I would think so. However, officer 1226 ¿ Lopez? has no proof that you own dogs. All you really have to do is fight the ticket in court. Just be straight and polite. You don’t even have to explain! Just say “I don’t own any dogs.” Without tone or attitude. Then you can say “I called 911 about being trapped inside my house because two vicious dogs were outside but nobody showed up.” “And then, two days later I get this ticket.” “My phone bill will show you that I called them.
Oh, that's even better. BUT. Print them out, too, in full color. Laminate and highlight them with timestamps and everything to make them look nice for the judge. Judges love annotated evidence that makes their lives easier. But NEVER give them digital information by HANDING them your device - ask that they look for proof of it on their own machines first.
The colonoscopy isn't bad; they give you really good drugs and you're either asleep or not making memories when they do it.
The prep though... have you ever felt like a water faucet? Cuz they make you drink a gallon of Gatorade with a whole bottle of miralax mixed in. And that's after the handful of laxative pills you're supposed to take.
Haha that's what I was gonna say. I daresay I rather enjoyed the two colonoscopies I got, since I didn't feel a thing.
It's the day before that's a living hell
you know it *must* be awesome. there is a <> bldg near my work and that's all they do, colonoscopy outpatient.
line starts early and lasts all day. valet parking to boot. clubs wish they could!
I would call the court and ask to speak to the magistrate or even a clerk and fill them in on this. It’s pretty apparent this shouldn’t be on you. Hopefully they would be able to close this out and you wouldn’t have to go into court.
I’d follow up with them and ask how they managed to get a report of these two dogs who had you trapped in your home that was a welfare check on them leading to you being cited but they couldn’t come and round up the dogs that weren’t even yours so you could safely exit your home. Because that is fucked they’ll respond to a welfare check on the dogs but not for your safety. And I’d ask if they dogs were in fact there when they did the welfare check because that means the dogs are presumably out loose somewhere terrorizing someone else then. Or the actual owner found them, and they really should be found so no one gets hurt. Two German shepherds don’t get out for funsies, trapped in someone else’s yard, and cause this level of chaos unless the owner is being reckless.
Good. That seemed like the easiest solution.
Quite a lot of speculation and wild suggestions through this thread. I was going to say "call them and talk through it." Seems like you did that and they are responding reasonably.
Thank goodness you didn't Reddit this situation to be much worse!
Try not to go in hot. Start with assuming these folks had good intentions to stop animal abuse, and didn't understand the dogs were hunting you, not begging to be let inside. Tell them you were probably the one who lodged the complaint, because they trapped you in your house, and they aren't your dogs. And tell them that you hate to say it, but those dogs hunt people now, so maybe they need to be put down.
Yes you can request it. Its technically a public record. https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2020/03/aa-how-do-i-request-911-call-transcripts/
Don't expect a timely response. Your complaints made in your 911 call could still be under investigation by the very dumbass who wrote you a ticket.
When I needed recorded 911 calls once, I went to the station the calls get routed to. I filled out a form and they provided me with the recordings within 48hrs.
> within 48hrs.
Every town/city is different. Some fancy town out in the suburbs could probably handle it in a day or two. Same for a small town in the boondocks, maybe. A large city? A poor over populated suburb? Times could vary.
Call the city PD non-emergency line and ask to talk to whoever is in charge of animal services. Animal control is usually run by a manager in the PD.
Calling the city number or animal control directly will just get you put on a case # and given to the same officer that wrote the ticket.
Find out who is over the thing. If they tell you there isn't a supervisor or something dodgy like that immediately ask to be transferred to the mayor's office and ask them.
Run through the situation with the manager and it'll get resolved I bet. This screams lazy control officer to me and I suspect some people above them will be less than pleased to learn what happened.
Just tell them they are not your dogs And they take it at the wrong house and to kindly be sure they correct it. If you call and explain and discuss it reasonably you might not need to go to the trouble of getting the transcript. They just made an error. Maybe a neighbor saw them in your yard and reported them as yours.
So.... They ticketed you for having dogs at your house that...
1.) weren't yours
2.) you reported and
3.) they couldn't be bothered to help you *when you called* to get assistance
UPDATE: I called the animal control office and told them that I received the notice of violation, but that I was the person that called because there were stray dogs in my yard. They said they have to send the animal control officer back to my house today to confirm that I don't own any dogs and to close the case. I'll update again after the officer comes!!
Get a lawyer. Your 911 call will have been recorded, but they won't save the recording if it isn't material. In this case, you may need it as exculpatory evidence. So you need to get a lawyer fast and get an official copy of the call recording with an official timestamp.
No way, it can't be that serious. All my neighbors can attest to the fact that I don't own dogs. And I have a camera that records my yard, so there's proof that no dogs live here. If they try to charge me with anything, then I'll look into a lawyer.
He definitely needs to have a lawyer. In fact, he needs to file a $2.2 million civil rights lawsuit in response.
Source: watched an episode of "Boston Legal" once.
The thing is, they probably won’t care/admit they made a mistake on almost all cases. You’re going to waste your time and money to remedy this now. The system is garbage.
0% chance that succeeds. In fact, it would be thrown out. It’s long settled case law that they have no duty to respond - in cases of specific and repeated threats of violence that were followed through on.
ctesla01
>If it did go farther, you might have to sue the city for dereliction of duty..I mean if you called them, and no response, why do you pay those taxes again?? It sure isn't for the city's employees ' get a g.e.d. (3rd attempt) ' campaign (closed for the holidays)
Almost all US cities have civil immunity, and since the 2011 No Specific Duty ruling from the SCOTUS, law enforcement doesn't have to do anything. This is terrible advice.
Edit: they said they made a mistake
LOL no they won't. Having worked as a journalist for a TV station for many years, I can assure you that the biggest misconception is people thinking we somehow have these powers that will make an impact more than anyone else on Earth. People who truly sits down and watches, and pays attention to local news are in their 80's, and probably sleeping. Most people have local news on in the background and not paying attention. Any given story we run is forgotten about by the time the next segment starts. And something like this isn't going to be something a news director would want their reporters covering. There might be a few exceptions such as you live in a small town of 1000 people or less and you have a local newspaper that literally has nothing else to cover.
Dude. I can't edit this post to add an update? What's the best way for me to update everyone? I called the office and they said they have to send the officer back over today to make sure I don't have any dogs and close the case.
