1. The Mayor's policy aide, Ron Thaniel and a City attorney met with Sandy Meyer, Jeremy Meyer, and me in the Mayor's office Wednesday morning this week. We talked for about 30 minutes. The purpose of the meeting was mostly to hear from Jeremy and Sandy what their experience has been with the Claims Department and Civilian Review Authority thus far and to answer any questions they had about options regarding it. Mr. Thaniel also expressed sympathy to Jeremy and Sandy for what happened to Charger and said we should call him in the future as the Civilian Review Authority investigation continues.
2. Sandy Meyer and I met with the Claims Committee yesterday (Thursday) morning. For those who may not be familiar, the Claims Committee is about 10-12 people (I didn't take time to count them so I don't know that for certain) who represent various departments within the City of Minneapolis. The claim was for reimbursement of Charger's medical expenses, about $3,000. Sandy and Jeremy's account of what happened that night was read to the Committee by one of its members as well as an account of the claims investigator's findings. Sandy had an opportunity to address the Committee directly after which she and I both answered questions from some of the Committee members. A decision will be mailed to Sandy within 7 days. To those of you who have written or called the Mayor's office or Council Member Johnson's office about this issue, we thank you very much. Based on the questions put to us by the Committee yesterday, I advise the following if you own a dog in the City of Minneapolis, St. Paul, or indeed anywhere in this country: 1. Consider displaying a sign on your property that you own a dog - even if the dog has never displayed aggressive behavior toward anyone or bitten anyone. 2. If police approach or enter your property, even if your yard is fenced, get your dog in the house or on a leash immediately. If police knock on your door, put your dog in a separate room in the house and close its door before you answer your door. 3. If your dog is shot, request police assistance in getting the dog to an emergency vet. When people are shot, ambulances are called. Our animals deserve the same. Even if the police deny assistance, it will be on the record that you asked for help for your animal. Sandy told me yesterday that she stopped by the Emergency Vet Clinic this week to thank the doctors who helped Charger. Unbelievable as it is, they told her they were working on another dog that was shot in the foot by police. The unfortunate truth is most state laws view dogs as property. But as Jeremy rightly pointed out on Wednesday, just as canines are considered by cops as members of the police force, so too are our dogs considered by us as members of our families. If police and citizens become educated about how to minimize the likelihood of shootings like this happening in the first place, what the laws say about our animals won't matter near as much as the fact that they are safe. Amy Draeger Lowry Hill _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
