After listening to our podcast, a veterinarian comes forward to share details of her own run-in with animal law enforcement and the DA's office. An incident between her and her neighbor's dogs forces her into the legal system, where she too feels compelled to take a plea to "make it stop." (Episode utilizes voice distortion to maintain the vet's anonymity, for fear of employment retribution.)

Animal law enforcement officers lack oversight. Six months later, the DA’s office finally responds to our inquiry into the discrepancies in Christian’s charging document. We look deeper into the goings-on at their offices, after a suicide there sparks scrutiny. Corporal Cheney loses her job, can now speak openly with us, and wants to tell her side of the story, including how the system has failed her too. Christian’s family drags the DAs office into the court of public opinion. A final call for a better way forward. Christian gets the last word.

Christian struggles with a sense of justice (mis)served. His father decries the legal system’s coldness, and failures. A new attorney for the family takes up post-conviction relief, to undo Christian’s plea and reclaim his innocence. We learn what that is, and how it works. The prosecution, and court, respond. A systems thinker, who works to develop institutional empathy across public organizations, explains their (over)capacity problems. And we take the findings of our reporting to the DA’s office, for comment. They put it “under active review.”