I've been distrustful of govt. for some time, yet I've always been among the first to say to wait for the justice system to do its job and I'm very respectful and grateful for LEOs.
But I feel betrayed recently, and have even less reason than before to have faith in or trust the govt. from top to bottom. From local to state to federal.
I cant go into too many details but heres whats public information.
You all know of Ivy havin been injured? It may or may not be known we took in another bird dog, Max, an English Setter.
Ivy had injured her back (and we finally narrowed it down to her back) almost 2 mos ago. She could hardly get up and get around. She wouldnt eat unless we hand fed her. Ally sat with her daily until it was time for bed to care for her and make sure she was comfortable. I moved her doghouse to my shed just outside my side door so I could be closer to her so I could hear her at night and just keep an eye on her. My shed has electric in it and we ran a heating pad for her, I gave her a deer skin to sleep on and we beddded around the doghouse with straw when it got cold. We prepared special food just for her, always deer meat and chicken, boiled and we kept the broth and from that cooked in some brown rice, plus puppy formula and puppy food. We wanted to keep gettin protien and fat and carbs to her.
Well, from her inactivity (and she was always lean and thin, rather sinewy cuz she always ran 100 mph ALL DAY LONG) her back end was quite atrophied. She lost not just some weight, but muscle also. I had recently said to a couple folks here that she was finally gettin up and movin again, a good sign cuz we knew if we couldnt bring her back around we'd be puttin her down. But here she was with baby aspirin and joint health supplement of some sort gettin back up and playin again and even jumped into my car a few times a couple weeks ago so I took her out with me to run some errands. She was def makin improvement. I was happy with her as she was even if it meant no more huntin.
It seems, due to the construction bein done on the sewer lines up the road, someone had reason to be at the end of our dead end road to put a letter in our mailbox to let us know parts of the road would be closed during the days to come. I'm guessing this is who made the call as I havent been told for certain. In any case, someone called the police who in turn called the dog warden. Reason; Because my dogs were obviously being neglected, malnourished and being cruely treated. Two of my dogs were seized that day by the dog warden. I was charged with two counts of animal cruelty which is now bein handled by my lawyer.
I related the facts to the police when they took me to the station for questioning, along with the standard questions about "any tattoos or scars or other identifyable marks?". I also shared all the details with the dog warden who said "these are your opinions", I said "no, these are the facts, the person who called the police after seein my dogs for 5 minutes or 15 minutes formed a baseless opinion not rooted in fact about the care of my dogs without knowing any of the backstory".
Regardless, I've been charged and the burden of proof lies with me to prove my innocence. The opinion of an outsider was enough to have my dogs confiscated and in their eyes and in the eyes of the justice system, the appearance alone is all that is needed. I even told the dog warden I had just cashed out my vacation time so I could get Ivy to the vet to be certain, but never the less we were doin somethin right cuz she had shown great improvement! Not enough. They say we left the condition "untreated". I explained to them, as i explained here, how it was bein treated. No matter, we hadnt yet provided what they call "reasonable treatment" or as best as I have been able to interpret, seen by a liscensed vet. No other way around it.
A couple points of particular interest to me;
1. The dog warden is one of only a few people who can come onto your property unannounced without a warrant or any other probable cause any time he sees fit to do so, simply because you have dogs.
2. The dog warden seized our dogs on the spot without first goin to the court to gain approval from a judge where propable cause is supposed to be submitted. When asked how it was that he took our dogs without goin before the judge, he said he didnt need to and is able to take the dogs if he feels its an emergency, that the dogs safety is at risk.
3. We have read through the various sections, codes and subsections of the laws as they pertain to the seizure of dogs by the dog warden. No such law is written or implied that gives express permission or allows for the seizure of animals without first gaining the approval of the court. The only law that allows for such is if the dogs arent wearing tags, which they werent, but we were specifically told they were taken due to the malnourished condition and neglect. ILLEGAL!!!
4. The position of dog warden is an appointed position, not an elected one.
I'm in a position of defending myself, and as I said, the burden of proof of innocence rests solely on me. Its easy to see that this place and our govt. is like some sort of upside down and backward Alice In Wonderland reality right now. I'm hurt, I'm worried about Ivy, (Max is fine I'm certain) and I'm angry and dont know how to deal with the way I feel. My hands are tied and my thoughts... are dark at best. There is nothing about the way I feel that is helpful or productive. In the past, when I was doin leatherwork all the time, I often made pieces for charity and auction, sold stuff at heavily discounted prices to those doin animal wlefare work, especially those that volunteered time. Thats one reason why this is especially hurtful right now. And be told I'm not capable of makin decisions for the benefit of my dogs? That I havent cared for them and have neglected them? There was a bowl of food in the shed with Ivy when they took her right next to the bucket of fresh water!!! Same with Max, only he had turned his bowl over and knocked his bucket over cuz he was like that. Man, my kids refilled water buckets constantly...
Did you also know, if the dog wardens vet decides a condition is beyond repair they can put the dog down? Did you know the back surgery is between 3 and 5K $$$?
I know plenty of folks who deal with illness and injury with their animals without goin to a vet, we have for years. I also know folks who wouldnt think twice about puttin a bullet in the dogs head as soon as it came up lame.
Betrayed... I dont trust any of them nor do I have any faith in the system. I'm likely gonna loose my dogs for good because a "concerned citizen" saw something they didnt understand or know about and formed an opinion in a moment. That person never sat with my kids at night. That person never stood in my kitchen to spend the extra 10 minutes per meal for a single dog twice daily for weeks to help keep an ailing dog healthy. That person didnt sit at my table and discuss with my children the possibility of havin to put Ivy down. That person never hunted with me, my kids or Ivy... Up until this time, had anyone asked, I woulda shared the quail I have in in the freezer. Not now. I realized I dont know these people.
Weird livin in a community with people you suddenly realize you dont recognize, or trust.
