Yes, (please excuse the typo) a real live gun-totin' dawg ketcher. Went several rounds with those glorified DMV workers that summer. I went to jail twice over refusing to pay the "dog at large" fines.
My young naive logic thought that the law would make sense. No harm no foul. That's what led me to investigate the pups routine. The third time they took him to doggy jail my neighbor was there. She tried to get them to release him to her and give her the ticket, but the doggy pigs weren't playing nice. The dog was on my porch, but alas, he wasn't tied to the porch. Therefore he was according to the law, "at large". I was so mad when I got home and heard of this that I (Hope the statute of limitations has run out on this) drove to the dog pound and broke him out. When this episode eventually wound up in court, I claimed ignorance as to how the dog ended up back at my house the very next day after the doggy jailbreak. I offered no defense to what was then my fourth "dog at large" ticket of that summer. I did however ask the judge if I could say a few things. He agreed. Remember now that I was a twenty-two year old hippie looking guy. First I asked if the dog catcher had received any complaints about my pup. I'd already polled all the neighbors and the mailman, so I knew this wasn't the case. Then I informed the judge that my street was only one block long; not likely that the dog catcher was just passing by and noticed from the street that there wasn't a rope on my dog. Then I asked the judge to clarify a rule of evidence for me. I said that if the police thought there might be a smoking gun from a murder on my porch wouldn't they need a warrant to come search for it? He agreed. Then I pointed out that it seemed that the dog catcher had more authority than the police to enter property and sieze evidence. The old judge laughed and said I had a point. He told me that his hands were tied as to the ticket, fined me $250 (near a weeks wages then) and told the dog catcher that if I ever received another ticket that they'd better produce a complaint to go with it or he'd give me and my pup free rein to roam the city at large. --- In [email protected], "Ellen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dog cather? Would that be dog catcher? I've never actually seen a > real dog catcher. I thought they were only in cartoons or something. > > > > > After several not nice encounters with the dog cather, he did snap > at > > the mailman once, but I explained the situation and reintroduced > both > > of them and both dog and mailman were fine after that. > > > > I can only think of two explanations for this. Either the dog picked > > up on the bully mentality and cruelty in the pigs heart when they > > encountered us, or he caught a vibe from me about being hassled by > the > > police. The second one is not likely since whenever we were OTR I > had > > nothing to hide. All the pot was rolled up in the bandana tied > around > > the dogs neck. > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "Ellen" <ellengoodman6@> > > wrote: > > > > > > it was unheard-of to me before I met my brother's dog. The dog I > > > grew up with didn't have this tendancy--he was prejudiced against > > > professions, not skin colors. Anyone driving a truck or wearing > a > > > uniform. Who knows how a dog's brain works? Apparently not very > > > well. > > > > > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "lovett1979" > > > <lovett1979@> wrote: > > > > > > > > There was a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where Larry had a racist > dog, so > > > > this is definitely not an un-heard-of thing. > > > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "Ellen" > > > > <ellengoodman6@> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I haven't even finished reading the chat transcript, but I > had to > > > > say > > > > > something about the racist dogs thread. Actually I can't > believe > > > > this > > > > > was discussed at such length, because the last time my dad > and I > > > > were > > > > > at my brother's house, he commented that he thinks my > brother's > > > > dog is > > > > > racist. I have no idea if my brother is aware of this. We > > > > thought it > > > > > was a fluky, freaky thing that is not a common trait among > dogs. > > > > Then > > > > > I read the chat and learn that a disproportionate number of > dog- > > > > owning > > > > > chatters have this problem. How weird is that? So my > brother's > > > > dog > > > > > isn't the freak we thought he was. It was quite noticeable, > too-- > > > > the > > > > > dog normally loves people, but would bark whenever there was > > > > someone > > > > > there who wasn't caucasian and continue until the person > left. > > > It > > > > was > > > > > eerie. Anyway, this appears to be a well-documented > phenomenon, > > > > which > > > > > was eye-opening to find out. I will see my dad at my > brother's > > > > house > > > > > at Thanksgiving--if my brother's dog is still exhibiting this > > > > racist > > > > > behavior I can reassure my dad and maybe my brother too if he > has > > > > > figured it out that his dog is not alone in acting like > this. > > > The > > > > chat > > > > > is so educational! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
