My dear dog Peaches died last summer after a long illness, but his passing cost me more in legal fees than his medical care cost throughout his lifetime. ##M:[more]##Peaches suffered hip dysplasia, convulsions, and occasional skin maladies. Friends advised me to “put him down,” but I couldn’t bear to do it. When I looked into his eyes I couldn’t even think of it.
Bettina Roed, the animal control Officer in West Windsor began noticing Peaches’ frailty and leapt to the conclusion that Peaches had an abusive owner. Roed began patrolling my property to seek “evidence.” She invited herself onto my property — even inside my garage — without letting me know.
A year ago I wrote to the West Windsor Township complaining about this behavior. Mayor Hsueh and Police Chief Joe Pica both responded cordially, but Ms. Roed reported my “case” to a Mr. Al Peterson of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New Brunswick, and within a month of my letter I had received nine summonses for violation of animal cruelty laws. I went to Chief Pica, who sympathized. He said he valued Ms. Roed’s work ethic, but noted that he got more complaints about her than about the rest of his staff combined. Chief Pica telephoned Al Peterson at the SPCA to ask him to reconsider his spate of summonses, but Peterson rebuffed him.
A few days later Peterson came to my home when I was not there. My wife allowed him inside. She asked him to call me at work, but Peterson refused. A large man, and wearing a revolver on his hip. Peterson frightened my wife and issued two more summonses to her — for depriving Peaches of food and water. It is true that Peaches’ food bowl was empty at the time; he had just finished dinner and was asleep.
All this may seem funny except that the charges against my wife and me could involve serious penalties — thousands of dollars in fines and up to six months in prison. We were obliged to hire a lawyer. Roed and Peterson refused to drop the matter even after Peaches passed away. In the end we “settled” the case on the day of trial by my pleading guilty that the dimensions of Peaches’ doghouse did not conform to SPCA specifications. Even this was not strictly true, but the cost of the case had already exceeded $6,”500, and it made no sense to keep fighting it.
Throughout the ordeal Peaches’ veterinarian, Dr. James Miele of the Princeton Animal Hospital, was wonderful. Dr. Miele had cared for Peaches since he was a pup. He wrote letters to the court for us, and volunteered to testify in person on the day of trial. He repeatedly said that he was as indignant as we to see a pet owner subjected to treatment like this.
I wonder what my fellow citizens of West Windsor think of this aspect of our township democracy. Do we need such “services?” Is this why we pay taxes?
Perry Link
29 Benford Drive
For more about Peaches and the animal control policies in West Windsor, see news story.
