http://tinyurl.com/yd987kz

PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: Dog Show Victim


Everyone needs to know that a dog club member was stopped by police near
Birmingham, AL on the way to the Magnolia Classic Trial. The actual law
enforcement officer was a sheriff's captain for Jefferson County. They
held her for 45 minutes on the side of the road with 6 patrol cars
flashing red lights. She was treated like a criminal. She and her
daughter were both very frightened by the way they were treated. The
policeman asked her if she knew why she was stopped and she told them,
"No I don't". He said, "I stopped you because I saw you had dogs in your
truck". Her dogs were in secured kennels elevated by a table in the back
of her truck to be near the topper windows. Equipment was then stored
under the table.

They said she didn't have water in the dog crates. She explained she had
just stopped at a rest stop, let all the dogs go to the bath room,
offered them water and they didn't do well with water in the cups while
the truck moved. Then she poured water in the cups and none of the dogs
drank. He then said that the back of the truck was not air-conditioned.
She pointed out that the temps were 58 at the time. Then he said she had
inadequate ventilation. She told him the dog's hair was moving as they
traveled and there was plenty of ventilation....

NAIA News
National Animal Interest Alliance

Too bad if the owner and her daughter were frightened. I think we all feel our hearts pound when we see the lights flashing in our rear view mirror. I for one am happy that a police officer would be concerned about dogs.

If everything was fine with the dogs then there should be no problem.

Why do I think you may not have read the whole article. Check the tiny url.

If this happened to me, I'd be outraged! First of all WHEN IS IT A CRIME TO HAVE DOGS IN YOUR VEHICLE????

IF that is the true reason they were stopped, then that is NOT a valid reason. They were NOT breaking the law nor was her driving or dogs a hazard to other motorists!

Secondly, WHERE IS IT THE JOB OF A POLICE OFFICER TO ENFORCE ANIMAL WELFARE LAWS??? I highly doubt motorists were so concerned with this woman's confinement of her dogs that they would call in complaints (which is usually why ANIMAL CONTROL officers would be sent out to investigate such complaints)

But to have an OFFICER OF THE LAW stop a law abiding citizen for simply "having dogs in the truck" IS AN OUTRAGE!

I sure hope she files a complaint against this officer for his lapse of judgement! He had NO probable cause for stopping this woman and subjecting her to 45 minutes of interrogation!

anti-cruelty animal laws, is not that they might be benign on their face, but that ENFORCEMENT can be extremely skewed in favor of an AR agenda. That is why people can never be too vigilant when they hear about proposed new laws against animal cruelty. You cannot read the law's provisions as if they will be always correctly applied, but instead say if I wanted to "nail" this so and so with a dog, how can I stretch this law to do it! It is only then that you begin to see the dangers in over reaching anti-animal cruelty laws.

In the county where I live they transferred all investigations related to dogs from the animal control department to the sheriff's department so here it's perfectly legal for a sheriff's deputy to stop a vehicle with dogs in it.

But do they have the right to stop a vehicle only because they have dogs in it? Gosh, it is against the law to be in a vehicle without a seatbelt on, but a police officer has to stop you for another reason. They can not pull you over solely because you do not have your seatbelt on. Can they just pull you over because you have animals in your car? If so, maybe we will think twice before we head down there for any more dog shows.

correction, a police officer can pull you over for not having a seat belt on or even if they suspect for what any reason you have or are breaking the law.....for those that don't know for example you can be arreasted and go to jail for a traffic violataion....that is on the books and the way most laws are written is that it is at the discreation of the officer, but do I think it is right HECK NO!!!!! so you all be careful out there and I will be praying for these police officers to have wisdom and a better undrstanding of the law and also fo those who encounter this officer that this happens to no one else.....if all was well with animals.....I guess with economy the way it is there may have been more to this then we actually understood like maybe a high crime rate in area involving animals.....sorry you had to go thur that....jsut have to complain to officials about the way things were handleded very poorly it seems.

hang in there

I'm so sorry this happened, but I am afraid it is a sign of the times. We no longer live in a pet friendly commnunities. Although the news and ads to bring people into the community make it sound like we welcome pets. We have dog parks, and day care facility's, physical therapy and training facilities. But they go in and out of business quickly. Mostly thay can't afford the insurance. In rality it's hard to find kennel care of any kind. Myself I no longer travel any where for anything, I have special needs pets and cannot find a reputable care facility at any price. We have breed specific bans. Neighbors are encouraged to "turn in" people with more than 3 dogs. My local rescue now requires an interview with your neighbors to make sure your neighbor is on board with your adoption of a dog. I know that part of the problem is the high number of foreclosures and the resulting number of abandoned pets. It is a frightening time to be a pet owner.

INCREDIBLE!!!!