slamhead
03-22-2012, 03:02 PM
Back in August of last year I was out to dinner and received a voicemail from an animal control officer. She basically found my dog at the end of my driveway. For one my dog was curb trained and it was not the first time they tried to snatch her off my driveway. I returned her call and she said that my neighbor had pointed her to my residence and the officer put my dog back in my home. She notified me that my dog's vaccination and registration was out of date and said she would let it go as a "warning". After having a discussion of how my dog was curb trained and such I thanked her and thought that was the end of it. At no time was their any discussion that I was now under any legal requirement to remedy the licensing in a given time frame. At the time I was in the process of looking for different place to live and the chances were I was not even going to be living in the same town so it was not my priority to update my dog's license.
At the end of November I moved into my new home and was in the process of fixing it up. My dog died suddenly on January 1, 2012. Come March 10, 2012 I ran my name through the case access system in our county. I was looking to make sure that a speeding ticket I had the prior year was closed. I came across a civil assessment against me that was filed November 3, 2011 for failure to appear for a violation of dog licensing and vaccination municipal code. You see they went back through and found the verbal "warning" back in August and actually turned it into a citation and filed it with the court. They mailed a notice to me at my old address (less my unit number mind you as they never asked for my address on the phone) and it was returned to them undeliverable January 4, 2012. This was apparently my court date and three days after my dog had died. I was facing $875 in fines. I went to court and was able to have the civil assessment vacated but the judge did not want to listen to my explanation and would just let me plead not guilty to a citation I have never seen nor had the opportunity to comply with. If I had received the citation I would still have had 10 days to get my dog licensed with no fine. It was basically a fix it ticket. Now I do not have the option and I have to go to trial to avoid the remaining $550 fine.
To top it off, the officer that signed the affidavit of my violation is not even the same person I spoke to on the phone.
I hate being caught up in the court system and have always been one to take care of matters like this in a timely manner. It frustrates me to no end now that I have to go to trial and file a motion to dismiss.
At the end of November I moved into my new home and was in the process of fixing it up. My dog died suddenly on January 1, 2012. Come March 10, 2012 I ran my name through the case access system in our county. I was looking to make sure that a speeding ticket I had the prior year was closed. I came across a civil assessment against me that was filed November 3, 2011 for failure to appear for a violation of dog licensing and vaccination municipal code. You see they went back through and found the verbal "warning" back in August and actually turned it into a citation and filed it with the court. They mailed a notice to me at my old address (less my unit number mind you as they never asked for my address on the phone) and it was returned to them undeliverable January 4, 2012. This was apparently my court date and three days after my dog had died. I was facing $875 in fines. I went to court and was able to have the civil assessment vacated but the judge did not want to listen to my explanation and would just let me plead not guilty to a citation I have never seen nor had the opportunity to comply with. If I had received the citation I would still have had 10 days to get my dog licensed with no fine. It was basically a fix it ticket. Now I do not have the option and I have to go to trial to avoid the remaining $550 fine.
To top it off, the officer that signed the affidavit of my violation is not even the same person I spoke to on the phone.
I hate being caught up in the court system and have always been one to take care of matters like this in a timely manner. It frustrates me to no end now that I have to go to trial and file a motion to dismiss.