My letter to AC

As some of you know, my dog got in a fight with the neighbors dog and killed him. Animal COntrol has been tough to work with and they insist on giving me a ticket for not having my dog confined to the yard. Similiar to a leash law but states the dog must remain on the property. Well the fight started on my property but ended in the neighbors yard. The neighbor says the dog came into the street and attacked his dog while on a leash. what a crock

PLEASE DO NOT START WITH HOW THE DOGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONFINED. I HAVE BEEN DOWN THIS PATH ALREADY AND NOW THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON CHAINS OR IN A KENNEL. BUT THEY WERE IN THEIR OWN YARD WHEN IT STARTED.

I would just pay the ticket and be done with it but they are saying he will now be declared a vicisous dog. Vicisous dogs have to be on a leash or muzzled when outside according to county regs. And if hes not on a leash (even in our own yard), he can be taken and it just opens a whole can of worms.

Heres my letter to AC. By the way they keep leaving notes on my door, and when I call, I am told a supervisor will call me back. The notes say they cant get a hold of me. Think its OK?

To Tracy Thompson:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<o:p></o:p>

I have received your letter dated January 8, 2007. Your letter states that you have been unsuccessful in contacting me, which I must disagree with. After receiving your initial notice, I called your office the following day, spoke to a woman and gave my side of the story. At this point I was given several mis-facts regarding the incident and later it was clear she had mistakenly inserted some facts from another incident on the same street which did not involve my dogs. Since my side of the story was much different than the version given by the neighbor, she said she would have a supervisor call me back in a few minutes. I never received that phone call. At that point I assumed the situation was resolved or at least delayed due to the holidays. I also called your office this past weekend after receiving your second letter and was told you would call me back on Monday. That has not happened.<o:p></o:p>

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As far as the alleged attack goes, I disagree with the complaint. Both of my dogs are on an invisible fence and do not stray from the yard. When they are out, they are also being watched. During the morning of this incident, I observed the neighbors dog enter my yard and approach my dog aggressively. I know the neighbor’s dog is dog aggressive and has been involved in several fights in the neighborhood. As he approached my dog, I knew it was going to be a problem so I decided to go outside. By the time I got outside, the dogs were fully engaged and I pulled my dog back to the house. I am sorry for what happened to the dog but it is not my fault the neighbor’s dog entered my yard and picked a fight with my dog.<o:p></o:p>

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For a matter of simplicity I will accept the ticket for not having my dog confined and pay the fine as long as my dog is not declared a vicious dog according to county ordinance 14-14. If your office insists on declaring my dog vicious, I will have no choice but to contest it.<o:p></o:p>

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Please contact me and let me what the next step is. I am also in Florida and am unavailable at the moment to meet in person or accept any ticket in person. But please know that I want to get this resolved just as much as your office does.<o:p></o:p>

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Thank You


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the letter sounds real good to me. Sounds like the AC out there is in the clouds

 

Change this to: I knew it was going to be a problem so I immediately went outside.

Also, if you have to call them again, always get the name of the person you spoke to. This way, they can't jerk you around and say you never called...

 

good post points to you.

The vocabulary is very important. and never end a call with out taking names, title and a supervisors name reference the time you called and the date. Facts are facts and state and federal employees some times can be either really damn lazy or lie. I would have young soldiers say that "they said". Who the hell is they? "They" are not in court with you and "they" don't have a name. Esentually "they said" doesn't exsists in real life when it matters most.

 

this is the truth!!!!!

 

Make sure you send it certified return reciept, keep a copy of it and the delivery reciept so you can document your attempts.

 

good post......

cover your ass....cover everything..I work for lawyers and you learn this very quickly.....

 

Letter sounds very good!

 

Personally, I would go down there in person. Writing a certified letter is good, because it... well, gets things in writing. I just prefer to hash things out face-to-face. I would also get in touch with the other people that own dogs with whom the neighbor dog has fought, if you haven't already. If they are willing to make statements supporting what you said about the dead dog having fought with other dogs, it might help your case.

 

In that case you should do both. In writting they can't lie and say it didnt' happen and "they" always lie.

 

Sorry to hear you are going through this. Please remind yourself that you and your dog are the victims even though other dog was killed at the end.

