s home is near Faryal Kabir’s Elk Grove residence.

“We want to verify whether we’ll be allowed to go into a public facility to see this dog,” Shalaby said. “Our intent is to have the dog in the home of (Faryal’s) sister. The dog will be staying with the sister.”

Kabir finally managed to see her dog, her group following her down a corridor to a windowed door at the end of the hall. She pressed her face to the glass.

“Zeus!” she shouted, then again, and cried into the arms of friend Aimie McIrvin.

Shalaby said Friday that Kabir sees her fight to save Zeus as one to save her life as well.

“She’s committed to do all she can in her lifetime to get that dog out,” Shalaby said. “In a way, she’s fighting for her own life.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 9:27 AM.