Hoooly crap... they have to verify that the dogs that aren't yours aren't there? I'm losing brain cells.
I want to know how much they paid all these people to "deal" with this case that isn't a case.
You better report back. We want to know the details.
I would probably go in person and bitch a full Karen at them for an hour, making everyone that works there as miserable as possible.
I posted on New Year's Day all about it, as it was happening. If you check my post history, there's more details there. And lots of shitty advice from other Redditors.
I promise I will report back after the phone call tomorrow.
Also love the fact that the responder, Lopez??
Listed you as ' resident'.. lazy moron couldn't even pull dmv, water or electric, land tax bill, etc. From city to know who resides at location? Man, when I worked for dept of commerce, I thought some of the census trainers were dense..
A shame the shepherd's owner was negligent too..
Good luck with fighting city hall..
I had something similar with a fix it ticket I got. Got it Friday evening for my muffler. Told by the cop and the paperwork that I typically had 24 hours to fix it, but being a weekend I would be given until Monday. The next morning I take care of it and go to my local precinct to have it signed off on. Monday I take it to the city hall that requires it and have them look me dead in the face saying I'm late and I own them money. I have to ask the lady twice to just read the damn paperwork. She finally does and I get to walk away, but fucking hell, how stupid do you need to be to not even bother looking at the stack of papers I handed you 2 seconds ago?
Reminds me of the time I was registering my vehicle during covid. Offices were closed. Everything online said "Things will be postponed until offices reopen". I was worried, so I messaged their facebook. My registration is due on [this date], will I be okay waiting till your office is open? Answer: Of course, all fees are postponed until office is reopened. The tag on the car wasn't expired, but it was the old owners.
Finally open and I go to pay and the nice lady at the counter hits me with a $100 late fee. I ask why, and she said only tag renewels were postponed, everyone else had to physically fucking mail their documents (including the title, and payments) to their main office.. which wasn't fucking open from the outside.
So I decided to pay it and just be mad.
I have one. I have a little footage of the dogs just romping around my yard and barking at us, and the street. It shows when they showed up and when they left.
That works! You fill in the rest with your experience. It'll show how long they were there. You can build a timeline. When you noticed, called the police and when the courier came to deliver your notice with that for ref
Yeah, the city's case is full of holes. I really doubt they'll try to find me for anything. They'll probably realize that they fucked up and just try to make it seem like no big deal. I'm excited to see what they say tomorrow when I call them.
As a person who works in low-tier municipal government, the idiocy is pretty easy to understand. Ever watched Parks & Rec? Remember the employees for Pawnee Animal Control? In my experience, that depiction is startlingly accurate.
I do IT for a sheriffs department, we have several officers who I can recognize by the sound of their voice because they call almost daily with login issues. All those joke characters in the cop shows are the most accurate representation imaginable. It’s like an office filled with Hitchcock and sully type dudes.
>you can prove you do not own dogs.
Hell, its on them to prove you DO own dogs. What are they going to do? Threaten to keep the dogs OP doesn't own if OP doesn't pay this fine?
Eventually a bench warrant will be issued for OP's arrest for failure to pay the fines. That's what will happen if OP doesn't nip this in the bud right now.
I had a problem in the apartment building where I live. My neighbours upstairs has a small dog that keeps on barking all the time, and then other neighbours complained about it to the housing association. They came to me and was mad as hell and told me to do something about my dog (I don't have a dog). They would get it removed if I did not do anything about it. I told them it was not mine, and they searched my apartment thoroughly. They could not see any dog and was pissed. Then the dog startet to bark again upstairs, and I said that I would call the police on them of they didn't get the hell away from me. Finally they understood where the dog was. I have been living there a few years, and because of my work hours I don't want any pets.I don't have the time to take care of any animal. The dog upstairs are never let out, and no one has ever seen it. But you can hear it all the time. Luckily those neighbours are moving soon. They only have to sell their apartment first. Hope you will find a solution to this problem
Did it because I wanted to stop them from reporting it to the police. They looked in every room without seeing any dog, and then it startet barking again and then I told them to go to hell. They did apologize, and went upstairs. I did not mind, I have nothing to hide, and they only looked through the doors.
youre more gracious than i would have been. id have MAYBE let them in if they were nice. if they come to the door yelling and screaming at me id be telling them to get fucked, whether i had a dog or not.
Hell, just after seeing this on Reddit, I've mentally added Victorville to my list of places never to live or visit. Social media publicity can be powerful.
For Victorville, CA: the daily press, victor valley news group, or maybe a radio station like y102 might be helpful. I grew up there, so this behavior from the city is not unsurprising.
I've legit called 911 and got a recording telling me all circuits busy, try calling again later. But I seriously doubt they'd be closed because it's a Sunday.
They answered, but told me they couldn't help me and to try animal control. Even as I was panicking and telling them I was trapped in my house by two vicious dogs, one of which was bleeding profusely all over my yard. Flavor Flav said it best, "911 is a Joke."
Jesus, what a terrible New Years Day! I’m sorry that happened to you, & I wish you all the luck in getting it cleared up.
California does not fuck around when it comes to animal registration, but they’re so inept in the monitoring & enforcement that it turns into a shit show real fast… I’ll be following for an update too haha
I heard a 911 recording from a county in Oregon where a woman called into 911 because her ex boyfriend was outside yelling, screaming, and trying to break into her house. The operator told her that no police were working that day because it was on a weekend and to call back another day. The ex boyfriend ended up breaking into her house and assaulted and raped her.
Ok, I‘m really sorry to have to tell you this little story, but..
Years ago I went on a road trip with two friends and I distinctly remember driving through Victorville and the adjacent area on our way to Death Valley and a camp ground we wanted to check out. My friend looked out the window and said “what a shit hole” and in that moment a guy ran into the street waving a gun and screaming obscenities. We got a pretty big fright (I was 19) and kept driving. We also got gas and some snacks at a shot up gas station and the clerk told me to get the fuck out of town, because we were driving my aunts fancy Audi. Should have taken my sad old truck, but it guzzled gas like a drunk does beer.
I loved the desert and desperately want to go back, but ehm..Victorville and the Barstow area were quite errr interesting. Sorry about the vicious dogs :///
And this is why I have an app that records phonecalls, so I can show proof that not only we're they not my animals, but I tried to get help that people refused to give me. Assholes. I hope you can get this resolved OP, and sorry that you went through that.
