Barbara J. Andrews
©
05|09
TheDogPress
-
The Maynard Collie Case of Feb. 2009 was a common enough story
involving court action to force Ms. Maynard to give up her retired show dogs and
the occasional rescue dog she occasionally took in until they could be
re-homed.
Ms. Maynard said the
complaint charges were generated by one neighbor whom she
referred to as “the neighbors from hell.” Maynard's
story is typical of cases across the country
as Animal "Rights" activists step up their efforts
to gain influence with state and local politicians level
through campaign donations, political support, and other
pressures intended to promote Limit Laws, mandatory
spay/Neuter and other laws.
After the story ran, we received a rebuttal letter and photo
showing more dogs than Ms. Maynard claimed to have. Of
course, they were barking at the person holding the camera.
Perhaps they were being teased as has been alleged. The
unsigned emails said
our coverage of the Maynard case was biased and inaccurate, that the barking collies were not “house dogs” as stated in our interview.
There were strong suggestions that Ms. Maynard was actually
cruel to the dogs and "boxes them up in an 8 x 8 building
farthest from her house so she doesn't have to listen to
their incessant barking." In the interest of
fairness, we let the neighbor tell
Part 2 of the Collie story
as they saw it and we ran it that way...
Downey Maynard was offended when online friends told her
about our "equal time" follow-up story. She had a friend send us hard copies of the detective's reports and
several photos. Seeing is believing. These
pictures were are all that we needed. No
person could maintain collies or any other profusely
coated dogs in such superb condition if they were left
outside. Period. It
would take weeks or months to bathe and brush the coats of
neglected "outside" dogs into this glorious state of loving
and attentive
care.
The detective's reports show seven neighbors living in the
same block were interviewed and statements were taken. All spoke in Maynard's favor.
All denied the "barking dogs" allegations against Maynard.
One neighbor stated she had witnessed the complaining neighbor "aggravating the
dogs to make them bark." Another stated that the
neighbor from hell had "asked her to sign a petition against Maynard"
before they even moved in! Another neighbor in very close
proximity reported she had personally seen the
complaining neighbors use a "silent dog whistle" which got
all the dogs in the neighborhood "barking uncontrollably."
She also stated the neighbors had "barrels in the {name
deleted} backyard" filled with something that made a loud
noise and which "caused Maynard's dogs to bark."
A detective's report of 7-15-07 stated the Nashville
Police Department had investigated several alleged
complaints but that he "never saw the dogs violating the
law" and he offered to testify in Maynard's defense. In
walking around the Church Street block, the detective
recorded a "large dog barking (loudly) in a man's back yard"
and wrote that two housedogs barked as he approached
different houses.
He interviewed former police officer Antill who is now employed by
the hospital. Antill stated he was dispatched to
Maynard's house, parked in the church parking lot,
and observed for some time. Then while "Ms. {deleted}
was on the phone to communications telling them the dogs
were barking right then" his report stated there were no
dogs barking nor had any dogs been barking. On another
occasion he was at Maynard's house and her dogs were
outside, silent, but the complaining neighbor's dogs were
barking and he suggested that Maynard file a complaint.
She would not as she did not want to escalate the situation.
Officer Antil reported that Maynard "made every effort" to
keep peace in the neighborhood but that the neighbors (from
hell) "would not be satisfied" until Maynard got rid of her
dogs.
This was already published and scheduled for inclusion in
HEADlines on the 12th. On May 11th, we received an
email on Ms. Maynard's
behalf from Fern Sinclair who assisted in the first report.
Ms. Sinclair provided more details "in 12 years there were
only 2 barking dog citations. The first one issued in 2003
[heard in '04], she won in court due to the fact that the
police, animal control, and some neighbors testified that
the dogs did not bark [unless provoked at the fence]. The
judge who presided grandfathered her in concerning the 3 dog
limit. The new neighbors {name deleted by editor} were
livid about losing and proceeded to antagonize the dogs and
make them bark. Other neighbors heard the barking, and
joined in, in support of the [neighbor] who then solicited
other neighbors to support their agenda.
"It took them until 2006
when a second barking citation was finally issued, this time
for night time barking. Downey's nearest neighbor,
Vicky Luper, with the longest adjoining property line,
testified against allegations made by the [neighbor] that
the dogs barked at night. The police never investigated the
[neighbor] complaint because rather than complain that
night, they had emailed the police a week later. That
was the basis of the 2006 citation which Downey was served.
"In the Superior court case, Downey's nearest neighbors
testified on her behalf. Some of the people who testified
for the prosecution lived much further away, on the far side
of the street, in the next block. The same judge who heard
the '03/'04 case, again heard the '06 case, but this time
refused to grandfather her in. During testimony from
Downey's witnesses, the judge had his back to them and was
talking to the clerk of court, paying no attention to the
testimony. Also strange, many of Downey's witnesses
were not there because they had not been notified by
Downey's attorney, who had told Downey he would subpoena
them, but he neglected to do so.
"Also it's interesting to note that one of the prosecution's
own witnesses testified that he didn't think the dogs were a
problem, [the dogs didn't bother him]. When asked why he
was testifying for the prosecution, his answer was 'I was
told to do so'. Makes us wonder by who: his wife, the D.A.,
the [neighbor], but regardless he felt he had to follow
these orders."
If you haven't read part 1 and part 2, do so now and you be
the judge. We would like to
hear your thoughts
on this or any other ongoing case in your area.
Side
Effects
