07/11/2017
DOG ATTACK UPDATE: Well I said I would keep you updated, but there isn't much to tell. After the Police and animal control officers did all they could at my place they went to search for the Husky mix and the owner(s) of the dogs. It didn't take them long and they asked me to come to the house they were at and identify the dog. Luckily I had my daughter's camera with me and just gave it to the Animal Control Officer. She took it to the State Police Officer and together made a positive ID. While the State Trooper was talking to the dogs owner's girlfriend, the Animal Control Officer chatted with me as she brought the camera back. It seems that since the police officer was first on the scene, she was in control of the case. The owner of the dogs was at work but was getting off as soon as a replacement could take over. He was supposed to meet me at my house while the veterinarian was there to see the damage done. The animal control officer said that I would be able to get a copy of the police report in the morning. Along with her report and the veterinarians report. He would be determining the value of the animals that were killed. Then all of the reports would be going to the county Commissioner's office for determining what if any action his office would be taking. She also informed me that there was another dog inside the house, and that two citations had been written for the loose dogs by the police officer. I then received a phone call telling me that the Vet was at my place. He did what he could for the animals and took several photos and before he left he told me that he would have his report into the State Police Post in the morning and that the bill would be delivered to the dog owner. About 45 minutes after he left the dog owner showed up. I told him I would get a copy of the police report in the morning and we could go from there.
I decided to wait until 11 a.m. before I bothered the Police Department. As the time approached I realised that the only number I had for them was either 911 or the officers phone number from the card she gave me. So I called her phone and left a message to please call me back. about and hour and a half later I called again just in case she didn't get the message. A couple of hours later I get a call from her. She was in a very pissy mood and wanted to know what the hell I was bothering her for on her day off. I told her what the Animal control officer and the vet had told me. Her reply was that the Animal control officer told me no such thing as she knows that it was impossible for her to file her report so soon. And that her report would NOT be filed until Monday at the earliest. I tried to apologise for bothering her at home and she cut me off saying,"and I will call YOU sometime next week with an update." Monday afternoon I called the police post and they said the report had not been filed yet. Monday night the dog owner didn't show.
Wednesday I had to go to town and stopped by the State Police Post. The desk Sergeant started searching her computer and reading the screen for a very long time and then said the report had not been filed yet and if I wanted a copy I would have to apply to Lansing (our state capitol) for a Freedom of Information form to request a copy of the Officer's report. I asked her if she happened to have one. She searched a bit and found one. I had to ask her for an ink pen to fill it out. As I was doing that she was asking me questions about the incident that could only be asked if she had somehow read the report. The Fourth of July weekend showed up but the dogs owner never did. He was supposed to have brought me six hundred dollars by then. However since he hadn't contacted me after Monday night I figured that wasn't going to happen anyway.
Today In the mail I get a letter from the State Police Records Resource Division in Lansing telling me that since they are allowed to hold my request and extra 10 DAYS that that is what they are going to do. WHAT THE HELL....
The owner told me he took the Husky mix to his uncles house to live. Today when I went to his house to try to talk to him, I saw the Husky mix inside the house.
There is a law on our county charter that the Animal Control Officer has the DUTY to dispatch the dog(s) of an attack upon human or livestock immediately upon its identification.
So she did NOT do her duty.
So here are my choices:
#1. Handle it out of court with my neighbor.
#2. Let the Animal Control Officer be an intermediary.
#3. Apply to the County Commissioner to have the county step
in and pay me what THEY figure my animals are worth.
#4. Take the dog owner to court and hope to get a reasonable
settlement without it taking forever and costing me more
money than I can afford before its settled. And still run the
risk of the owner not paying.
Where's Judge Judy when I need her.....
