Sheriff and animal control took my dog

[davew128]

Well, ya have to trust people at some point. If you don't you'll end up being that old creepy guy at the end of the lane that never comes out of his house except to crack open the door a bit to yell at anybody that comes just a little bit too close. Then pokes out a piece of pipe to make you think he has a gun.

Do you want to be that guy zigner?

Or maybe he'll be the old creepy guy in the robe and walker with the paraplegic dog and a fixation on Chris Griffin.

 

[justalayman]

Or maybe he'll be the old creepy guy in the robe and walker with the paraplegic dog and a fixation on Chris Griffin.

Well that would be the opposite of not trusting. Herbert trusts that nobody will turn him in. Otherwise he would have barrels of fun... I mean kids in the basement.

 

[whowelookinfor]

They're looking for a little dog...YIP YIP YIP. "Plain view" doesn't exclude sound...and I'm sure the mutt's yipping could be heard from outside the fence.

The unusual characteristics of my two little dogs, and the (former) foster dog: they aren't yappers. I hate that. Makes most any dog annoying, and spoils ant purpose they may serve. However, that isn't a matter, they ran around to the gate to see what is going on....plain view? yes. Gate open? No.

 

[justalayman]

The unusual characteristics of my two little dogs, and the (former) foster dog: they aren't yappers. I hate that. Makes most any dog annoying, and spoils ant purpose they may serve. However, that isn't a matter, they ran around to the gate to see what is going on....plain view? yes. Gate open? No.

so what are you looking for? You already admit it was not your dog they took.

 

[whowelookinfor]

Right - it seems off. Furthermore, the OP really has no idea of what actually transpired, so I am pretty sure this entire thread won't mean anything. I suspect that the version of events that the police will tell will be very different.

Sheriff department dispatch (which is where I was told to inquire when I called the station) haven't been willing to divulge any information as to the identity of the deputy or details. There is no report associated with the incident. Assuming there was an incident report, I am not privy to it.
The law enforcement side seems not to exsist. Partly why I subject myself to your objective words of wisdom. Thank you, everyone whom has advised me on this matter. I cannot find the most helpful post, anymore....maybe I just imagined it...anyway, if I would have reported the found property right away, I would have some influence on the matter. Thank you, whomever you are....

 

[justalayman]

Sheriff department dispatch (which is where I was told to inquire when I called the station) haven't been willing to divulge any information as to the identity of the deputy or details. There is no report associated with the incident. Assuming there was an incident report, I am not privy to it.
The law enforcement side seems not to exsist. Partly why I subject myself to your objective words of wisdom. Thank you, everyone whom has advised me on this matter. I cannot find the most helpful post, anymore....maybe I just imagined it...anyway, if I would have reported the found property right away, I would have some influence on the matter. Thank you, whomever you are....

all irrelevant. They did not take your dog. In fact, since there are no witnesses to how they secured the dog, especially you, you don't even have a reasonable claim of the lack of a warrant affecting you because you do not know if one was actually needed.

 

[CdwJava]

Perhaps I am missing something but, based strictly on what was written in the original post, it sounds as if the dog was in a gated yard. It does not appear that animal control entered the house at all.

Same issue applies, though. No search warrant, exigency, consent or other exception, no entry.

If animal control did not enter the house, they did not need a warrant to seize the dog. Animal control is allowed to enter onto private property, for a whole host of different reasons. They just cannot enter into any closed building (garage, shed, house) without a warrant.

Not in CA they cannot! Not without exigent circumstances! I know it tends to happen with some frequency, but that's largely because they don't tend to train ACO folks on such legalities, and this, in turn, can result in liability and muck up any criminal cases they might try and pursue.

 

[CdwJava]

However, if they opened the gate in order to approach the door (to knock) and the dog approached them, things change. Carl didn't like my tea pot analogy, so let's put it this way. The officers were told that a small white dog with black ears had been stolen and was being held at the residence. Upon legally entering the yard to approach the door (to knock), a small white dog with black ears ran up to them (probably yipping, that's what small dogs do). The animal control officer pulled out his trusty scanner and scanned the dog, thus discovering that this was the stolen dog. Was the search legal? Probably. Was the seizure legal? Probably, since it's now evidence. I'm not convinced that there is a 4th amendment violation here.