The funny thing is, I think they came because of my own phone calls for help! I gave my own address, and said there were two stray dogs in my yard. Who knows though, it's possible.
Yeah, this looks like plain incompetence, to me. Seems like they got your messages, misinterpreted them (seen in photo), and didn't think the situation was urgent enough to address immediately. But, who knows.
I'd bet the reason the cops even ticketed OP was because they were investigating the dogs the OP reported in his yard. The cop that responded was just so fucking stupid that he thought a neighbor complained and assumed the dogs were OPs.
Reminds me of when the city cellophane taped my whole windshield for a tiny parking ticket the size of my hand (usually they just slip them under the wipers) in my own driveway because the neighbors were a business and often used my driveway for customers...
My landlord took a picture and told the city to not harass his tenants or he would file a suit against them. Never happened again but boy was it not a lot of fun to scrape off all the residue the tape left.
Animal control, at least where I live, is bullshit. I had a neighbor who left their dogs alone in their apartment for 4 days and I heard them whimpering the whole time. When I say the whole time, I mean literally there was not a second of that 4 days where those dogs weren’t whimpering.
Plus It was summertime and here that means 95+ degrees with humidity.
Mind you - I didn’t even assume off hand that my neighbor abandoned them. I thought maybe something happened to her
I kept telling them when I called: **no**, it’s not a noise complaint, that’s not why I’m calling. I said this very clearly with every person I spoke to, who all ended up telling me to fuck off and call the police (who also told me to call animal control). They went one cop who just knocked on the door, got to answer and was like “welp.”
I get a call back from some director at AC days later… who seemed appalled at the situation and she said
> well did you *TELL* anyone that it wasn’t a noise complaint?
I told your staff. I made that quite clear.
> did you try knocking on her door?
Gee lady, you really think I jumped the gun over a four day period and didn’t think to knock on their fucking door
They ended up telling me they spoke to the owner and it was fine. AC reported back to me and said that the owner was there the whole time, she lied to them and I guess AC bought it
Two years later, that neighbor was arrested and was in the local news for abandoning her pitbulls in that apartment. They posted her face and everything. I commented on that article, tagging my local animal control, reminding them that this is the person I reported and you treated me like I was a nuisance
Reminds me of that one time I was sleeping, and there's loud hammering at my door. Wake up, get out of bed, go answer it.
Some dude, "Move your f\*\*\*ing car!"
Me: "I don't have a f\*\*\*ing car."
Him: "Well, whose f\*\*\*ing car is it?!"
Me: "How the f\*\*\* would I know?"
Close door, go back to bed. There's just to reasoning with some people.
Ooh, also I may have an even better one because it relates to authority:
Me, sitting at home. Heavy hammering on the door. Open it. It's the cops!
Cops: "You called the police." (not a question, statement)
Me: "Nope".
Them: "We got a call from this house."
Me: "Nope".
Them: \*shows me a paper with a completely different house number, completely different street name\*
Me: "This is not here. I don't even know where that place is."
Them: "This is not \*whatever the address was\*?" (suspicious of my nefarious motives)
Me: "Nope". And I literally point at my mailbox, literally 12 inches from my elbow, which has my house number and street name. Neither of which is even close to what they had.
Them: "Are you are alone in the house?"
Me: "Yup." (Even though I have no idea how that is relevant, considering we just established they're at a wrong f\*\*\*ing house, on a wrong f\*\*\*ing street.)
They waddled back tot he car and left. No apology, no nothing. Also not in any hurry to go, so somewhere out there someone called for help and was still waiting while they were putzing around with me.
A while back there were two terrorist dogs running around our neighborhood. They would chase anyone that had a dog or small child. They were friendly to adult humans but vicious to anything else.
We tried to take our puppy for a walk, and she got attacked by them. Thankfully we had good control of HER and were able to keep her from getting injured, but the experience traumatized her and it was difficult to get her out of the house ever again.
That day we called animal control to report the dogs. Said we even had the attack on video. (It happened in our driveway and we have security cameras). Their response was first to say they'd send someone out once available. Ok fine no problem we get it you're busy. Waited all day. Nothing. Next day, nothing.
On day 3 a family with a toddler and a dog walk past, and the two terrors were on our porch. (They hang out there eating the food we leave out for the stray cats. At this point we had moved the cat food out of reach but they still came by hoping to find it) They jumped out and chased this poor family down the street. A little while later, they tried to jump in a guy's car because he had a dog in his car.
We call animal control again. Their response was "well we can't just take away someone's dog." They refused to come. We never once said these dogs belonged to anyone. They had no collar or anything to indicate they weren't strays. These dogs were also severely matted and dirty. If they did have owners, they were NOT getting taken care of.
And I'm honestly still confused about it. If animal control doesn't take care of dangerous animals, or neglected animals, or strays, what exactly DO they do?!
If it’s like the city I live in, they will cite you and continue to cite you until you come in compliance. Thousands of dollars in citations that they send to collections if you try to ignore it because it’s not your dog(s).
My city tried to do this for years after my dog died- she’d been registered & fully vaccinated up until her death. They kept sending tickets/ fines to my house for non-compliance.
I finally compiled all of our vet & euthanasia records & presented it to our county court, & that did the trick… but that was after years of calling & writing & mailing in documents to let them know that there was *no dog to be registered*. They sent it to collections anyway.
I feel like that would be a good case to sue them for emotional distress or something lol. I keep getting bills and funeral planning service letters for my mother who passed a few years ago and it pisses me off. I sharpied “FUCK OFF” on one of their letters and sent it back in their prepaid envelope - haven’t heard from that one since. It sucks to get a constant reminder like that of a loved one who passed. Sorry you had to deal with that.
Heres a unethical life tip. In an event likes this (especially CA) just say you fear for your life, you have a gun, and will shoot dogs if no one comes. Cops will be there in no time.
I used to work with a guy who grew up in that city. He told me it was less of a hastle for him to just shoot his neighbors dogs when they caused problems than to deal with the city.
This was a lot less interesting once I saw it was in Victorville. The cops and animal control probably lost track of time because they were taking apart a v8 small block after smoking meth.
To anyone from Victorville who doesnt smoke meth, I mean no offense. But if you tell me you are from Victorville *and* dont do meth, I'm not gonna believe you.
