MOORPARK : County Named in Lawsuit Over Dog

The president of the board of the Moorpark Unified School District filed suit Monday against her next-door neighbors as well as Ventura County and the county Fire Department.

In the suit, Cynthia Hubbard says that a dispute began last Sept. 10, when her neighbors on Bear Valley Road, Fire Capt. Richard M. Dobbin and his wife, Elizabeth, complained that Hubbard’s dog barked too much. A shouting match ensued and the Dobbins ordered her off their property, Hubbard said.

Richard Dobbin then contacted various Moorpark officials in an effort “to get plaintiff in trouble” and told several of his fellow firefighters that Hubbard was on drugs, according to the suit. Each side obtained a restraining order against the other last Oct. 1.

Two weeks later, Hubbard summoned a landscaper with the idea of planting bushes to block the Dobbins’ view of her home, the suit said. Elizabeth Dobbin yelled at Hubbard and the landscaper, accused them of trespassing, and threatened to call the police, according to the suit.

A few minutes later, Richard Dobbin arrived in a county fire truck, accompanied by a crew of firefighters, in an attempt to scare and harass her, Hubbard says in the suit.

The suit accuses the couple of slander, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. It does not specify a dollar amount, but in a claim filed in April, Hubbard asked for $1 million. The claim has been rejected. The suit says the county knew of Richard Dobbin’s actions and endorsed them.

The Dobbins could not be reached for comment Monday. In a March interview, Richard Dobbin said: “We’re not animal haters but this one seems to be a problem . . . it barks its head off for hours and hours on end.”

However, the suit claims that the county’s Department of Animal Regulation investigated and found that the dog was not a nuisance.

Hubbard, a school-board member for four years, is a bilingual teacher in the San Fernando Valley.