What Is Jayden's Law?

Jayden Belle Henderson was a creative, spunky, one-of-a-kind 7 year old girl. She enjoyed art, music, playing outside, and making new friends wherever she went. Her energy was unmatched and would keep you on the edge of your seat, always. Jayden was going to do amazing things.

On April 27th, 2021, Jayden died from injuries sustaining a dog attack, where two dogs had mauled her and her mother, Heather Trevaskis. Heather survived the attack with long term damage to her arms as she attempted to save her daughter's life.

Since Jayden's death, the dog owners have been fighting to get their dogs back. They have since applied for a dangerous dog permit in Garner, NC, which was denied by Garner Police after the community had fought back against their petition. After this petition was denied, they moved to Franklin County in another attempt to receive a dangerous dog permit, but Franklin County changed their ordinance, refusing the dog's rights to live in their county. The White's are suing the Town of Garner for holding their dogs, and have continued to fight for their dog's lives months after we have lost Jayden.

NC Senate Bill 994 allows for them to fight, implying that after a dog is seized due to a serious attack, the owner can apply for a "dangerous dog permit." This permit does not stop at just biting, but dogs that have killed a human unprovoked also have an opportunity to come home under restrictions and specific instructions. 

Jayden's case is the first case on record in North Carolina where owners have applied for the permit to get their dogs back after they've killed a human outside of self defense. Jayden's case may not be the last if we do not get this law changed now.  

No dog's life is more important than an innocent human's.

Our goal is to get this law changed to only allow for dogs with non-life threatening bite cases or self defense cases to receive this permit, and dogs that have killed a human without provocation to be immediately euthanized. 

North Carolina deserves to be a safe space for everyone. Our community deserves better. Jayden and her family deserves better. Together we are stronger, and we can make a change in our state to never allow a situation like this to occur again.