Anyone gone to court for their dogs running at large?

[Ready_To_Riot]

Thank you summer rose!

It cited “at large” on the paper. So I looked up the ordinance and it’s a $15 fine for the first offense and $25 for the second. But it must be the same pet.

My dogs haven’t bitten anyone. They haven’t damaged anything. They have done nothing. I’m just going to stop stressing it as it seems like it’s not a huge deal. I do have a new fence and padlocks on my gates. Which I had before and didn’t think of. That means that no one could have put my dogs back in the fence unless they physically lifted them into the fence…

[Crockpot]

The story has changed a lot since the original post.

[macmtn]

Please update when you get to court

[Ready_To_Riot]

No it hasn’t. Not sure how you’ve gotten that. Thanks though. I’ve researched my city ordinance. I no longer need advice.

[Ready_To_Riot]

[QUOTE=macmtn;8548417]
Please update when you get to court[/QUOTE]

I will. It’s on Wednesday

[jetsmom]

Are you absolutely sure they haven’t jumped out and then jumped back in when you aren’t home? Had a neighbor who’s dog would do that. It made walking my dog very scary. Dog would get out almost every night.

[Sswor]

[QUOTE=jetsmom;8548480]
Are you absolutely sure they haven’t jumped out and then jumped back in when you aren’t home? Had a neighbor who’s dog would do that. It made walking my dog very scary. Dog would get out almost every night.[/QUOTE]

Me too. And I finally refused to be scared anymore. Turned that fear energy into pro-activity, maybe not unlike the OP’s neighbor. If they hadn’t ultimately gotten rid of the dog, I would have been inclined to take them to court myself. No one should live in fear because their neighbor chooses to own big, “scary” dogs they cannot or will not contain.

[Crockpot]

Well there is always SSS- which seems to be popular advice on here for these issues when posters are on the other side of the issue.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8548188]
So despite the fact that the dogs are not mine, you expect me to have to pay a fine for this? According to my Facebook post from a year ago. I was home. Which means my dogs were inside with me.[/QUOTE]

I’m telling you what I’ve experienced from the other side of the court room. I’ve had people even say they were out of town with their dogs. If you had something like… a receipt from a grooming appointment, or something that can substantiate that all five of your dogs were with you and within your sight at the time it occurred, you will most likely not win.

What might help is if you know there is a neighbor or another person in a near neighborhood with a dog that is at large frequently that looks like yours that has been reported, you could argue it may be that dog.

[Sswor]

It will be irrelevant. If the AC officer says it was the OP’s dog(s), she will lose and she may have to pay her neighbor’s court costs too.

I think the OP is gravely mistaken if she thinks the worst she will get is a $25 ticket. The city doesn’t take you to court over a $25 fine. They just issue a ticket. Court is a BFD.

But, cest la vie. I’m sure the neighborhood won’t miss her “big, scary dogs”.

[o0rxkxrox0o]

[QUOTE=Crockpot;8548407]
The story has changed a lot since the original post.[/QUOTE]

How so?

[pezk]

OP, if you take in stray dogs then the AC must know you,right? She/he is the one you want to talk to. The AC should be able to tell the court about you and your dogs. The AC would bring more weight to your side of the problem than your neighbor, even if your dogs did get out.
Does your town have a leash law? If not, there isn’t much the neighbor can complain about.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=Sswor;8548506]
It will be irrelevant. If the AC officer says it was the OP’s dog(s), she will lose and she may have to pay her neighbor’s court costs too.

I think the OP is gravely mistaken if she thinks the worst she will get is a $25 ticket. The city doesn’t take you to court over a $25 fine. They just issue a ticket. Court is a BFD.

But, cest la vie. I’m sure the neighborhood won’t miss her “big, scary dogs”.[/QUOTE]

My county did go to court over $25. But the fine got doubled with $100 court costs thrown on top. So an initial infraction which should just get paid would end up costing $150. They double with each additional. If OP is lucky, only one citation will be issued instead of one for each dog.