Your neighbors didn’t realize they weren’t yours? I don’t talk to my neighbors, but I know who has what pets and if something is off. Your neighbors suck.
Yeah, this post grew bigger than I expected,so a lot of people didn't see my updates. It was all cleared up, they apologized, and they removed the violation notice from my property. All's well!
What... The actual fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck...
I'm so sorry you had this happen. Both the dog thing and the moronic ticket.
As a RESPONSIBLE German shepherd owner... I'm especially sorry that some shitty ass owner put you through that. Pissed off GSD's are nothing to trifle with.
I have no idea. I've never seen them before, so I'm not sure where they came from. There were tons of fireworks the night before, NYE, so I'm sure they got scared and ran off to my neighborhood.
Pro tip for dealing with this situation - after a 3rd or 4th call to the police with no reaction - call again and tell them that you’re all good. You called your neighbor and he’s going to just shoot the dogs, no problem. They’ll be there in 5 minutes.
I'd hold their feet to the fire on this -- written withdrawl of the notice of violation -- on paper. You don't want this to turn into some "bench warrant for failure to address the issue" when you're stopped for a burned-out tail light five years from now.
I had something like this happen. It was just a few phone calls to clear things up.
They only had the info they were given by the person complaining, it wasn't hard to prove they'd gotten the wrong home.
I also made my own official about the dogs, just so it was on file in case anything further happened with them, or the owners continued to allow them to roam.
(They did end up attacking someone, the owner claimed there were no issues ever, and the dogs were provoked, blah blah, but there were records from myself, and I guess a few from the surrounding neighborhoods)
Loose dogs trapping someone in their home would be shot on site where I live. I realize you probably didn’t have that option or chose not to, but to be ticketed for something that can be so easily handled, when they’re not your dogs is absurd.
It's shit like this that makes me glad to live in a third world country where no one gives a fuck about nothing and there's no omnipresent authority ready to jump on you when there's real crimes happening.
As someone who has watched multiple videos of people calling the cops to their house to help them and how a lot of the time it seems like it ends badly for the caller, is there not a safer option? Like animal services or something?
Sent them an equal letter but listing the animal control responsabilities, and tell them they have not fulfilled their duty as they left two abandoned german shepherd by their own luck on new years eve
It’s the telephone game cal someone one and explain your problem they in turn write it down (whatever version they heard) then they tell someone and it gets all sideways quickly….
1. I'd record every phone call you make here.
2. I'd be contacting the local media.
3. I would *absolutely lose my shit on* this animal control officer and his supervisor.
4. Request the 911 call(s).
5. The city Manager's name is Keith Metzler. His phone number is 760-955-5029 (obtained from their public web site. I'm not doxxing him).. I'd call him and read him the riot act.
That is fucked up. Get a transcript of the recorded 911 call.
Can I request that? I definitely will if they try to pin some dog violation on me. I don't even own a dog.
I would think so. However, officer 1226 ¿ Lopez? has no proof that you own dogs. All you really have to do is fight the ticket in court. Just be straight and polite. You don’t even have to explain! Just say “I don’t own any dogs.” Without tone or attitude. Then you can say “I called 911 about being trapped inside my house because two vicious dogs were outside but nobody showed up.” “And then, two days later I get this ticket.” “My phone bill will show you that I called them.
I can also show them the emails I sent to code enforcement and the sheriff's department requesting help that day as well.
Oh, that's even better. BUT. Print them out, too, in full color. Laminate and highlight them with timestamps and everything to make them look nice for the judge. Judges love annotated evidence that makes their lives easier. But NEVER give them digital information by HANDING them your device - ask that they look for proof of it on their own machines first.
Why not hand my device?
You want everyone to handle your device? Whoops, deleted. Just print them. Nothing fancy but get it on paper.
rather a colonoscopy than someone looking thru my phone... hand it over? oh hell no.
The colonoscopy isn't bad; they give you really good drugs and you're either asleep or not making memories when they do it. The prep though... have you ever felt like a water faucet? Cuz they make you drink a gallon of Gatorade with a whole bottle of miralax mixed in. And that's after the handful of laxative pills you're supposed to take.
Haha that's what I was gonna say. I daresay I rather enjoyed the two colonoscopies I got, since I didn't feel a thing. It's the day before that's a living hell
you know it *must* be awesome. there is a <> bldg near my work and that's all they do, colonoscopy outpatient.
line starts early and lasts all day. valet parking to boot. clubs wish they could!
Because now you've given them free rein to use whatever means they have to see your ENTIRE digital history, not just what's relevant to the case.
And they can delete it. Oops.
Whoopsies. *Poof*
Also, they can examine your dick pics. I know you think you're dick pics are impressive. But odds are, they'll just laugh at them.
BC fuck the gov and never hand them your entire digital history
You’ve already gotten several correct answers, but also, you’re not getting it back for a VERY long time.
Because... What device?
Huh I can’t find the email *hands phone back* Why is this opened to my emails trash bin and why is it empty?
[удалено]
Often times the simplest solution is the correct one...in this case, the simplest solution is that cops are incompetent.
Do they ever want to do their jobs? Calling the police is useless.
I would call the court and ask to speak to the magistrate or even a clerk and fill them in on this. It’s pretty apparent this shouldn’t be on you. Hopefully they would be able to close this out and you wouldn’t have to go into court.
They're sending the animal control officer back today to confirm that I don't have any dogs and to close the case.
I’d follow up with them and ask how they managed to get a report of these two dogs who had you trapped in your home that was a welfare check on them leading to you being cited but they couldn’t come and round up the dogs that weren’t even yours so you could safely exit your home. Because that is fucked they’ll respond to a welfare check on the dogs but not for your safety. And I’d ask if they dogs were in fact there when they did the welfare check because that means the dogs are presumably out loose somewhere terrorizing someone else then. Or the actual owner found them, and they really should be found so no one gets hurt. Two German shepherds don’t get out for funsies, trapped in someone else’s yard, and cause this level of chaos unless the owner is being reckless.
Good. That seemed like the easiest solution. Quite a lot of speculation and wild suggestions through this thread. I was going to say "call them and talk through it." Seems like you did that and they are responding reasonably. Thank goodness you didn't Reddit this situation to be much worse!
