Posted on 10/07/2015 12:34:19 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Florida woman is fighting to keep two of her dogs alive after they were deemed dangerous by animal control.
Stephanie Castro has fostered a 2-year-old Whippet mix, named Princess, and a 6-month-old hound pitbull mix, named Duke.
In August, a neighbor called animal control after the dogs got out of Castro’s house and began barking.
She admits the dogs should not have been loose.
However, she says animal control came back to her home three other times in the span of a month.
The second time, they told her the dogs would be deemed dangerous. After being deemed dangerous, the dogs would have to be muzzled, be on a leash and there must be a sign posted that warns visitors of the dogs.
After that, she says officers came back and claimed her dogs were loose again. She says her dogs were inside her home at the time, and even has witnesses to prove it.
She admits that they do look very similar to a pair of stray dogs that tend to roam the neighborhood.
“The only time in two years that they’ve ever witnessed my dogs doing anything wrong was the day they were in my yard barking at the neighbor,” Castro told WPTV.
In September, her dogs were taken from her and she learned they could be euthanized.
“They didn’t do anything. They didn’t bite anyone,” Castro said.
However, a state statute says a dog doesn’t have to bite or injure someone to be considered dangerous. Instead, it can be deemed dangerous simply by scaring someone.
“It’s like someone has taken my children,” she said.
City officials say they have received dozens of calls about the law, asking for the dogs to be released.
There will be a hearing on Oct. 26 to determine if the dogs will be euthanized.
There are many who consider the owners of nuisance dogs evil neighbors
Funny handle there.
Florida doesn’t seem like a very dog friendly state to me. My sister & her family live there. Finding a beach that will take leashed dogs is getting harder & harder.
Hope this works out for the pups!
“I don’t think this was an issue of a repeat nuisance in the backyard. The dogs accidentally got out once and barked at the neighbor.”
Reported loose three times. Probably loose more than that.
The Neighbor, or the Dog Could be Euthinized?
“Finding a beach that will take leashed dogs is getting harder & harder.”
People go to the beach to play in the sand and water in Florida. Not the place for dog poop.
Quite a few beaches in NC are dog-friendly, particularly on the Outer Banks. A lot of pet-friendly beach cottages available for weekly rental, too.
Beg pardon, Gator. We scoop. Religiously. :-> & we offer bags to anyone who doesn’t. We also don’t let our dogs run around accosting people, either.
We sure need to get over that way. A very dear friend moved to Wilmington a few years ago. I’m positive we’s love it.
“..military grade Dog Silencer.”
Do you recall the brand. The neighbor behind us has two little yappers that must have a doggie door out to the deck on their garage roof. Can’t be in the backyard (70’ away) without those two at the deck railing yapping away.
“...the dog is now housed outside only in a fenced in yard.
Really it is ultimately a sad story.”
Years ago another neighbor had a dog that it kept in their garage most of the time. It was ALWAYS barking - but muffled so not annoying, other than feeling bad for the dog. One week they asked us to watch it. We ended up taking it to our house and keeping it inside with us and the kids. Never barked!
We asked if we could keep the dog and they said “Fine - all it does is bark in our garage!” Best dog ever. After the first few weeks it other neighbors could hear it barking and howling if we left it home alone. After a few weeks of trying to not live it alone for too long it figured out we would return and never had a problem.
The only time it ever barked is if someone we didn’t know would come onto our property. Oh, and one guy that we DID know who was on the shady side!
Wilmington’s not particularly close to OBX, eastern NC is larger than it looks on a map. Check your distances and drive times when planning day trips when vacationing.
Or a muzzie. They hate dogs.
I imagine we’ll be including Virginia (& maybe some of W Va) in that trip. And as many beaches as possible.
Scaring someone?
I know a certain demographic that tends to knee-jerk flip into paroxysms of fear whenever a dog is loose.
Boy, just about every dog would be labeled dangerous in certain areas by that standard.
According to the story the owner claims the other incidents in question were not the same dogs.
There are some great beaches on the OBX, I’m fond of Hatteras Island, largely undeveloped and wild with a few smaller beach towns scattered down the length of it. Outdoorsy place, you can drive on many beaches outside sea turtle nesting season. Surf is pretty strong there though, if you have small kids you might want to swim on the sound side. The Atlantic warms up considerably about halfway down Hatteras, low 80’s for summer ocean temps. North of Hatteras, 70’s and even 60’s are not uncommon.
What is a military grade dog silencer? There are two dogs across from me who bark incessantly from 4PM to 9PM every day. The owner refuses to do anything about the situation.
“Beg pardon, Gator. We scoop. Religiously. :-> & we offer bags to anyone who doesn’t.”
Thank you. Some dog owners are very considerate. Some are not.
There are many Gulf and Atlantic beaches in Florida where dogs are allowed. In addition there are miles and miles of bay beaches that have no restrictions on dogs.
“According to the story the owner claims the other incidents in question were not the same dogs.”
LOL! An oldie but goodie!
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