The Gideon case is a case of bad law gone worse. The Gideons have had an incredibly good outcome but they and all other animal owners are still at risk from this and other lousy, poorly written laws, including federal, state, and local laws.
People get tickets all the time and sometimes they fight them but more often, because the teeny tiny courts that handle those tickets use them as a form of fund raising and make it difficult and costly to fight tickets, people pay the fine thinking “that’s that”. Mr. Gideon received 2 tickets and paid them not understanding that could have a domino effect resulting in the loss of all their pets. I’ll take a quick look at the specifics of this case but my concerns are much bigger than this one case.
“In January, the couple spent all they could afford on an attorney to appeal, which in a 5-5 tie, went to the city. Director of Dallas Animal Services Kent Robertson ordered the Gideons to surrender all of their animals by February 14.” Don Feare is the attorney who represented them. I don’t know much about him beyond this case but I’m guessing he’s the “attorney who tried to help said that the case couldn't be won”. If I were considering hiring Mr. Feare, I’d sure be asking him if he did say that and not hiring if the answer is yes.
Attorney Byron L. Wooley “obtained a temporary restraining order, then won an injunction against the city. The judge had several concerns. The animals were community property, yet only the husband was cited. All of the complaints seemed to originate from the same neighbor. And, the judge had several concerns about the search warrant. A veterinarian testified that the stress of removing the elderly cats from the home could cause their deaths.” All judges should have AT LEAST this many concerns about each and every one of the animal seizure/forfeiture cases going on around the country. (And, oh, my, just look what a difference it makes when one has a competent attorney providing zealous representation!)
“After the injunction, the City of Dallas agreed to a settlement allowing the Gideons to keep and re-register all of their pets. The Gideons agreed to follow the law, which Wooley says they were doing anyway.” CONGRATS to the lawyers and the Gideons! This is wonderful for them except…
“follow the law, which Wooley says they were doing anyway” and I’m quite sure they were so WTF??? Bad, BAD law combined with PISS POOR Nazi style “discretion” by government snots exercising extraordinary powers under incredibly broad and vague laws, that’s WHAT. And it’s F’ing WRONG.
“Animal lovers from all over the Metroplex mobilized to find foster homes for the pets while urging the city to keep them at home, and a media backlash against the city followed.” And that’s incredible but how many others have lost their pets? Given them away? Not adopted? All because of these CRAPPY laws. No animal owner should have to depend on the whims of the media to get their case out there or bet that others will rally to their assistance. These animals belonged to the Gideons and, at a minimum, they should be reimbursed for their out of pocket expenses. They should be compensated for the multiple violations of their civil and property rights. Mr. Wooley and the other attorneys should be paid for their work by the CITY. I’ll bet they waived all that in order to settle this case and keep the animals. That’s great for them and I don’t hold it against them in the least but it means the city or other authorities there or elsewhere face little deterrent the next time they decide to snatch up someone’s animals or order them to give them up. The abuses of HUMANS and animals traumatized by removal and even killed by strangers after that will continue.
The people who supported these lousy laws need to get back out there and FIX what they created so the next person won’t get run over by these CRAPPY laws that were all too often supported by animal owners and rescuers who should DAMNED well have been able to see how they would be used and abused to the detriment of animals. Goody that many of you came to the defense and assistance of the Gideons but that is NOT ENOUGH. You need to redouble prior efforts and get those freaking laws off the books and, when those of us who have some foresight tell you a law is BAD, maybe, just MAYBE, you should open your eyes and ears and brains before rubber stamping animal rights activist laws!
I’ve never bred a dog or cat and firmly believe in not letting my animals procreate (and so far, none have) but I frequently have enough strays and adoptees in my home to be the potential subject of these laws and so do many of you others doing rescues. Stop thinking you’re something special and somehow exempt; that these laws will apply to OTHERS, including YOU. Every one of you has a bull’s eye on you and your rallying together won’t always work so you’d better help get those CRAPPY laws off the books.