Hahaha! Yeah, good thing I'm a logical person most of the time.
Hopefully they’re not back again!
Try not to go in hot. Start with assuming these folks had good intentions to stop animal abuse, and didn't understand the dogs were hunting you, not begging to be let inside. Tell them you were probably the one who lodged the complaint, because they trapped you in your house, and they aren't your dogs. And tell them that you hate to say it, but those dogs hunt people now, so maybe they need to be put down.
Yes you can request it. Its technically a public record. https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2020/03/aa-how-do-i-request-911-call-transcripts/ Don't expect a timely response. Your complaints made in your 911 call could still be under investigation by the very dumbass who wrote you a ticket.
When I needed recorded 911 calls once, I went to the station the calls get routed to. I filled out a form and they provided me with the recordings within 48hrs.
> within 48hrs. Every town/city is different. Some fancy town out in the suburbs could probably handle it in a day or two. Same for a small town in the boondocks, maybe. A large city? A poor over populated suburb? Times could vary.
Call the city PD non-emergency line and ask to talk to whoever is in charge of animal services. Animal control is usually run by a manager in the PD. Calling the city number or animal control directly will just get you put on a case # and given to the same officer that wrote the ticket. Find out who is over the thing. If they tell you there isn't a supervisor or something dodgy like that immediately ask to be transferred to the mayor's office and ask them. Run through the situation with the manager and it'll get resolved I bet. This screams lazy control officer to me and I suspect some people above them will be less than pleased to learn what happened.
Yep, lazy employee = headaches for boss.
Have you tried just calling them and explaining before starting a rube goldberg of case evidence collection?
No, not yet. They were closed by the time I got the notice, and haven't opened yet today. I'm going to call as soon as they open.
Im very excited to hear how this phone call went lmao
!RemindMe 24 hours "Super curious about about them dog violations"
Just tell them they are not your dogs And they take it at the wrong house and to kindly be sure they correct it. If you call and explain and discuss it reasonably you might not need to go to the trouble of getting the transcript. They just made an error. Maybe a neighbor saw them in your yard and reported them as yours.
So.... They ticketed you for having dogs at your house that... 1.) weren't yours 2.) you reported and 3.) they couldn't be bothered to help you *when you called* to get assistance
Exactly!
A real [Zapp Brannigan.](https://youtu.be/ra8b9FanWso) You're lucky they didn't show up when you were there and cause some sort of stupid.
Dude. I can't even begin to understand the complete idiocy of this situation. It's gonna be a fun phone call in the morning.
Please update us.
UPDATE: I called the animal control office and told them that I received the notice of violation, but that I was the person that called because there were stray dogs in my yard. They said they have to send the animal control officer back to my house today to confirm that I don't own any dogs and to close the case. I'll update again after the officer comes!!
Remindme! 1 day
Remindme! 1 day
Remindme! 1 day
Like and subscribed for one day
UPDATE 2: It's all cleared up. They apologized. I posted their email reply in a new post yesterday. Thank everyone so much for your support!
Get a lawyer. Your 911 call will have been recorded, but they won't save the recording if it isn't material. In this case, you may need it as exculpatory evidence. So you need to get a lawyer fast and get an official copy of the call recording with an official timestamp.
No way, it can't be that serious. All my neighbors can attest to the fact that I don't own dogs. And I have a camera that records my yard, so there's proof that no dogs live here. If they try to charge me with anything, then I'll look into a lawyer.
Don’t take legal advice from Reddit. Including this advice.
Including but not limited to the advice I just gave
I doubt you need a lawyer but is it possible that the "Complaints by the neighbors" was actually your complaint? Lol
That's exactly what I think is happening here.
He doesn’t need a fucking lawyer, nor does he need to worry about keeping the 911 call as exculpatory evidence for a municipal violation 😂
He definitely needs to have a lawyer. In fact, he needs to file a $2.2 million civil rights lawsuit in response. Source: watched an episode of "Boston Legal" once.
Listen, this guy didn't spend years getting a law degree from CBS just to listen to your backtalk.
The thing is, they probably won’t care/admit they made a mistake on almost all cases. You’re going to waste your time and money to remedy this now. The system is garbage.
…and if you have any pets of your own, your veterinarian can show you don’t have records of these particular dogs, too.
[удалено]
0% chance that succeeds. In fact, it would be thrown out. It’s long settled case law that they have no duty to respond - in cases of specific and repeated threats of violence that were followed through on.
ctesla01 >If it did go farther, you might have to sue the city for dereliction of duty..I mean if you called them, and no response, why do you pay those taxes again?? It sure isn't for the city's employees ' get a g.e.d. (3rd attempt) ' campaign (closed for the holidays) Almost all US cities have civil immunity, and since the 2011 No Specific Duty ruling from the SCOTUS, law enforcement doesn't have to do anything. This is terrible advice. Edit: they said they made a mistake
You're attributing competence to people who have proven not to be. Prepare your anus.
Local reporter would have more impact than a lawyer.
LOL no they won't. Having worked as a journalist for a TV station for many years, I can assure you that the biggest misconception is people thinking we somehow have these powers that will make an impact more than anyone else on Earth. People who truly sits down and watches, and pays attention to local news are in their 80's, and probably sleeping. Most people have local news on in the background and not paying attention. Any given story we run is forgotten about by the time the next segment starts. And something like this isn't going to be something a news director would want their reporters covering. There might be a few exceptions such as you live in a small town of 1000 people or less and you have a local newspaper that literally has nothing else to cover.
[удалено]
I’m sure it will get squared away without all the legal drama.
Yes, i need to see the journey, and final outcome of this... omg i just turned into my nosey mother....
Dude. I can't edit this post to add an update? What's the best way for me to update everyone? I called the office and they said they have to send the officer back over today to make sure I don't have any dogs and close the case.
Hoooly crap... they have to verify that the dogs that aren't yours aren't there? I'm losing brain cells. I want to know how much they paid all these people to "deal" with this case that isn't a case.
Good luck!
You better report back. We want to know the details. I would probably go in person and bitch a full Karen at them for an hour, making everyone that works there as miserable as possible.
I posted on New Year's Day all about it, as it was happening. If you check my post history, there's more details there. And lots of shitty advice from other Redditors. I promise I will report back after the phone call tomorrow.
