Zeus’ owner taken into custody as suicide threat after Elk Grove officials kill her dog

Hours after the city of Elk Grove killed her dog Zeus as a “dangerous animal,” dog owner Faryal Kabir was detained by Elk Grove police officers and hospitalized as a suicide threat for the second time since the drama over her German shepherd erupted, according to the family and their lawyer.

“We were really terrified, and she screamed for two hours or three hours, and the police didn’t come for over two hours,” a family member, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said Friday night.

Kabir and the family were meeting in Sacramento on Friday discussing legal options when they learned from a phone call that Zeus had been euthanized, something Elk Grove officials announced in a late afternoon statement Friday. “They came to house, they took her out in handcuffs. Three of them. One of them was laughing, and another just asked us questions about her,” the relative told The Sacramento Bee.

Elk Grove officials did not respond to requests for comment Friday night, including what was done with Zeus’ remains and whether the city would respond to family requests for the return of the dog’s body.

Police spokesman Jason Jimenez’ email said he was unavailable until Monday. City spokeswoman Kristyn Laurence’s email said she was unavailable until Wednesday and that for “media inquiring about the dangerous animal case, please note that litigation remains active in this case and the city is unable to comment beyond the information provided in the statements released online.”

But the family member and the family’s attorney, Andrew Shalaby, confirmed that Kabir had been taken away by Elk Grove police as a suicide threat and hospitalized.

An audio recording of Kabir provided to The Bee after she learned her dog had been killed contained sounds of a woman screaming in grief and asking to see Zeus.

The police arrived hours after the family first called for help, according to the family member, who said that after hours of being ignored they called the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office and asked for them to intervene to get help.

The unnamed relative said the family was given no reason for why the dog was killed Friday, but that the family believed Elk Grove was concerned that pending legal challenges might spare the dog, who animal rescue groups had offered to take.

“We love Zeus, we love Faryal, but it’s just sickening about how badly she was treated through this whole ordeal,” the family member said. “Nobody’s had any compassion through this whole ordeal.”

The family said they had asked for the return of the dog’s body so Kabir, who is Muslim, could wash it before burial, but had received no response.

“She was heartbroken, she said, ‘Why can’t I just get his body so I can wash him,’” her relative said.

Kabir already was detained on a suicide hold because of the city’s decision to seize her dog after it was declared a “dangerous animal.” The city did so after the puppy bit a passerby and, later, a police officer as it was being seized by the city’s animal services department.