Personally, I would not accept a ticket. It is your word against another person's word in regards to actual events that day. Thus, if there are no other witness to this incident and there are no other "incidents" on file, do not make this one the first by admitting guilt and paying a ticket. First, you will be focused on for owning "pit bulls", then, anything that goes on around your way will be magnified. Again, I suggest you act upset your dog got "scarred up" and now looks like a sterotyped "pit bull".

I suggest the following modifications to your letter:

I am in receipt of your letter dated January 8, 2007 regarding unsuccessful attempts by your office to contact me regarding the incident with my and neighbor's dog. Since receiving your original note requesting contact, I have called your office, spoke to a woman, and expressed my recollection of the events. After expressing my side, I was told AC has included a previous incident not related to my dog, person, or incident on this report. This inclusion of irrelevant information must be removed from the record as unlinked to the case. I was told by the AC lady to expect a follow up call from her supervisor. Since, I have yet to receive a call back. I followed up with your office after the holidays and was told to expect a call back. I have not received a follow up call back.

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As far as facts go, my dogs are contained through an invisible fence which has been successful for X number of years. My dogs have learned not to cross that electric barrier. In addition to the electric fence, dogs are monitored through the window. On the morning of the incident, I observed the neighbor's dog enter my yard and attacked my dog. The neighbor's dog is a known dog aggressive animal. By the time I got outside, dogs were fully engaged in a fight. Knowing his gentle disposition toward people, I was able to grab my dog while in the fight, and pulled him into the house. While I was upset that my dog was hurt, I understand dogs will be dogs.<O:p</O:p

I would delete this entire paragraph. We cannot accept unearned fines. We have our dogs to think about. Also, the dog may have been able to be saved, did the other owner take his to emergency vet?

Also, whenever you call anywhere important, first thing to do is to identify the person on the other side of the phone. This should be done before identifying yourself and case. The person on the other side will be more helpful to you if they feel accountable.

I hope my thought help you.

Regards,


RH

 

thanks. i like the changes to the letter. I usually always get names when i call. I didnt this time. Thats why I decided to put it in writing and fax it and send it certified receipt. they are threatening to ask the magistrate judge for an arrest warrant for me if i dont sign for the ticket

I cant go in person. this happened in GA and I am currently in florida on business and dont know when I will be back.

ahhHA just called and tracked down the names of the people I spoke with. I am going to reference them in my letter

 

My answers are in red.

To Tracy Thompson:ffice:office" /><O:p></O:p>

<O:p></O:p>

I have received your letter dated January 8, 2007. Your letter states that you have been unsuccessful in contacting me, which I must disagree with. After receiving your initial notice, I called your office the following day, spoke to a woman and gave my side of the story. At this point I was given several mis-facts regarding the incident and later it was clear she had mistakenly inserted some facts from another incident on the same street which did not involve my dogs. Since my side of the story was much different than the version given by the neighbor, she said she would have a supervisor call me back in a few minutes. I never received that phone call. At that point I assumed *here, I would not say "assumed" I would reterm it, I "thought", or "was under the impression"the situation was resolved or at least delayed due to the holidays, and not receiving a reply back from your office. I also called your office this past weekend after receiving your second letter and was told you would call me back on Monday. That has not happened, unfortunately, as I am most axnxious to see this matter resolved in the fairest manner possible.<O:p</O:p

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As far as the alleged attack goes, I disagree with the complaint. Both of my dogs are on an invisible fence and have never from the yard. When they are out, they are always supervised.During the morning of this incident, I observed the neighbors dog enter my yard and approach my dog aggressively. I know the neighbor’s dog is dog aggressive and has been involved in several fights in the neighborhood. As he approached my dog, I knew it was going to be a problem so I ran outside. By the time I got outside, the dogs were fully engaged and I pulled my dog back to the house. I am verysorry for what happened to the dog but it is not my fault the neighbor’s dog entered my yard and initiated the fight with my dog.<O:p></O:p>

<O:p></O:p>

I accept the ticket, due to not having my dog securely confined and agree to pay the fine as long as my dog is not declared a vicious dog according to county ordinance 14-14. If your office insists on declaring my dog vicious, I will have no choice but to contest it.<O:p></O:p>

<O:p></O:p>

Please contact me and let me what the next step is. I am also in Florida and am unavailable at the moment to meet in person or accept any ticket in person. But please know that I want to get this resolved just as much as your office does.
Thank you for your time and any help you have rendered in this matter. It is most appreciated.

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Thank You


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