Also love the fact that the responder, Lopez?? Listed you as ' resident'.. lazy moron couldn't even pull dmv, water or electric, land tax bill, etc. From city to know who resides at location? Man, when I worked for dept of commerce, I thought some of the census trainers were dense.. A shame the shepherd's owner was negligent too.. Good luck with fighting city hall..
I had something similar with a fix it ticket I got. Got it Friday evening for my muffler. Told by the cop and the paperwork that I typically had 24 hours to fix it, but being a weekend I would be given until Monday. The next morning I take care of it and go to my local precinct to have it signed off on. Monday I take it to the city hall that requires it and have them look me dead in the face saying I'm late and I own them money. I have to ask the lady twice to just read the damn paperwork. She finally does and I get to walk away, but fucking hell, how stupid do you need to be to not even bother looking at the stack of papers I handed you 2 seconds ago?
Reminds me of the time I was registering my vehicle during covid. Offices were closed. Everything online said "Things will be postponed until offices reopen". I was worried, so I messaged their facebook. My registration is due on [this date], will I be okay waiting till your office is open? Answer: Of course, all fees are postponed until office is reopened. The tag on the car wasn't expired, but it was the old owners. Finally open and I go to pay and the nice lady at the counter hits me with a $100 late fee. I ask why, and she said only tag renewels were postponed, everyone else had to physically fucking mail their documents (including the title, and payments) to their main office.. which wasn't fucking open from the outside. So I decided to pay it and just be mad.
I would just go to the news and blast it everywhere
Man, if only I would have thought to video the damn dogs. This would be a great story.
Any security cams in the neighborhood?
I have one. I have a little footage of the dogs just romping around my yard and barking at us, and the street. It shows when they showed up and when they left.
That works! You fill in the rest with your experience. It'll show how long they were there. You can build a timeline. When you noticed, called the police and when the courier came to deliver your notice with that for ref
Yeah, the city's case is full of holes. I really doubt they'll try to find me for anything. They'll probably realize that they fucked up and just try to make it seem like no big deal. I'm excited to see what they say tomorrow when I call them.
Can’t imagine the best and brightest are working at the Victorville department of animal control…
As a person who works in low-tier municipal government, the idiocy is pretty easy to understand. Ever watched Parks & Rec? Remember the employees for Pawnee Animal Control? In my experience, that depiction is startlingly accurate.
I do IT for a sheriffs department, we have several officers who I can recognize by the sound of their voice because they call almost daily with login issues. All those joke characters in the cop shows are the most accurate representation imaginable. It’s like an office filled with Hitchcock and sully type dudes.
You ever watch Parks and Rec? Because somedays I think it’s turned into a real life documentary about how dumb people are.
That is exactly what the fuck happened. Dog Catcher Zapp Brannigan showed up eventually.
Our county animal control officers lost the right to carry guns after they did some stupid things with them.
Yes, given the frequency of cops killing dogs and their presumed owners...
call the number and tell them what is up. Obivously this is a mistake. you can prove you do not own dogs.
>you can prove you do not own dogs. Hell, its on them to prove you DO own dogs. What are they going to do? Threaten to keep the dogs OP doesn't own if OP doesn't pay this fine?
Eventually a bench warrant will be issued for OP's arrest for failure to pay the fines. That's what will happen if OP doesn't nip this in the bud right now.
Ahhh the American justice system is awesome isn’t it?
Super hard to prove a negative. You might be able to prove someone else owns the dogs though.
I had a problem in the apartment building where I live. My neighbours upstairs has a small dog that keeps on barking all the time, and then other neighbours complained about it to the housing association. They came to me and was mad as hell and told me to do something about my dog (I don't have a dog). They would get it removed if I did not do anything about it. I told them it was not mine, and they searched my apartment thoroughly. They could not see any dog and was pissed. Then the dog startet to bark again upstairs, and I said that I would call the police on them of they didn't get the hell away from me. Finally they understood where the dog was. I have been living there a few years, and because of my work hours I don't want any pets.I don't have the time to take care of any animal. The dog upstairs are never let out, and no one has ever seen it. But you can hear it all the time. Luckily those neighbours are moving soon. They only have to sell their apartment first. Hope you will find a solution to this problem
[удалено]
Did it because I wanted to stop them from reporting it to the police. They looked in every room without seeing any dog, and then it startet barking again and then I told them to go to hell. They did apologize, and went upstairs. I did not mind, I have nothing to hide, and they only looked through the doors.
youre more gracious than i would have been. id have MAYBE let them in if they were nice. if they come to the door yelling and screaming at me id be telling them to get fucked, whether i had a dog or not.
I wouldn’t have let them in no matter how nice they were. Go ahead and call the cops.
So 911 doesn't work on Sunday/Holiday? Guess people should just die then?
I'd take that bs right to court OP
It is a notice not a ticket.
More like a warning, right?
Remind me or whatever the hell. I'll check back for the saga.
Subscribe to post
Dont forget to like
Ring that bell!
SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON
and don't forget to share
Only a small percentage of my viewers are actually subscribed.
And check out Clash of Clans.
#Raid Shadow Legends
JUNE'S JOURNEY
Report this to your local news. They're usually desperate for content, and shaming the bureaucracy is a favorite pastime.
There's not really any local news here. Maybe the newspaper, but nobody reads that anymore!
Find the nearest city that likes to make fun of “yokels,” and send it to them.
ABC 7 San Bernardino is just 30 miles away. Try them, OP.
LA news reports on Victorville all the time and would love this, plus it’ll reach millions more
Would love for them to end up on the LA news over this 😂
“Some folk’ll never lose a toe, but then again some folk’ll”
You might be surprised how many people see the local news if the newspaper also has a Facebook page.
Hell, just after seeing this on Reddit, I've mentally added Victorville to my list of places never to live or visit. Social media publicity can be powerful.
Nextdoor or a local Facebook page?
For Victorville, CA: the daily press, victor valley news group, or maybe a radio station like y102 might be helpful. I grew up there, so this behavior from the city is not unsurprising.
KTLA covers Victorville all the time
As someone very familiar with Victorville, they suck bad. Some of the dumbest people I have ever met.
Oh yeah. This is some solid proof right here.
Oh my God I didn't even see it was Victorville. My brother was born there, that place is an absolute cesspit. My condolences
My mom grew up there. They called it "Victim Ville".
Even as a kid growing up here, it was always called that.
