Andrea Rosebrock 
UPDATE 9/16/09 – Man Who Threw Dog Off Bridge Caught and Charged!! And an Update On Sunny
UPDATE 8/2/09 – Kelsey Westbrook Threatened With Loss of Apt After Company That Owns Complex, Arete Real Estate, Says Sunny is a “Vicious” Breed!
Sunny the pitbull is one lucky dog today but Sunday afternoon she wasn’t quite so lucky. Just after 4 pm, a white Chevy Malibu stopped on the Clark Memorial Bridge over the Ohio River and tossed her off the bridge, an 80′ drop into the water below.
Patrons and workers at Joe’s Crab Shack on the Kentucky side of the river about a half a mile away saw the whole thing and heard the dog hit the water.
“It sounded like something hitting a wall,” said restaurant server Bradley Cooper, 22. “It was very, very loud.”
Several of the workers raced to the water and shouted encouragement to the dog who was swimming in circles where she hit the water. At the sound of voices, the headed in that direction. Even luckier for the dog, a firefighter dive team was getting ready to practice on the riverfront and they took a boat out to help rescue the dog.
There was applause all around as the dog came off the skiff onto land and although hitting the water must have hurt and shaken her up, the dog seemed sweet and friendly.
Animal control was called but one of the servers, Kelsey Westbrook, who calls herself a huge animal lover, adopted the dog on the spot and named her Sunny.
“I was crying so hard, it was crazy,” Westbrook said. “I was ready to jump in the water and go after her.”
With a swollen belly and protruding nipples, it’s pretty obvious that Sunny had recently given birth and whoever had her must have gotten what they wanted and decided to just dump her afterwards.
At Westbrook’s home, Sunny scarfed down some food and quickly befriended her adopted German Shepherd, Nala. Unfortunately Kelsey doesn’t have a yard but wanted to help Sunny and make sure she never knows pain again, she will look for a good home for the beautiful red and white girl that was so unceremoniously tossed to what was supposed to be her doom.
Sunny was definitely one of the lucky ones, so many pitbulls aren’t. As a trendy “breed” in our throwaway society, banned and maligned, so many face death daily. Kudos to Kelsey for taking this sweet girl in and making sure she had the love there’s no doubt she has been missing in her life!
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Update 8/2/09 – Kelsey Westbrook Threatened With Loss of Apt After Company That Owns Complex, Arete Real Estate, Says Sunny is a “Vicious” Breed!
Check out the latest!! OMG! Contact info for the company that owns the apartment, Arete Real Estate is below the story!
The University of Louisville senior who adopted a pit bull that was thrown from the Clark Memorial Bridge this week said she worries she’ll lose her apartment if she keeps the dog.
Kelsey Westbrook, the waitress at Joe’s Crab Shack who adopted the female pit bull, “Sunny,” said the company that owns her Old Louisville apartment will not let her to keep the dog there.
“They’re claiming that they don’t allow vicious breeds on the property, and I have a lease violation by having her on the property,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook also owns a 2-year-old German shepherd mix named Nala and pays a monthly fee to keep Nala in her apartment. Westbrook said apartment officials told her she can’t make the same arrangement for Sunny because the pit bull is considered a vicious breed.
The Web site for Arete Real Estate, which owns Westbrook’s apartment, states that renters must fill out an application to keep a pet at their home and “pet applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis and depend on several factors” including the particular apartment and type of flooring.
“You must obtain our written permission prior to allowing any type of pet on the premises,” the site states.
Officials with Arete would not comment on Westbrook’s lease.
Westbrook said apartment officials gave her two days to remove Sunny from her apartment, telling her they will be conducting random inspections. For now, Westbrook is keeping Sunny at her boyfriend’s house while she explores her options. She said she’s looking into the possibility of prematurely ending her lease.
“She’s been through such a traumatic experience, she needs to be with someone she knows,” Westbrook said.
Looks like we’ve got a little work to do my friends! Please contact Arete Real Estate, email and phone and let them know what you think of their decision, especially giving Kelsey only 2 days to have Sunny removed from the apartment! Remember, be polite but be firm!
Ok, here’s email addy for Areta Real Estate – apartments@areterealestate.net and the phone # (502) 636-3900.
Thank you for featuring this story.
If Kelsey is interested, we’d love to feature her as an Honorary Pinup on our website, http://www.pinupsforpitbulls.com
Thank you for giving a great dog a happy end to a sad tale!
xoxo
Little Darling
President & Founder
Now that would be excellent!! Love your organization and what you do for the pitties!
D.
PS. Everyone take a sec to check the website, it’s great!!
Congrats to Westbrook, you have a heart of gold to open up your home and life to this beautiful pitti girl.
I am still amazed at the stupidity and harshness of their cruelty to animals in this world. If I ever saw anyone hurt any type of dog, I would be the one having to be restrained by the police.
Thank God that there were people there to see this horrific crime take place, and they were not afraid to get involved.
God is watching over you Sunny, and I believe you have found a home that will provide you the love and devotion you so deserve.
OMG…………….there go the tears again! How in God’s name, can someone be so f***ing cruel. Oh, I am just in pain for this girl and life she must have endured at the hands of some moron that needs to quickly go to that island! Be fixed and never able to reproduce! I wish I could get my hands on this useless piece of society! Look at her sweet, trusting, yes you freaking pitty haters, trusting face! What is wrong with this world??? Thank you Kelsey for taking her in. You, along with all the people at the restaurant and the rescuer’s, that, thank God, were there at the right time. Every single one of you are Sunny’s little angels and she is sure blessed to have had you all there when this cruel, uncaring, sick, inhuman thing, decided to cruely throw her off an 80 ft bridge.
Pulled up that pitty site D. Keeping it in my favorites and sharing it with other pitty owners/lovers. What a wonderful site for these loving sweeties. Great calander too…hey guys….check it out! Eau La La!!!! I sure hope I live to see the day that they are no longer treated so cruely and so misunderstood. That will be a day of REJOICE, without a doubt!
Glad ya like it Jess! I found them months ago and just thought it was the greatest!!
D.
Kelsey Westbrook has been told by her landlord to get rid of Sunny because he is a *dangerous breed*. If she does not, they will evict her – LINK
Well, looks to me like we need to get some contact info for Arete Real Estate, which owns Westbrook’s apartment and flood them with email and calls. Giving her only two days to “get rid” of Sunny is outrageous!! Wonder if they have any clue of the backlash they are creating for themselves…. This should be interesting. Thanks for the heads up on this Andrea!
D.
Ok, here’s email addy for Areta Real Estate – apartments@areterealestate.net and the phone # (502) 636-3900.
I sent an email and suggested they let her stay and maybe put some kind of conditions in her contract, maybe even require her to train the dog and get that canine good citizen certification.
Is there any other update on this? How are Kesley and Sunny doing?
UPDATE 9/16/09 – Man Who Threw Dog Off Bridge Caught and Charged!! And an Update On Sunny