I am actually accused of being a criminal. I currently have five criminal charges pending with the State of Arizona and Mohave County, all class two misdemeanors which carry with them a potential fine of up to $750, up to four months in jail and up to two years of probation for having one dog over the kennel limit (I have five) and for not having four of them licensed. Really, criminal charges for dogs!
Mohave County and the State of Arizona require dog licenses as do most states and local governments. The cost for obtaining the license varies depending on whether the dog is altered or not; all but one of mine is altered. The cost for obtaining the four dog licenses was:
–$750 for one ‘beater’ automobile capable of making the trip to the Humane Society of Mohave County. I ride a scooter and my husband rides a motorcycle, we didn’t have a car.
–Five extra hours of my time working to make up for the day I had to take off of work to go to court.
–$40 gas
–Wear and tear on the car during the 400 mile round trip drive to the Mohave County Humane Society
–$61 for four dog licenses
Did you get the part where it says the “400 mile round trip?” Yes, in Mohave County, a first time dog license can only be obtained in person at the Mohave County Humane Society, in Kingman, AZ. It’s 198 miles one way to the Humane Society.
My court date was set for Dec. 20 in Kingman, AZ. I arrived at 10 a.m. as specified on the citation. There was another lady and her son who also live in the Arizona Strip in court for the same thing, no animal licenses.
We were both sent to the wrong court. We should have been in Colorado City, AZ but the Animal Control Officer checked the wrong box on both of our tickets, which were both issued the same day by the same person.
There was no possible way that we could leave there at 10 a.m. and appear, on time, in Colorado City at 10 a.m. The court allowed us to wait until both courts had completed their daily docket and then we met with the judge via video. The other family went first while I listened.
I was fully prepared to plead guilty with an explanation to the license charges; I didn’t know yet what I wanted to do on the kennel charge. I don’t run a kennel, my dogs were rescues to begin with, adopted out of the Mesquite Shelter or taken in because they were a well-passed around stray and needed a forever home. I don’t breed, I don’t sell, I simply have.
According to Mohave County it just takes having one dog over the limit to be considered a kennel. It doesn’t specify whether it’s within city limits or not. I live two streets from a chicken farm, four streets over from a cattle/horse farm and down the street from another of the same. There are no limits on farm animals, only on dogs.
As the judge began talking with the other family and listing the possible penalties I knew I couldn’t possibly plead guilty on the kennel charge. It was going to break me just paying for the license fines.
When it was my turn, I plead not guilty on the kennel charge and guilty on the license charges. This is where it really gets good.
The court wouldn’t allow me to split the pleas. I had to plead either guilty on all five or not; I plead not. They set a pre-trial date for Jan. 30 where they will offer me a plea. I can change my plea or we go forward. My pre-trial is also set to take place over the telephone.
Yes, I said telephone.
According to my court paperwork, “Due to the nature of the case and/or the distance you may have to travel, the court is authorizing that this conference can be held by phone.” It’s still a criminal case, tried by phone. I have a three hour window on Jan. 30 in which I have to call the County Prosecutor.
I can go to trial via telephone but I can’t obtain a dog license online?
With technology the way it is today there is no excuse for Mohave County to have this issue. All other counties in Arizona allow you to apply for a dog license at least by mail or online. Mohave County allows you to renew a dog license by mail but you can’t initially obtain one any way other than appearing in person. I don’t know why. There is no special information needed for a first time license that isn’t required for renewal.
I got the dog licenses that day. I stood quietly while they plugged the rabies vaccine information for the dogs into the computer and then printed out the licenses one by one. I just had to be there, in person, for that.
Mohave County has satellite offices in Beaver Dam/Littlefield where they carry on a plethora of business to include county inspections and the Sheriff’s Office; why not dog licenses at least twice yearly? If there are no provisions, how can we be penalized?
If the court deems it too far to drive 140 (round trip) miles to appear in court in person then why isn’t it too far to drive 400 miles to the Mohave County Humane Society for a $12 dog license that can’t be obtained any other way but in person and is archived in a database on a computer?
Mohave County makes it pretty tough on dog owners who live in the Arizona Strip. They force us to become criminals. It is insane to expect someone to take a day off of work and drive 400 miles each time you decide you want to adopt a new dog. Every new dog requires you to take that same trip for an initial license. What if you don’t or can’t drive?
It is because of this insane practice that the Arizona Strip has become a dumping ground for unwanted animals. We have no animal control provisions here and something needs to change. I’m not accepting a plea bargain. Make licensing my dogs accessible to me and if I don’t comply then you can call me a criminal.
I will take this petty crime to trial if I must. I don’t know if I can make a difference in this travesty of justice, but something has got to give.
Oh, let me guess:
¿ Did one of your neighbors call animal control because they are sick of all the barking and howling going on all hours of the day and night? Or could it be the smell of five poo monsters, that isn’t being maintained?
Another guess:
You “adopted” a stray dog, or one otherwise not licensed with Mohave County? Gee wouldn’t it be nice if someone attempted to control the proliferation of stray animals? Mandatory neutering and spaying, prevents a lot of animal suffering!
Just a few thoughts from someone who loves animals, but despises a lot of irresponsible domestic animal owners!
I offer my apologizes if none of my suspicions are true, but will you be honest if they are?