I’ve never bred a dog or cat and firmly believe in not letting my animals procreate and I repeat that to make a point. Others do choose to breed animals and we are almost all people who care about animals. Everybody on both sides of that need to get their heads screwed on straight and start working together for the animals instead of being divided because the animal rights activists are after ALL of us who own animals. WE care about the animals. WE are the majority. And WE can actually deal with the problems internally, amongst those of us who do care, but WE can only do that if we join together. Otherwise, we’ll simply ALL lose. MOST of all, the ANIMALS will lose!
And here’s how we lose: “Wooley, who estimates he put in over 100 hours into the case, also credited San Antonio attorney Elizabeth Cumberland and Dallas attorney John Lajone for helping the Gideon family stay together.” Being very, very conservative, that’s $25,000 in legal fees alone and it’s on top of whatever they paid prior attorney(s). How many of you have $35,000 or so sitting in your back account? Yeah, thought so, not many because you’re putting your money into animal care, along with your time and, make no mistake, one of these cases will suck up twice as many hours from you as from the attorneys so be prepared to take time off from work and (if you’re lucky enough to keep your animals during the process) be prepared to limit your care of them too because you won't have money OR time.
Mr. Wooley also gave some advice for all and, although I’m already more than fond of him for what he did for the Gideons, I have to comment on that advice.
“Wooley advises all citizens to read Chapter 7 of the city code and become familiar with all of the requirements.” But “Wooley says, "The statute is too broad for practical application…” Well, DAMN, how are lay citizens supposed to read, understand, and comply with a law that is too broad for practical application??? It’s impossible, of course! Ditto for the state and federal laws on animals. Just look at the USGE case where the judge specifically said that USGE met industry standards, where USGE regularly passed USDA inspections, but where a civil forfeiture under a similarly vague and overly broad state law was successful. Note how many of those civil forfeiture cases never even result in criminal charges at all where the defendant would actually get a chance to go to an appellate court. As far as I’m concerned, that says it all. The government wants an easy way to snatch up and kill or make money from animals without regard to anyone’s rights. And few and far between will be the exemplary Gideon cases so the vast majority will fare even less well than USGE did.
“And, for victims of the unreasonable neighbor who calls in an extreme number of complaints, Wooley suggests having a lawyer speak to the neighbor -- before Code Enforcement comes calling.” I’m sorry but that isn't really practical for the average person who doesn’t have the money to hire a lawyer to even write a letter and that’s only if they can find a lawyer willing to write the frigging letter. Of course, people can hire those internet lawyers who do nothing but write letters but then one faces the possibility of the letter being blown off because a quick internet check reveals that’s all those lawyers generally do so it’s pretty safe to ignore anything they send out.
“If being spoken to by a lawyer does not stop the excessive and unreasonable complaints, Wooley says it may be necessary to file a harassment or nuisance lawsuit against the neighbor.” And again, not practical because the lawyer is going to want a huge retainer that the average animal owner just doesn’t have. But I get it. Mr. Wooley is trying to give some advice that’s safe and doesn’t flame anyone but it’s pretty useless advice for the average animal owner. 'Tis another day when I am glad to no longer have a law license and feel that pressure to "play nice"...
We have to get these CRAPPY laws off the books and the CRAPPY government employees (code enforcement, law enforcement, county attorney, by whatever title they reign) who abuse animal owners out of office and job. It’s that simple. If they abuse animal owners or violate our rights, we should be flaming for their removal, period.
And then there's the Gideons' SCUZZY neighbor who called in all the complaints. Yeah, yeah, I get everyone kind of ignoring him. After all, the Gideons will probably have to continue to deal with him/her. I just disagree. I think he/she will continue to be a problem and is now frustrated so will be sneakier and a bigger problem. I think there should probably have been picketers in front of his/her house chanting for WEEKS. See how he/she likes being under siege for a while!