[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Did any one else read this????
- From: sheila lieberman <dgshwpromo@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 06:51:13 -0700 (PDT)
So Brooklyn doen't know the difference between unowned strays and dog that is
loved and worried over. Time for a reality pill.
sheila
Crossroadsgsd@xxxxxxx wrote:
Man bails out pet, but maybe not from vet
New York wants to neuter Jerseyan's once-stolen dog
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
BY RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff
Pete Georgoutsos was thrilled to learn that his beloved brindle
mastiff, a hefty 120-pound dog named Spartacus, had been found hours
after a burglar broke into his vehicle and released the dog in
Queens last month.
But his elation was short-lived.
Within hours he was told that the return of his pet from a Brooklyn
animal shelter would be no easy task. Spartacus would have to be
neutered, the city told him. A 2000 city ordinance designed to
reduce the number of stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs on
city streets mandated the procedure.
The policy led to a heated and expensive legal battle in Brooklyn
Supreme Court, prompting officials and animal-rights activists to
question whether it is applicable to pet owners just passing through
New York.
"It makes you want to hit your head against the wall and say, 'Stop
wasting taxpayers' money,'" Georgoutsos said yesterday. "The law was
meant to protect the health of citizens in New York City. But by
neutering my dog you're not protecting their health; you're
violating my property rights."
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack ruled in
Georgoutsos' favor June 15 and ordered the unmolested return of his
pet of five years. But the city appealed the decision the same day,
extending Spartacus' incarceration.
Since the appeal may not be heard for months, Georgoutsos agreed to
post $10,000 bail and was reunited with his dog yesterday.
If the city wins, however, Georgoutsos may be ordered to drive his
dog from his Warren County farm, located in Asbury, back to New York
to be neutered.
"I'm the victim of a crime, and yet they want to fight me tooth and
nail to keep me from getting my dog," he said.
Georgoutsos was visiting friends late Sunday of Memorial Day weekend
while Spartacus remained Georgoutsos' truck, caged, with the windows
partially open. Georgoutsos returned to find the truck broken into
and the dog missing. He said he immediately filed a police report.
A PANDORA'S BOX
Passed in 2000, the city administrative code noted that 67,000
unwanted, stray or abandoned dogs and cats entered city animal
shelters in 1998. Of those, about 70 percent were not spayed or
neutered.
"While wandering the city streets, homeless dogs and cats reproduce
at alarming rates, exacerbating a potentially unhealthy and
dangerous situation," the ordinance reads.
It grants exceptions, however, for show dogs and cats and in cases
where neutering can lead to adverse health effects.
Georgoutsos' attorney, Gabriel Tapalaga, argued the health exception
in court. He said the mastiff, which already suffers from an ear
infection, was struck by five tranquilizer darts and taken to the
shelter.
"Any further sedation may cause Spartacus more harm," Tapalaga said
yesterday, citing a letter from the dog's vet in Ridgefield Park,
who advised against the procedure.
The city health department, which oversees the animal shelters,
referred calls to the city law department because of the litigation.
In a statement, city senior attorney Paula Van Meter said several
city veterinarians found that the procedure would not harm
Spartacus.
"Neutering and spaying procedures are critical -- and humane --
methods used to curtail animal overpopulation in the city," she
said.
Lisa Weisberg, a senior vice president at the American Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York, said she doesn't
believe the law applies to Spartacus. "If the person (owner) is just
passing through the city for whatever reason, the spay-neutering
requirement does not apply," she said.
Privately, several city officials said granting an exception in what
has become known as "The Spartacus Dog-Neutering Case," could open a
Pandora's box of litigation.
Meanwhile, back in New Jersey for the first time in four weeks,
Spartacus frolicked on the grass in front of his owner's Bergenfield
construction company yesterday. The dog was released about 2 p.m.,
after Georgoutsos posted $10,000 in cash, noting that he could find
no bondsman interested in bailing out a dog.
"The dog jumped up in my arms," Georgoutsos said of his pet's
release from the New York Animal Care and Control shelter, where he
said he visited him daily. "He was ready to play. It was adorable."
But Georgoutsos, 42, a former Montclair State University wrestler
and wrestling coach, said it may be months before he can relax.
"You go to court and spend thousands of dollars," he said. "I don't
know what's going to happen."
© 2007 The Star Ledger
Cathleen Bennett & Joe Guay
Rialto, Ca
_www.crossroadsgsd.com_ (http://www.crossroadsgsd.com/)
Raised with LOVE, Sold with Care
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PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY
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