If the way to the "front door" or the commonly used PUBLIC access was through a gate, then the issue may change. But, if this were a BACK yard not involving the public access, then we are back to the warrant requirement.

 

[CdwJava]

Right - it seems off. Furthermore, the OP really has no idea of what actually transpired, so I am pretty sure this entire thread won't mean anything. I suspect that the version of events that the police will tell will be very different.

Well, if the OP were to say the dog was in the back yard and the officers could not state otherwsie, swell ...

 

[whowelookinfor]

all irrelevant. They did not take your dog. In fact, since there are no witnesses to how they secured the dog, especially you, you don't even have a reasonable claim of the lack of a warrant affecting you because you do not know if one was actually needed.

there is witness-animal control officer was here. the sheriff were given a completely false report of there having been some sort of physical confrontation involving a request for return of the dog (never happened) and a hostile refusal to do so.
this never even remotely happened. however, it does give a little insight as to the attitude the deputy had upon arrival. I am afraid the local authorities need someone to step in to provide proper training in procedure. this is not uncommon type of search/seizure...it is one of little consequence. but it happens in such a vast amount of cases that until people begin to speak up for themselves-it continues as a normal part of this system. no one (official with authority to provide change) wants the responsibility of cleaning up a mess they did not create, can't blame them.
my concerned is for the dog, mostly. it allows me to become distracted from the fact that the sheriff had overstepped his boundaries by opening my gate and removing anything without first acquiring a warrant to do so. animal control told me she tried to scan each one of my dogs, only one was chipped, and she did this through the chain link. okay, there you have probable cause for a warrant, correct? why not obtain said warrant? I did not steal the dog that this woman abandoned over four months ago. animal control has a file on this dog now, and two sides to a story that is just ridiculous...on both sides. I should have reported to animal control that I found a dog. I posted flyers, but did not officially report it so it is heresay. my fault.

now, in all reality, I do not see reason for me to pitch such a fit to the sheriff because what will happen? nothing. I am not the criminal in which some of you feel so certain. I may have stirred up things on another board (Px Hx....right?), but that was because it seems those that have to deal with a criminal element asll day long tend to forget the "innocent until proven guilty" thing...and with whom lies the burden of proof. hmmm...obviously, an unforgivable offense, however, I am just abrasive. I am not the enemy. I don't take myself too seriously....I am too often wrong about things to do so.

sorry for wasting your time. I guess I am just wasting your oxygen, right?

 

[whowelookinfor]

Considering that the OP wasn't present, I'm not sure that things are clear at all.

I belive if I were to have been home, one of us could have gotten the front door open in time to discuss the matter. I haven't any reason to avoid authorities-I won't allow them to come in, or search anything I have right to refuse. because that just seems a little invasive to ask of me. (especially if I am harboring a microchipped piece of criminal evidence, right?)
I may have been in possession of abandoned property...I never filed a lien, my bad. there was a fraudulent statement made to retrieve a dog left for coyote bait months ago. she lucked out because she didn't die....and small town kinda thing...she got wind that dog was better, now. so she called it in when she was given word the dog seemed healthy. now she feels good about being a mom who didn't lose the sick puppy but found her after having been kidnapped and blah, blah, blah...drama-that made it's way around the circle from sheriff to animal control then to me. all that aside, what is done is done...I am not going to sue for damages, c'mon. I won't be prosecuted, that would embarrass the DA.

 

[whowelookinfor]

And you could read that from outside?

It wouldn't change a darn thing! We can't go busting into a house even to retrieve stolen property absent probable cause AND an exigency, consent, a warrant, or at least search conditions of parole or probation.



See above.

note: no one here has ever been on parole nor probation.

 

[stealth2]

SMH. It was never your dog, dear. You knew who it belonged to long before the dog was removed. Leave it be now.

 

[Zigner]

The unusual characteristics of my two little dogs, and the (former) foster dog: they aren't yappers. I hate that. Makes most any dog annoying, and spoils ant purpose they may serve. However, that isn't a matter, they ran around to the gate to see what is going on....plain view? yes. Gate open? No.

Not that you know, since you weren't there.

 

[Just Blue]

6 Pages. Wow.