Elissa

.@catturd2 @Herb_Minstrel @LoneStarChica When we moved here, our neighbors just thought we were a family of rednecks. We're not, but I do like me some outlaw country. I made a video to go with the great song about Lucy that @music29933 wrote yesterday. Follow him👆 #SaveLucy

After I separated from the military, I continued to deploy as a contractor. Many don't realize that we often claim to have no boots on the ground in a given theater because we have no uniformed troops there. But we do. Their uniform is 5.11 cargo pants and black zip-up fleeces. I know. I was one of them. I didn't ask to stop deploying. I was forced into it. I got a bad neurological report. Spinocerebellar ataxia, type 14. Never heard of it, right? It's one of the rare ones. I think of it like a slow progressing ALS. It's characterized by a steadily deteriorating sense of balance and coordination. It makes things that used to be easy, difficult. It makes things that used to be difficult, impossible. It's not going to shorten my life, God willing, but it will make my later years look different than I had hoped. I obviously couldn't keep deploying. I did my final tour - one last hurrah to the same desert where I had earlier met Lucy. It was a much safer place this time. I made a point to stop by our old camp and visit the spot where I had once played with my dog when she was a sad faced pup in the desert. What I didn't know is that a short time later, I'd be out of a job, a casualty of Biden's vaccine mandate. As someone rendered non-deployable, nobody went to bat for me. In those uncertain times, they wanted to retain the people they could use as boots on the ground. So I was shown the door. It felt like Uncle Sam had spat in my face. At the same time, @Herb_Minstrel's music school closed on orders of the Virginia Health Department prohibiting in-person music lessons. In the blink of an eye, our family's source of income had disappeared. But Lucy remained a source of comfort. When I deployed, I felt better leaving my wife and kids knowing she was home to protect them. When I had to stop traveling, she kept my experiences alive; a living, breathing link to the past. D.C. once took away my livelihood. Richmond took away my wife's. Now, the county is trying to take away our dog. We can't let them. #SaveLucy

God bless this man. Jeff, I think I just became your #1 fan. ‘Lucy’ by Jeffrey Spangler is on #SoundCloud on.soundcloud.com/Pn6De5qsnqEQ4V… #SaveLucy @Herb_Minstrel @LoneStarChica @Catturd2

.@jonesbrendanm Kennel stress is real. It is the severe psychological and physical strain dogs can experience when confined in unfamiliar, restrictive environments—especially when they are isolated and taken away from the life and people they know. Kennel stress can kill—especially older dogs. Lucy is 11 years old. The average lifespan for Canaan breeds is 12. It’s been five weeks. We are wasting time! She did nothing wrong.
We did nothing wrong.
And yet we are the ones being treated like criminals. My husband is facing jail time. I’m facing having to raise four children alone if he is taken. Where is the justice? The emotional and psychological toll this has taken on me is unfathomable. Lucy is our protector. She is the reason I was no longer scared staying alone for months at time during my husband’s deployments. She is the reason I felt comfortable leaving our babies at home with a sitter when I had to leave for training while I served in the USAF. She is the reason our homestead is successful. She has saved the lives of countless of our farm animals from fox, hawks and bears. She is faithful, loving and brave! She served our family faithfully and well. And now, all she knows is that she hasn’t seen us for FIVE weeks. Does she think we abandoned her? Does she think the younger dogs took over her job so we just cast her aside? Does she think we sent her there to die? It enrages me beyond words that this can happen to an ordinary family who has never done anything but mind their own business. A collar mishap and barking that took place our own property—oh the horrors! How much of a coward do you have to be to call the authorities for such a thing? How much more of a coward do you have to be to take an elderly dog from her home and family for that? This has to stop. Lucy should be home, riding in the truck with her daddy, or running with Lex in her fields diligently keeping an eye out for hawks. She should be singing songs with me while I practice my music. (She loves to sing, and Lex always joins in. The singing has all but stopped since she was taken. And it is beyond heartbreaking) WE NEED YOU! Please sign our petition and call the courts to help bring Lucy home!! We also have a GiveSendGo for those who feel led to help with the legal costs we’re still facing. We are still in this fight, and it is YOU who can make a change and help demand the release of Lucy back where she belongs! As always, thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support. We are only here because so many of you were moved by my husband’s story and Lucy’s story, and we are forever grateful from the bottom of our hearts! BRING LUCY HOME!! ⬇️ Court phone numbers, petition and legal funding links in comments! #saveLucy

