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Is the dog *always* guilty?
This happened on Friday afternoon, but as the weekend has gone on it has
irked me more and more. Thought I'd look for some perspective he Got home from the afternoon bus run on Friday afternoon to find a piece of paper hanging out of my mailbox. Unfolded it to find a "Notice of Violation" from Animal Services. My heart immediately jumps to my throat: as you may remember, I had a run in with the animal cops last year and it took *months* of hideous bureaucracy to get it resolved. I look at the form, and see three things checked off: 1)Animal is not allowed off property without a leash. 2)Animal's license must be renewed. 3)Animal must be brought up to date on rabies shots. Failure to compily could result in fine or confiscation of animal. Whadthehell? Macula's never off leash off our property, not even on our property in the front yard. She just had her rabies shot last month and I was *sure* her license wasn't up for renewal until next month. Searching the form, I find (in very fine print) a phone number I can call if I "have any questions." It's 4:45pm on a Friday afternoon as I'm dialing this number. Luckily, I get a very kind and patient woman on the phone. She says a complaint was phoned in on May 15th that my dog had run off our property and charged some kids in front of my home. No, I say, Macula's *never* off leash, and rarely in our front yard. She enters information in the computer and says that if another complaint comes in the complainer may need to provide more evidence that it was my dog. I ask her about the license and, after checking her records, I find out I was wrong: the license is due for renewal in AUGUST, not July. As for the rabies, she says it's not an issue until the renewal time. I'm so relieved that I simply thanked her and wished her a good weekend. But as my weekend has gone on, I find *many* things about this matter troubling. 1)Why was a "Notice of Violation" issued without anyone talking to me first? It didn't say 'there's been a complaint,' or 'your dog is accussed of,' it seemed to simply presume that Macula had violated the leash laws. Shouldn't someone have contacted me, even by phone, first? 2)Why include the license thing when a 30 second check of the computer would have deemed it unnecessary? Same with the rabies thing. 3)Will there be any follow-up with the complainer? Is anyone going to go back to them and say "we've checked into this and it wasn't the dog at such and such an address that scared your kids," or are these people going to go through life believing (and probably telling others) that our house houses an out-of-control dog? I don't know how animal services in your community would handle this sort of thing, but is this normal? I don't know what (if anything) I should do: on the one hand, the situation is resolved as far as Animal Services is concerned, on the other hand my teeth are clenching even as I write this. What do you think? Marie |
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Is the dog *always* guilty? | Marie | Dog behavior | 36 | June 17th 04 12:25 AM |