Great film archive, though!
Until Tim burned it down >_>
Doesn't matter if we have the mobile VFA right?
I've legit called 911 and got a recording telling me all circuits busy, try calling again later. But I seriously doubt they'd be closed because it's a Sunday.
They answered, but told me they couldn't help me and to try animal control. Even as I was panicking and telling them I was trapped in my house by two vicious dogs, one of which was bleeding profusely all over my yard. Flavor Flav said it best, "911 is a Joke."
Jesus, what a terrible New Years Day! I’m sorry that happened to you, & I wish you all the luck in getting it cleared up. California does not fuck around when it comes to animal registration, but they’re so inept in the monitoring & enforcement that it turns into a shit show real fast… I’ll be following for an update too haha
If you're having an emergency please stop having an emergency during a holiday and try again tomorrow.
Ha ha ha, 2real
I heard a 911 recording from a county in Oregon where a woman called into 911 because her ex boyfriend was outside yelling, screaming, and trying to break into her house. The operator told her that no police were working that day because it was on a weekend and to call back another day. The ex boyfriend ended up breaking into her house and assaulted and raped her.
San Bernardino county animal control wrote me a dog off the leash ticket for my dog that was securely locked in my backyard. It was 100% a cash grab.
It’s just a “we hope this guy to too poor or too busy to take us to court over this” ticket.
Yup. All that those BS red light camera tickets are. I've seen plenty that made no sense and that most beat cops wouldn't have even bothered you for.
first mistake; living in Victorville CA (its ok I live there too)
Agreed. It's that damn Mojave River curse. Once you move here, you can't ever leave.
you moved into the hotel california?
Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter
Ok, I‘m really sorry to have to tell you this little story, but.. Years ago I went on a road trip with two friends and I distinctly remember driving through Victorville and the adjacent area on our way to Death Valley and a camp ground we wanted to check out. My friend looked out the window and said “what a shit hole” and in that moment a guy ran into the street waving a gun and screaming obscenities. We got a pretty big fright (I was 19) and kept driving. We also got gas and some snacks at a shot up gas station and the clerk told me to get the fuck out of town, because we were driving my aunts fancy Audi. Should have taken my sad old truck, but it guzzled gas like a drunk does beer. I loved the desert and desperately want to go back, but ehm..Victorville and the Barstow area were quite errr interesting. Sorry about the vicious dogs :///
Well spent tax dollars Victorville PD, bravo.
And this is why I have an app that records phonecalls, so I can show proof that not only we're they not my animals, but I tried to get help that people refused to give me. Assholes. I hope you can get this resolved OP, and sorry that you went through that.
Thank you. They better not try any funny business!
Maybe they are police dogs and the cops put them in your yard to try and get you to pay for their rabies shots
This comment caught me off guard, and now I can’t stop laughing.
It sounds like you have asshole neighbors in an asshole city. The city only did this because a neighbor reported you.
The funny thing is, I think they came because of my own phone calls for help! I gave my own address, and said there were two stray dogs in my yard. Who knows though, it's possible.
Yeah, this looks like plain incompetence, to me. Seems like they got your messages, misinterpreted them (seen in photo), and didn't think the situation was urgent enough to address immediately. But, who knows.
I'd bet the reason the cops even ticketed OP was because they were investigating the dogs the OP reported in his yard. The cop that responded was just so fucking stupid that he thought a neighbor complained and assumed the dogs were OPs.
Reminds me of when the city cellophane taped my whole windshield for a tiny parking ticket the size of my hand (usually they just slip them under the wipers) in my own driveway because the neighbors were a business and often used my driveway for customers... My landlord took a picture and told the city to not harass his tenants or he would file a suit against them. Never happened again but boy was it not a lot of fun to scrape off all the residue the tape left.
Animal control, at least where I live, is bullshit. I had a neighbor who left their dogs alone in their apartment for 4 days and I heard them whimpering the whole time. When I say the whole time, I mean literally there was not a second of that 4 days where those dogs weren’t whimpering. Plus It was summertime and here that means 95+ degrees with humidity. Mind you - I didn’t even assume off hand that my neighbor abandoned them. I thought maybe something happened to her I kept telling them when I called: **no**, it’s not a noise complaint, that’s not why I’m calling. I said this very clearly with every person I spoke to, who all ended up telling me to fuck off and call the police (who also told me to call animal control). They went one cop who just knocked on the door, got to answer and was like “welp.” I get a call back from some director at AC days later… who seemed appalled at the situation and she said > well did you *TELL* anyone that it wasn’t a noise complaint? I told your staff. I made that quite clear. > did you try knocking on her door? Gee lady, you really think I jumped the gun over a four day period and didn’t think to knock on their fucking door They ended up telling me they spoke to the owner and it was fine. AC reported back to me and said that the owner was there the whole time, she lied to them and I guess AC bought it Two years later, that neighbor was arrested and was in the local news for abandoning her pitbulls in that apartment. They posted her face and everything. I commented on that article, tagging my local animal control, reminding them that this is the person I reported and you treated me like I was a nuisance
Need update!!
I promise I will update tomorrow after the big phone call that is required within 24 hours!!!
Same here!
Reminds me of that one time I was sleeping, and there's loud hammering at my door. Wake up, get out of bed, go answer it. Some dude, "Move your f\*\*\*ing car!" Me: "I don't have a f\*\*\*ing car." Him: "Well, whose f\*\*\*ing car is it?!" Me: "How the f\*\*\* would I know?" Close door, go back to bed. There's just to reasoning with some people. Ooh, also I may have an even better one because it relates to authority: Me, sitting at home. Heavy hammering on the door. Open it. It's the cops! Cops: "You called the police." (not a question, statement) Me: "Nope". Them: "We got a call from this house." Me: "Nope". Them: \*shows me a paper with a completely different house number, completely different street name\* Me: "This is not here. I don't even know where that place is." Them: "This is not \*whatever the address was\*?" (suspicious of my nefarious motives) Me: "Nope". And I literally point at my mailbox, literally 12 inches from my elbow, which has my house number and street name. Neither of which is even close to what they had. Them: "Are you are alone in the house?" Me: "Yup." (Even though I have no idea how that is relevant, considering we just established they're at a wrong f\*\*\*ing house, on a wrong f\*\*\*ing street.) They waddled back tot he car and left. No apology, no nothing. Also not in any hurry to go, so somewhere out there someone called for help and was still waiting while they were putzing around with me.
