animal control officer problem - Page 2

I agree here with Molly. The poster admits some things that certainly SHOULD give any AC officer worth their salt some concern. If one does not have the proper shelter for the dogs to begin with, what are you doing having litters? I think there is probably a lot more to this story that we see here. I doubt seriously that the AC is "harassing" for no reason. How did you decide that lightning killed your dog? Did you have a necropsy done by a vet? Things here just don't add up. 

Everyone has pretty much covered it all I think,
You have the right to go to the proper authorities and make your case.
But you must comply with certain standards first and formost.
Its about the dogs always, its not about you.
We were not there to see.
Someone else was looking, and they felt it was worth a call.
Someone is always watching.


FIX IT.

So it is now illegal to leave dogs outside in the rain? Dogs must be brought in everytime it sprinkles? My dogs are outside 24/7 in their kennels. They have dog houses but that doesn't mean they curl up in them, when it gets wet outside. That is their choice to get wet or stay dry. Now on one hand, we have a thread to keep your dogs thin and fit not fat/overweight, now pregnant bitches are to be rolly polly? I have seen more than a few dogs that look like hell after whelping, no matter what you feed or do for them. Just because this person in an AC officer doesn't mean they have seen alot of dogs after whelp or what to expect. I could have this asshole make the same assumptions about me and my dogs. If one of my dogs died in the night, it would be quite possible a neighbor could see it before I woke up and dicovered my own dog. How in the hell does that make you a bad owner, for not waking up first?

depends on the circumstances.  None of us have seen what this person's dogs look like, or the situation he keeps them in (kennels or yard without shelter, sounds like) - females after whelp need more nutrition, period.  They should never be too thin, period.  If they are, then they either are not being taken proper care of (not being fed enough, not being fed quality food and enough of it, full of worms, etc) or they shouldn't have been bred in the first place.  Either way, AC officer can see neglect right in front of their face - dead dogs in kennels, thin dogs trying to nurse puppies (and possibly thin puppies) and dogs in the rain without shelter.  My dogs sit out in all weather also - they lay right in mud puddles, spash around and create a huge mess of themselves in bad weather.  But their large, clean, bedded dog houses are right there and available for their use.  My point is, what the AC officer sees is the evidence against the dog owner they will use.  Take care of your animals properly and you should not have problems with AC officers. 

molly

And remember,
Never piss off anyone who has any authority over you.
Or your neighbors.
They will surely give you head aches.

True Molly, or our AC officer in question is more PETA than we care to see and dog houses aren't enough. Fee Fee needs to be inside with the humans. What I have seen is that AC officers will do what they feel like. If they are lazy they will not look where they need to look and if they are weirdo ARA's they will harrass people who don't know any better.

Last week I just read the thread about the person on here who's dog suppossedly bit another dog and was deemed "dangerous" was confinscated and the owner was fined. On the other hand my daughter was mauled by a dog down in the LA area, while we visited family. AC didn't do jack shit becasue it was Thanksgiving Day and they wanted to go home. The dog was left with owners even though this dog had many complaints against it from neighbors, it had bit people and attacked dog who needed vet care. We didn't know this dog even existed until after the "fact". I was just as pissed at the people we were staying with for not disclosing this before hand ( my daughter wouldn't have been outside, playing with the neighborhood kids) as I was with AC for not doing something about this dog before it came down to my daughter. Around here, that dog wouldn't have had so many warnings, someone would have shot him point blank if AC didn't do their job.

So you get both ends of the spectrum. People either wanna be nosey and save the world, or do bare ass minimum (they don't get paid enough) for the crap job they do.

Contact your state animal control officer for your region. They oversee local ac. They may be connected with State Dept of Agriculture so you might find a contact in the blue pages.

Consult with a lawyer.

At this point do not let her onto your property, see your dogs, or give out information about your dogs unless she comes with a warrant. She could make any kind of observation and make it appear to be a cause for seizure/abuse or neglect charges.

This woman needs to get a life outside of her job, anger management, and psychotherapy.

AC officers are like any other profession, there is good and bad ones.  With that said, I just finished prosecuting a large animal hoarding case and one disappointing aspect to me was the fact that many purebred dog fanciers immediately jumped on the "over-zealous AC officers" bandwagon similar to some of the comments on this thread.  Even a very reputable national anti-ARA group was on the bandwagon for awhile. 

Suffice it to say that was nowhere near the truth in my case and even though the case netted a felony conviction with a 20 year sentence there are still those that think any time the AC gets involved with a dog breeder that it is a case of a card carrying member of PETA whose day job is as an AC officer.

I guess what I am getting at is no one knows the facts, maybe the AC is just doing his/her job or maybe they are overstepping the bounds of their job.  My suggestion to this gentleman is to check out the laws of his state/municipality and follow them to a T.  It probably won't get the AC off his back immediately but eventually it likely will.

Just my two cents.

That's one of the great things about keeping logs, journals, or whatever you want to call it....sometimes when you write stuff down you get a better perspective on what you're writing about....if you are documenting the EXCELLENT care your dogs are getting, you have no problems....if your dogs recieve less than excellent care, you should soon be able to recognise that, & hopefully correct it. I'll say one more thing, though-- if your dogs are noisy or smelly---anything that attracts your neighbors attention---you are more likely to attract the attention of A/C...because your neighbors will complain to them, even if they never say a word to you. jackie harris

First on the dog in the kennell he had a house to get in.  Second I had fed and watered himthat evening. Third I was called in to work a night shift at a part time job and when I had arrived home that morning around 9 The Ac officer arrived just after I did and demanded to know what iwas going to do with the dead dog.  I said I would properly take care of it and bury it.  Which was done.  My kennells are 10 x 10 chain link with dog igloo type houses.  What she said was poor condition on by bitch the vet said she was fine and in fact only 2 pounds less than when i initially got her. She is a smaller framed dog which nobody would ever think was anything but a female.  The vitamin b-12 shot seems to have stimulated her appetite and she is eating well at this time.  I also have taken my other 2 and have a wriiten and signed statement by the vet that they are in excellent condition.  This vet also has a clinic in my town which his son runs and I have seen him also.  He says the ac officer is in there every 2 days or so asking if this dog is too thin.  Her pet peeve is what she considers an underweight dog.  My question is what about all the overweight dogs that are seen?  From what I can find out she is going all over town harrassing people.  I just wonder why she is not doing anything about the stray dogs in town and on my  street that can be seen at anytime.  I would be the first to report neglect or abuse if I see it. Not only on animals but kids or old people as well since this is part of my job as a paramedic.  She also wants to know why there is no food for them 24/7. Not that I would do like the USDA says which food and water only has to be provided twice a day.  I make sure water is available at all times And feed according to how the dogs looks and the level of exercise. Now I am afraid to even have my9 month old pup even a little thin while he is still growing.  If he gets to heavy then I worry about his hips and my guarantee could be voided but If she thinks he is too thin then she starts all over again. So it really is a catch 22.