Man faces charges after dog kills raccoon that caused damage to garage

Jackson Citizen Patriot ^ | February 09, 2011, 6:00 AM | Danielle Salisbury

[Gennie]

Man faces misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after his dog kills young raccoon that caused some damage to garage

Seth Foster, 23, said he found his family garage in disarray last summer and sent his dog in the building to investigate.

Grizz, a blue heeler, returned with the culprit, a young raccoon.

As two teenage boys watched, one of them filming its actions with a cell phone, Grizz killed the coon, Foster said.

Now, Foster is facing a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty resulting in death, which is punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 25 in Jackson County District Court.

Foster, whose father owns a nuisance animal control business, contends he did not do anything wrong. The raccoon damaged his family’s property on Ivan Drive in Spring Arbor Township.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said of the charge. “Everybody I’ve talked to says it’s ridiculous.”

There is a proper way to deal with a pest and it does not involve animal agony, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer. Raccoons can be trapped alive or quickly and efficiently killed, he said.

Blumer said the dog was encouraged to attack the raccoon and “tear it apart.” He likened this to cockfighting or dogfighting, both of which are illegal. “There is legitimate sport, and then there’s cruel sport,” he said.

“Because you have a license to kill a deer, doesn’t mean you can break all its legs and watch it die slowly.”

He said the prosecutor’s office offered Foster a “reasonable settlement,” the details of which Blumer did not know, but Foster declined to take it. “I am innocent,” Foster said.

The two boys also were charged. Their cases were handled by the juvenile court. Blumer did not know how or whether they had been resolved. The case files are not open to the public.

Foster said the boys lived near his family at the time and would sometimes come to their home. They egged on the dog, he said. Foster said he took the raccoon from Grizz, but the dog got it back.

It did not take Grizz, a smaller herding dog, a long time to kill the animal, Foster said.

A neighbor’s mother called the police, Foster said, and a deputy arrived. According to court records, the incident occurred Aug. 1.

The dog helps Foster and his father, Mike Foster, locate raccoons in attics or small crawl spaces while the Fosters do their work. They catch the animals and sometimes euthanize them.

Mike Foster owns Foster’s Wildlife Control Services. He’s been in the business for about 30 years. The company specializes in trapping, removing and excluding nuisance wildlife. He said he and his son hunt and the family primarily eats wild meat.

In all his work with animals, Mike Foster said he has seen worse than a dog killing a coon. “People put out antifreeze for animals to poison,” he said.

“You can’t call one thing cruel and let other stuff slide.”

The whole incident has been “blown out of proportion,” he said. “To me, it’s no different than if you buy a cat to kill mice.”

There is a difference, Blumer said. The killing of mice is not controlled.

There are trapping and hunting seasons for raccoons. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, a property owner without a license or permit may kill a raccoon all year if the animal is damaging or about to damage private property.

Mike and Seth Foster said the raccoon Grizz killed put a hole in the garage. It damaged a door, ate stored bird feed and knocked tools off a work bench. It was “raising hell,” Mike Foster said.

Dogs cannot be used in Michigan to kill game, only to chase, retrieve or find it, a DNRE spokeswoman said.

Blumer said it would be different if the dog had gotten the raccoon on its own and killed it without human intervention. In that case, it’s nature.

[GraceG]

So if my house cat kills a mouse is that animal cruelty towards a mouse....

[MNDude]

My German Shepherd annoyingly keeps on leaving varmin guts and carcasses on my front steps (rabbits, racoons, etc.). The vet told me the city would shoot her if they saw her killing wild animals! :(

[paint_your_wagon]

Grizz, a blue heeler, returned with the culprit, a young raccoon.

---

I love my blue heeler. She has a heart of gold and is great with people, even with my two small children.

They do love to chase after critters and cars.

Last year some baby ducks wandered into the yard and one of
them ended up in Lottie’s mouth. I called after her and she dropped it. I was surprised to see it walk away unscathed.
That was one lucky duck.

