My animal experience...

[DNK]

Well, lets see. My ordeal began May 7th, 2003. A lady was evicted from the house she was renting on my street. She was about two houses down, across the street. She abandonded two dogs upon her departure. One was a puppy we (my wife and I) dubbed Happy, the other was older and a Chow we dubbed Sing Chi. We already have a beagel named Taxi, and three cats, Wally, Alley, and Rose. So we rescued these two new pups and they went into the back yard. I called the county animal control looking to have the lady brought up on charges for abandoning these dogs, but they told me since they were currently in my yard, they were my problem. So we went about calling adoption agencies and after a couple of weeks was able to get the puppy off and on it's way to a home. The chow, however, was a different story. We had to keep him around by default, being that we couldn't catch the damn thing. Two weeks after the puppy was gone, a german shepard mix ends up in my yard too. He was running free so I went outside to see if I could locate the owner. Well, this little bastard came running up to me and literally laid belly up on my feet. I leashed him and walked the neighborhood. We also put signs up on every exit from the neighborhood. Alas, his name is Charlie.
So to my ordeal. Three weeks ago we scheduled a vet appointment for both dogs, the chow and the shepard. Again, we couldn't catch the chow and only took the shepard to be fixed, get shots, and come to find out, treatment for heartworms. The very next day, the chow, along with our neighbor's dog, got out, went down the street, killed a cat and bit some old lady. I was fingered as the owner of the chow, but I argued with the officer that it was a stray, being that nobody can touch or catch it. He wrote me four tickets anyway with possible fines of around $1200.00.
Last Friday I went to court. I had prepared a ton of shit trying to support my case. I got four letters from neighbors confirming that the dog was a stray. Before I could begin my case, the officer stepped to the bench and said something to the judge I didn't hear. The judge then turns to me and says, "Upon the testimony of the officer, it is confirmed that the dog in question is not your dog. All charges are dismissed." I said "Thank you, ma'am" and high tailed it out of there.
So were we sit now, three strays in the last six months, one adopted out, one fixed and going to be a keeper. Two out of three ain't bad, is it?



GBA

DNK