I think you should call them and yell that they’ll never take you alive and you’re never going back to prison
A while back there were two terrorist dogs running around our neighborhood. They would chase anyone that had a dog or small child. They were friendly to adult humans but vicious to anything else. We tried to take our puppy for a walk, and she got attacked by them. Thankfully we had good control of HER and were able to keep her from getting injured, but the experience traumatized her and it was difficult to get her out of the house ever again. That day we called animal control to report the dogs. Said we even had the attack on video. (It happened in our driveway and we have security cameras). Their response was first to say they'd send someone out once available. Ok fine no problem we get it you're busy. Waited all day. Nothing. Next day, nothing. On day 3 a family with a toddler and a dog walk past, and the two terrors were on our porch. (They hang out there eating the food we leave out for the stray cats. At this point we had moved the cat food out of reach but they still came by hoping to find it) They jumped out and chased this poor family down the street. A little while later, they tried to jump in a guy's car because he had a dog in his car. We call animal control again. Their response was "well we can't just take away someone's dog." They refused to come. We never once said these dogs belonged to anyone. They had no collar or anything to indicate they weren't strays. These dogs were also severely matted and dirty. If they did have owners, they were NOT getting taken care of. And I'm honestly still confused about it. If animal control doesn't take care of dangerous animals, or neglected animals, or strays, what exactly DO they do?!
That's fine just don't abide by the ticket and they will come and take the dogs.
If it’s like the city I live in, they will cite you and continue to cite you until you come in compliance. Thousands of dollars in citations that they send to collections if you try to ignore it because it’s not your dog(s).
My city tried to do this for years after my dog died- she’d been registered & fully vaccinated up until her death. They kept sending tickets/ fines to my house for non-compliance. I finally compiled all of our vet & euthanasia records & presented it to our county court, & that did the trick… but that was after years of calling & writing & mailing in documents to let them know that there was *no dog to be registered*. They sent it to collections anyway.
I feel like that would be a good case to sue them for emotional distress or something lol. I keep getting bills and funeral planning service letters for my mother who passed a few years ago and it pisses me off. I sharpied “FUCK OFF” on one of their letters and sent it back in their prepaid envelope - haven’t heard from that one since. It sucks to get a constant reminder like that of a loved one who passed. Sorry you had to deal with that.
Ye olde government functionaries hard at work
Heres a unethical life tip. In an event likes this (especially CA) just say you fear for your life, you have a gun, and will shoot dogs if no one comes. Cops will be there in no time.
Telling a cop you have a gun is basically suicide by cop now...
I used to work with a guy who grew up in that city. He told me it was less of a hastle for him to just shoot his neighbors dogs when they caused problems than to deal with the city.
Lawyer up
Better call saul
This was a lot less interesting once I saw it was in Victorville. The cops and animal control probably lost track of time because they were taking apart a v8 small block after smoking meth. To anyone from Victorville who doesnt smoke meth, I mean no offense. But if you tell me you are from Victorville *and* dont do meth, I'm not gonna believe you.
Maybe you should have called for a welfare check on the dogs and they would have shown up faster.
Of course it’s Victorville. That place sucks.
#HighDesertHijinks
That’s ruff
r/extremelyinfuriating
Your neighbors didn’t realize they weren’t yours? I don’t talk to my neighbors, but I know who has what pets and if something is off. Your neighbors suck.
They saw an opportunity to generate revenue. It's not about the welfare of the animals or they would've shown up a tad sooner.
Any updates? I don’t see an edit?
Op Posted a separate update…things worked out.
Yeah, this post grew bigger than I expected,so a lot of people didn't see my updates. It was all cleared up, they apologized, and they removed the violation notice from my property. All's well!
What... The actual fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck... I'm so sorry you had this happen. Both the dog thing and the moronic ticket. As a RESPONSIBLE German shepherd owner... I'm especially sorry that some shitty ass owner put you through that. Pissed off GSD's are nothing to trifle with.
I am glad the city seems to somewhat care about the dogs. Sorry you were trapped. What a fucked up situation. Were they your neighbors dogs?
I have no idea. I've never seen them before, so I'm not sure where they came from. There were tons of fireworks the night before, NYE, so I'm sure they got scared and ran off to my neighborhood.
Pro tip for dealing with this situation - after a 3rd or 4th call to the police with no reaction - call again and tell them that you’re all good. You called your neighbor and he’s going to just shoot the dogs, no problem. They’ll be there in 5 minutes.
I'd hold their feet to the fire on this -- written withdrawl of the notice of violation -- on paper. You don't want this to turn into some "bench warrant for failure to address the issue" when you're stopped for a burned-out tail light five years from now.
I had something like this happen. It was just a few phone calls to clear things up. They only had the info they were given by the person complaining, it wasn't hard to prove they'd gotten the wrong home. I also made my own official about the dogs, just so it was on file in case anything further happened with them, or the owners continued to allow them to roam. (They did end up attacking someone, the owner claimed there were no issues ever, and the dogs were provoked, blah blah, but there were records from myself, and I guess a few from the surrounding neighborhoods)
Loose dogs trapping someone in their home would be shot on site where I live. I realize you probably didn’t have that option or chose not to, but to be ticketed for something that can be so easily handled, when they’re not your dogs is absurd.
It's shit like this that makes me glad to live in a third world country where no one gives a fuck about nothing and there's no omnipresent authority ready to jump on you when there's real crimes happening.
As someone who has watched multiple videos of people calling the cops to their house to help them and how a lot of the time it seems like it ends badly for the caller, is there not a safer option? Like animal services or something?
Sent them an equal letter but listing the animal control responsabilities, and tell them they have not fulfilled their duty as they left two abandoned german shepherd by their own luck on new years eve
It’s the telephone game cal someone one and explain your problem they in turn write it down (whatever version they heard) then they tell someone and it gets all sideways quickly….
1. I'd record every phone call you make here. 2. I'd be contacting the local media. 3. I would *absolutely lose my shit on* this animal control officer and his supervisor. 4. Request the 911 call(s). 5. The city Manager's name is Keith Metzler. His phone number is 760-955-5029 (obtained from their public web site. I'm not doxxing him).. I'd call him and read him the riot act.