[chessplayer]

“Today’s people have been pussified to a crazed extent.

Back years ago when I was a child it was a common thing to take a litter of cats, put them in a bag and drown them,”

Yeah, it takes a man`s man to put tiny, helpless kittens in a sack and drown them. Now go pound your chest, he-man.

[GourmetDan]

"My German Shepherd annoyingly keeps on leaving varmin guts and carcasses on my front steps (rabbits, racoons, etc.)."

Those are presents because she loves you.

Please don't punish her for it. She won't understand.

[Lamp]

Read this post in the Jackson paper and I like it. Mr. Foster, One JUROR can stop tyranny with a “NOT GUILTY VOTE!”. One JUROR can nullify bad law in any case by “HANGING THE JURY!” If I am called on that jury you don’t have a thing to worry about. I am sure the prosecutors know there is not a snowballs chance in hell of getting a conviction in front of a jury. They will just drag this out as long as they can to try to get you to pay a fine. I hope you tell them WHERE TO GO! In front of a jury of your peers!!

[chessplayer]

“Dam ...my dog caught, killed, and was eating (till I took in away) a opossum....guess I’m in trouble”

The stinking brats were taping it for their enjoyment,,,for kicks. But of course you can`t see the difference.

[dirtman]

Cats and Dogs working together to kill a rat - now dont that beat all!

[triumphant values]

I raise and release into the wild orphaned baby raccoons.

You should be drowning them. Raccoons are overpopulated, destructive, lethal disease vector vermin.

If I saw a guy letting his dog tear apart a baby raccoon, I'd crush his larynx with one hand and take one of his eyes with the other. And sleep like a baby that night.

You're seriously demented.

[Conan the Conservative]

It wont be long before this country is forced to wear a skirt and pizz sitting down.

[GOYAKLA]

That is FUNNY I don’t care who you are!
Even Ms. Jackson Lee would laugh at that!

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer...said the prosecutor’s office offered Foster a “reasonable settlement,” the details of which Blumer did not know...The two boys also were charged. Their cases were handled by the juvenile court. Blumer did not know how or whether they had been resolved.

For a Chief Assistant Prosecutor, he doesn't know much, does he.

[boop]

I seriously doubt he “encouraged” his dog to do this. He just let him out of the house and the dog did its instinctual duty. If someone broke into the house, I doubt the dog would have to be “told” what to do.

[HungarianGypsy]

Oh no! I shouldn’t mention that my cats kill mice. Maybe they got word of this. No wonder they have been lazy recently.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

The vet told me the city would shoot her if they saw her killing wild animals! :(

You ought to ask them why her life is less valuable than a wild critter's.

[triumphant values]

The stinking brats were taping it for their enjoyment,,,for kicks. But of course you can`t see the difference.

People tape their hound hunts for coons regularly, for their enjoyment. And yes the hounds often catch the coon and kill it. You think that should be illegal?

[The Comedian]

A neighbor’s mother called the police, Foster said, and a deputy arrived.

This is great news. It means the police have solved all the actual crimes, and now have nothing better to do than investigate accidental raccoonicide!

Woo Hoo!

Today is a good day to die.
I didn't say for whom.

[dirtman]

I raise and release into the wild orphaned baby raccoons. I can tell you that they are smarter, nicer, more enjoyable creatures than most people I have ever met.

How about letting nature take its course?

If I saw a guy letting his dog tear apart a baby raccoon, I'd crush his larynx with one hand and take one of his eyes with the other. And sleep like a baby that night.

You seem to have some sort of anger against people that is truely sick and twisted.

[Cacique]

It appears that *ssholes are running places other than my home town of New York City. At some point we have to take these cretins in charge out.

[sergeantdave]

The pig prosecutor and Marxist cops need to be sat down before a vigilance committee and taught the difference between criminal activity and state sponsored fascism.