.@jonesbrendanm One month ago, our world absolutely shattered. One month ago, authorities came onto our property and stole our dog after a brief leash slip and a neighbor reporting it. One month ago, I stood in my driveway completely heartbroken, angry in a way I had never experienced before, watching them drive away with a dog we had loved for 10 years. I cussed. My children cried. My husband went silent. His heart broke more than any of ours. The dog he had bonded with in war, who had helped him heal and come back to us, was gone. One month ago, two years of harassment, court visits, dozens of police calls to our home, intimidation and alienation all came crashing down. For one brief moment, it felt like they had finally succeeded in their vile plan—breaking us to the point that we would give up and leave. And somehow, through all of this pain, God has done something absolutely incredible. One month ago, the fight began. What was meant to destroy our family has instead united us, strengthened our marriage, deepened our faith, and connected us with millions of beautiful and amazing people across this country and around the world! “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28 Our sweet Lucy—our Pearl of the Desert—has become something so much bigger than we ever imagined. She has become a symbol of ordinary people coming together, standing beside one another, and refusing to stay silent in the face of injustice, intimidation, and government overreach. Today, we realize the incredible change Lucy’s story is already bringing into the world around us. And while we never would have chosen for it to be us, the Lord clearly saw fit for it to be so—our story, our family, our Lucy. And so today, we are more determined than ever that this fight will continue—even after she comes home to us, which deep in my heart I absolutely believe she will. Because Lucy’s story is going to inspire real change. Change that protects ordinary families. Change that exposes the cracks in a system that too often allows good people to be intimidated, harassed, and pushed to the breaking point simply for living and raising their families how they best see fit. Change that helps protect dogs from being unfairly labeled and unnecessarily separated from the families who love them. Change that helps ensure no family is ever forced to endure this kind of heartbreak, fear, and exhaustion again. We still have a long road ahead. But today, we no longer feel powerless. Today, we fight with purpose. BRING LUCY HOME. #savelucy @LoneStarChica @jonesbrendanm @MasonWillett20 @SaraGonzalesTX @catturd2 @buckleycarlson *photo of Lucy and her two best friends, Brendan and Lex*. All three are my “military rescues”, and I love them dearly.

Took Lucy treats. Couldn't see her. One of the ladies took a video of her. She sent it to me along with the following message: "Praying for a positive outcome soon for Lucy! 🙏" These people are heroes. God bless them. But I want my dog back. #SaveLucy @Herb_Minstrel

@jonesbrendanm @Herb_Minstrel Help bring her home: Call Shenandoah County Commonwealth’s Attorney: 📞 (540) 459-6129 Politely ask them to return Lucy to her veteran family.🇺🇸❤️ Share this. Tag officials. Let’s get this sweet senior dog back where she belongs. @RapidResponseVA @PeteHegseth @SeanParnellUSA

It has now been one month since Lucy's collar slipped over her head. One month since she was loose in my yard for a few seconds. One month since nobody got hurt. One month since nothing happened. It has also been one month since the police were called. One month since animal control issued me a court summons. One month since they took my dog, the dog I bonded with in war ten years ago. One month since my world turned into a living hell. It has been one month since nothing happened. And it has been one month since everything happened, in response to nothing. She has spent one month in jail. Over nothing. Away from everything. One month away from her fields. Away from Lex. Away from the kids. Away from @Herb_Minstrel and me. Let her come home. It's been long enough. It's time. It's damn time. #SaveLucy I have nothing more to say. @LoneStarChica @catturd2

I once owned a music school. It was a thriving little place that employed several teachers and nearly 100 students. When COVID happened, we shut down for the initial “two weeks to flatten the curve.” Then I reopened. We offered online lessons. Families could choose masks if they wanted. My incredible teachers, from both sides of the political aisle, never stopped showing up to work. I became a publicly outspoken advocate against the illegal government mandates. I spoke up for the rights of small business-owners to remain open and run their businesses how they saw fit without fear of government interference or being shut down for “noncompliance” But student attendance never truly recovered. I kept that school open far longer than I should have from a financial standpoint. But I was not going to roll over while the government destroyed small businesses, livelihoods, the arts, and people’s sense of normal through fear, pressure, and overreach. That experience fundamentally changed me. And it’s exactly why I refuse to quietly accept what is happening with our dog Lucy. When the government oversteps, acts unjustly, and attempts to destroy the lives people have worked so hard to build, I fight. I will not be bullied or intimidated by the government, or by petty neighbors who think they should have the right to dictate how my family should live. This isn’t about rebellion, stubbornness, or me being “out of touch,” as one neighbor texted me. This is about standing against powers that overstep and bullies who attempt to rule through fear, pressure, and intimidation. It’s about teaching our children that it is not only acceptable, but right, to stand up for yourself—especially when there is a much larger principle at stake. This is about preserving freedoms, exposing the holes in laws and systems that can be weaponized against ordinary families, and fighting to ensure future generations still have the privilege of pursuing the American dream and the rights that come with it. Lucy, that scraggly, beautiful pearl from the desert who became our family’s protector and guardian of our flocks has become a symbol of something far bigger than herself. Watching people rally around our family and this cause has been a hopeful reminder that Americans still stand up for what is just and worth protecting. I truly believe something meaningful and beautiful will come from it. We just want our dog back. We just want to live in peace. And now, we want to prevent others from suffering as we have. #savelucy

It has now been one month since Lucy's collar slipped over her head. One month since she was loose in my yard for a few seconds. One month since nobody got hurt. One month since nothing happened. It has also been one month since the police were called. One month since animal control issued me a court summons. One month since they took my dog, the dog I bonded with in war ten years ago. One month since my world turned into a living hell. It has been one month since nothing happened. And it has been one month since everything happened, in response to nothing. She has spent one month in jail. Over nothing. Away from everything. One month away from her fields. Away from Lex. Away from the kids. Away from @Herb_Minstrel and me. Let her come home. It's been long enough. It's time. It's damn time. #SaveLucy I have nothing more to say. @LoneStarChica @catturd2