A police report obtained by The Floridian details how Anna Paulina Luna, who is currently running for Congress in Florida’s 13th district (an open seat currently held by gubernatorial hopeful Charlie Crist), and her husband Andrew Gambersky knowingly brought their dog to a park where canines are not allowed, and where the dog attacked a 9-year-old badly enough that the child had to be hospitalized.
The police report from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office states that the innocent boy, identified as Colton Clarke, had his football in his arm as he ran by Luna’s dog, Gunner. The off-leash dog then lunged at the boy, tearing a four-inch gash in his forearm that required 11 sutures.
The young child had to be rushed to the hospital and received eleven stitches in his forearm after Luna’s off-leash dog attacked him, without notice, while the boy was playing football in the park with his father.
In a statement released by Luna, she said that Gunner is a service dog who aids her veteran husband with an unspecified emotional disability and that the dog was working when approached by nine-year-old Colton. This is contradicted by the narrative of the police report, which included the eyewitness testimony of the boy's father and an in-depth review of the situation by the responding police officer.
Under the 2010 regulations that guide the Americans with Disabilities Act (link), the provision of comfort or support animals does not constitute "work or tasks."
According to the police report, there were “multiple” signs that stated “No dogs on the field” post where the incident occurred, and that both Luna and her husband were asked by employees it the dog in question was a service animal.
A director of one of the largest service dog charities in the nation told us, off record, that they were unfamiliar with the organization that supposedly provided Gunner his service animal training and certification. He also confirmed that no professionally trained service dog has any business biting someone, nor would they react that way in any type of scenario similar to being present at a community park. The longtime service dog non-profit expert indicated misgivings about the standard of training provided by the organization Luna alleges her husband received the dog from, as well.
Christine Quinn, a successful Tampa Bay Area businesswoman who is the latest to jump into the GOP primary against Luna in Florida's 13th congressional district, tweeted a photo of the dog. In her tweet, Christine questions whether Gunner was the Belgian Malinois decked out in campaign gear in Luna’s controversial and alleged "Stolen Valor" photos, where Luna is decked out in combat gear giving voters the impression that she is a combat veteran.
If it proves to be Gunner in those photos, then Luna’s husband lied in the official police report when he stated that Gunner is 16 months old. The alleged "Stolen Valor" photos are older than 16 months themselves and Gunner is fully grown in those photos.
The congressional race in Florida’s 13th District will be one of the closest watched contest during the 2022 election cycle.