[Ready_To_Riot]

so the dogs may have jumped out and jumped back in but only for those 2 days and never did it again? Doesn’t make much sense and I find it hard to believe. Like they were all just sitting around and at 345 everyday, they were like “hey lets jump out of the fence, but we have to be back in in 20 mins because mom will be home from work” yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t buy that, but I guess it’s possible.

And yes, here you will go to city court over a citation for anything. I have the option to plead guilty in writing and just pay the fine. It’s just like a speeding ticket. and, they can’t issue it one per dog. That’s not how it’s written in the ordinance. It’s per citation. Of which I only have two.

[Crockpot]

Stuff like this

How so?

from the OP. for example

A little back story, I have 6 dogs. And yes, from time to time, my dogs have gotten out.

[Ready_To_Riot]

[QUOTE=pezk;8548517]
OP, if you take in stray dogs then the AC must know you,right? She/he is the one you want to talk to. The AC should be able to tell the court about you and your dogs. The AC would bring more weight to your side of the problem than your neighbor, even if your dogs did get out.
Does your town have a leash law? If not, there isn’t much the neighbor can complain about.[/QUOTE]

I no longer deal with the city animal control and just talk to county. Our city doesn’t hold dogs, they send them straight to county and Carl (the ac officer I previously mentioned) doesn’t care about the animals at all. Which is why I stopped dealing with him. I tried filing a complaint with the city a few months ago when I called him about a dog I had found. I was checking to see if anyone had contacted him about it. He started sternly talking to me about how it isn’t his job to help connect lost dogs to their owners. His only job is to impound them and I needed to mind my own business and then hung up on me. The police Chief wouldn’t return my call. So I just quit. Hopefully he will retire soon or something. He is an older man. Just not sure how old

ETA: there is a leash law, but there is also a law that says if a dog is in voice control of an adult, it’s fine. Weird what you find when you actually research things. I find that law to be odd

[Ready_To_Riot]

[QUOTE=Crockpot;8548557]
from the OP. for example[/QUOTE]

Yes and? I never denied this nor changed it.

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8548546]
so the dogs may have jumped out and jumped back in but only for those 2 days and never did it again? Doesn’t make much sense and I find it hard to believe. Like they were all just sitting around and at 345 everyday, they were like “hey lets jump out of the fence, but we have to be back in in 20 mins because mom will be home from work” yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t buy that, but I guess it’s possible.

And yes, here you will go to city court over a citation for anything. I have the option to plead guilty in writing and just pay the fine. It’s just like a speeding ticket. and, they can’t issue it one per dog. That’s not how it’s written in the ordinance. It’s per citation. Of which I only have two.[/QUOTE]

I thought you were at home? Lets say they did jump out and back in. It’s possible, in these two instances, something triggered them to jump out, and they simply jumped back in because thats “home base.” So it’s possible this trigger event either hasn’t happened again, or no one was around to witness and therefore report it.

My puppy can jump my 5 foot fence. I can jump a 4 foot fence with a good running start. Its very possible that your dogs did jump out, and jump back in. I’d just pay the fine and save myself the court costs.

[Ready_To_Riot]

One of the days is all I can account for. The other I wasn’t at work, but it was a year ago and I have no idea what I did TBH. But I made a Facebook post about the first day.

I was making the assumption I was home the second day as well because it’s winter and cold and I don’t go out when it’s cold. That is my fault for the misunderstanding

[Daisyrae]

[QUOTE=Ready To Riot;8548559]

ETA: there is a leash law, but there is also a law that says if a dog is in voice control of an adult, it’s fine. Weird what you find when you actually research things. I find that law to be odd[/QUOTE]

The law we have is similar. E-collars, voice commands, visual signals, are all acceptable as “physical restraint.” It allows people to trail ride and hike and such with their dogs without having to confine them to a leash.