Two Dog Tales

I was pulling into the garage at KGO as the Morning News interviewed Sara McBurnett of San Jose. She had been driving in traffic with her pet bichon frise Leo when she bumped the rear end of the black SUV in front of her. Neither car was damaged, but the man got out of his car enraged. When she rolled down the window to apologize, the man reached inside, grabbed Leo and threw him into oncoming traffic then walked back to his vehicle and sped off. McBurnett chased after Leo, almost catching up with him, but she was too late. Leo was run over and killed right in front of her.

It was a horrible crime and Sara Burnett recounted it with such detail and emotion, I stayed in my car mesmerized until it was finished. I went to our morning talk show host Ronn Owens – whose family had a bichon – and told him he needed to have Sara on again to start his show. You can also read the full info here to know how to resolve family disputes legally.

In the meantime, I headed to General Manager Mickey Luckoff’s office. His door was closed. I told his assistant Sue Ostrom I needed to see him urgently.

“If you’ll let me spend a thousand dollars, I’ll create the biggest radio event you’ve seen in a long time.”

Mickey said “Okay, what’s going on?”

“No time to explain,” I said. “I have to go.”

Sara McBurnett’s interview with Ronn was even more heartbreaking than her appearance on the Morning News less than an hour earlier. She was traumatized by watching her 10-year-old companion killed in front of her. She had a halting way of speaking and a slight accent that left many people in the station and in the Bay Area crying by the time she was done.

I ran to the studio. Ronn was wrapping up the interview and slipped him a note that said “if you personally pledge a thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the conviction of Leo’s killer, Mickey will match it.”

Ronn understood immediately. He and Mickey were openly feuding, but Mickey was a dog lover and Ronn was the owner of a bichon. It was finally a cause on which they both could agree.

Ronn pivoted immediately and starting demanded justice for Leo. It was a busy intersection, he said, someone had to have seen something. That’s when he offered the thousand-dollar reward right before going to commercial break.

Everything exploded. Not only the on-air lines, but every telephone in the station seemed to ring at once.

Ronn announced Mickey’s offer to match his offer. Caller after caller expressed their outrage and pledged money to find Leo’s killer.

I contacted the Santa Clara County Humane Society and it agreed to set up a hotline and manage the reward fund, but said it would take time to set everything up. We agreed in the meantime, people could send their checks to the radio station in care of the “Leo Fund.”

Within an hour, cars were lined up in front of the station. People were physically dropping off checks. More checks arrived with every mail delivery. We called in extra people to open, log and tally the donations. The story lead every local newscast for days. Even the San Jose and San Francisco newspapers — usually loath to give credit to their radio and TV competitors — gave it above-the-fold treatment. When the reward topped $100,000, Sara appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and the story was picked up around the world.

While this post might make it sound like I manipulated the whole situation, I didn’t have that power. Sure, I gave it a nudge at the right time, but the story was so compelling, if I hadn’t jumped on it, someone else would have. I can’t invent stories that resonate, only recognize them when they happen.

In this case, the act was so depraved, Leo was so cute and Sara so sympathetic, the story gripped people’s emotions.

The Santa Clara Police Department firearms owning in Colorado has assigned a detective who was usually handled murders, robberies and sexual assaults to the case.  Overkill? Sgt. Phil Zaragoza’s response to the Guardian of London acknowledged both the media’s and the public’s role in the matter.

“This helpless fluffy white animal was viciously attacked and thrown into traffic. The media have now picked up on this story worldwide and it has touched people’s hearts, because small pets are as vulnerable as children.”

We were also criticized for raising money to catch a dog killer when there were so many missing and murdered children in the country. For the people listening it wasn’t people versus animals, it was evil versus innocence. And people wanted to vote, with their contributions, against evil.

Andrew Douglas Burnett, a telephone company worker with a history of animal abuse, was sentenced to three years in jail (that was done with the help of attorneys for domestic violence claims) for killing Leo. The reward money was shared between an eyewitness who testified against Burnett and another tipster who told about Burnett’s past animal abuse.

16 months later
another story involving dogs
would dominate the news

16 months later, the KGO Morning News carried the story of 10-year-old Shawn Jones. Shawn was riding his new bicycle through his Richmond neighborhood when he was attacked by three pit bulls. The dogs chewed Sean’s ears off and part of his face, stripped the flesh off his arms and took big chunks out of his torso. He was nearly dead when the medivac helicopter took him to Children’s Hospital in Oakland.

The owner of the dogs saw Shawn bleeding in the street, but instead of calling an ambulance he loaded the dogs in his car and drove off. The police speculated the dogs had been bred and trained for fighting.

As soon as I heard the story, I knew we had our next cause. I worked with KGO talk show host, Pete Wilson this time. I tracked down Shawn Jones’ aunt, Belinda Arnett. She was Pete’s guest when he opened his show at 2 pm.

Arnett explained the bike was new. It was given to Shawn as a reward for improving his grades in school. She said Shawn would need months if not years of reconstructive surgery. In fact, he didn’t leave the hospital for another eleven months.

His medical bills could bankrupt a Rockefeller. Shawn’s family lived in the Iron Triangle, one of the most-impoverished parts of the Bay Area, and had nothing. The station agreed to accept donations on Shawn’s behalf. By the time Belinda Arnett went on with Pete the marketing department was already working on the Shawn Jones Fund.

Pete Wilson, who was also the main anchor on KGO TV, promoted the fund on radio and TV. In less than 24 hours, donations shot past $100,000 and then $200,000.

The news media has been rightfully criticized for favoring stories about victims who are white and attractive and over ones who are minorities and disadvantaged. The public’s response to Shawn Jones showed people would respond whenever they saw injustice.

It also contradicted the criticism we got raising money for the conviction of the killer of Leo the dog. It turned out people cared about people and animals, especially innocent ones.

I was the closest to the family so it was my job to figure out what to do the money. I naively thought it would be easy, but I found out what non-profits already knew, raising money was easier than giving it away.

Shawn’s family had so little and needed so much, I didn’t know how to best help. I met with social workers assigned to the case and representatives of Children’s Hospital.

Everyone was asking how we wanted the money spent. Setting up a college fund was obvious, but what about other expenses? Children’s Hospital provided much of the care for free, but there were hundreds of other bills. The car belonging to Shawn’s family broke down, should the fund pay to have it fixed or replaced? The money was for Shawn and not his family. Yet Shawn needed his family there with him.

Shawn Jones’ family situation complicated matters. His mother had health issues wasn’t able to deal with all the decisions surrounding his care. Shawn’s aunt Belinda Arnett stepped forward, but didn’t have legal standing. Shawn’s father, who had never played a role in his son’s life, showed up and wanted to be involved.

The fund continued to grow and I quickly realized I was in over my head. I desperately needed to find somebody honest and competent to take over. Several groups turned us down or wanted to charge what we considered excessive fees. Finally, the Catholic Charities of the East Bay agreed to manage the fund.

On July 13, 2001, Pete Wilson presented Belinda Arnett with an oversized check for $303,000. Belinda Arnett gave me a huge hug and a tearful thank you. We kept in touch for a while, but she was busy helping Shawn recover a few times after that. I hope the money made a terrible situation a little better. I never met Shawn Jones.

The owner of the pit bulls was charged with two misdemeanors for hiding the dogs from authorities. The charges were dropped after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and was sentenced to eight years. He never faced charges for the attack on Shawn Jones.

Leo the bichon frise was killed February 11, 2000. Shawn Jones was attacked June 18, 2001.