Wow Mark. Either you know the writer personally (and/)or are seriously missing the point about what was said. Makes me sad that angry, mean people like you are in my community. What we need is more understanding and empathy, no vitriol and anger, toward our neighbors.
Peace and love to you.
Terri
Thank you Terri, no, he doesn’t know me. He’s just assuming.
Offer them up then Mark! Anybody who knows my husband or myself knows better and I’m fairly well known.
Nope, My dogs are adopted out of the Mesquite Shelter, or they were abandoned or very sick animals to begin with. One of them was going to be euthanized because he was burned over 20% of his body when he was only about 16 weeks old. I found him, turned him in to the shelter because I didn’t know if he had more serious injuries or not. They kept me informed. He didn’t have any broken bones but would require a lenghty and expensive treatment for the burns and they couldn’t justify that for one animal when the time and money could potentially help so many more that were healthy. I wouldn’t let them kill him. I adopted him back…paid the money, vet bill, shot and license fee for Mesquite and took him home. For the next three months we soaked him twice a day on work days and three times a day on the weekends then scrubbed (debrided) his burns so they’d heal properly and wouldn’t scab over then we’d apply the topical antibiotics. He got oral antibiotic for the first two weeks as well because his body was also racked with infection. We healed my healer just about 5 years ago now…no, I’m not the irresponsible one. I’m out here saving those that are otherwise discarded. Should I tell you about the very small, still barely alive, kitten I had to take to Dr. Peggy because someone threw it out of a car window at 75 miles an hour? If I’m willing to go through all of this for my animals, do you seriously think I’d allow them to wallow around in their own poo? NEVER!! They have blankets so they don’t have to lay on the cold cement…get serious~
You most definitely owe me an apology…and you’re forgiven.
Nope I’m not irresponsible with my animals, they are far too important to me but I still think it’s completely unreasonable for Mohave County not to provide a way for us to comply with their licensing laws without having to drive 400 miles to do it.
No they don’t bard outside for ANY length of time, drives my husband crazy…he’ll allow them to alert but that’s it. He is also dilligent about cleaning up after them as well. We have a 6 ft. privacy fence around a quarter of an acre…
No, the neighbor called because a stray pitbull broke through my fence, twice…the first time at 3 a.m. we were able to hunt down his owner, this time the owner moved…we turned him into the shelter but had to keep him for about 4-5 hours until my daughter came home from work and we could see if we could take him back home…she returned him before, we didn’t. Anyway…the dog was in my car for about 10 minutes after my daughter came home and told us that the trailer the dog lived in was abandoned. Mohave County couldn’t come to pick him up right away so we took him into the Mesquite Shelter. So when he broke in, for the second time, it allowed three of my dogs to break out and they had a party running down the street. I have a Great Dane, Great Dane/Akita Mix and an Aussie/Border Collie mix as well and with the three of them and the pitbull running amok, the neighbor got scared about the dogs…she’d been attacked before, years ago…We’ve since talked and she’s really sorry but they did scare her and she just couldn’t bring herself to come over and tell us because the dogs were here. She didn’t even know the pit bull wasn’t ours…actually she didn’t know if they were actually my dogs or not. I’ve got a 6 foot privacy fence around a quarter of an acre…she’s never seen them in the ten years I’ve lived here and had to check my pictures to see if mine were actually the dogs she saw. I don’t deny that they were but if she hadn’t seen my dogs in all these years, mine aren’t the problem. The stray pit was.
I love animals…we even felt bad about having to drop the pit bull off in and leave him overnight in an outdoor shelter so we bought him two brand new blankets to cuddle up in before we left him. He was a good dog but I’m responsible enough to have the number of animals I can comfortably handle. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to just sit back and leave an animal to starve, suffer or otherwise, I will find them help and have far too many time than I’d like to count because it means that there were that many mistreated/injured/abandoned/suffering animals. I keep in close contact with the shelter volunteers and We Care for Animals so if there is an animal in need someone can help it. Sometimes that someone is me, sometimes I can’t and someone else needs to step in. I’m willing to be a part of the solution, not the problem. I am livid that there is one in the first place.
You said that four of the five dogs you have were adopted from the Mesquite Shelter and the other one was a stray that you took in. You also said, “The cost for obtaining the license varies depending on whether the dog is altered or not; ALL BUT ONE OF MINE ARE ALTERED.”
Everyone knows when you adopt a dog from a shelter they are spayed or neutered before adoption. So the four that are fixed were already that way when you got them. Apparently the one you brought in as a stray is the one not fixed. What that seems to show is that you, personally, aren’t willing to pay out money and be a responsible dog owner and get ALL of your dogs fixed. Just the ones that someone else pays for (the shelter). No wonder you’re so angry at Mohave County for their “inconvenient ordinances”. You’re presenting yourself as such an animal lover, yet when it comes right down to it, you’re happy to “love” them as long as you don’t have to pay out money to get them fixed, get them vaccinated or license them. What a shame you’ve lumped yourself into the same category as so many other supposed “animal lovers”. To really be a true animal lover, you do whatever it takes to make sure that animal is taken care of all the way. Not just part way. ALL the way. And that includes vaccinations, spay/neuter and licensing. If your dogs are not licensed and aren’t wearing their tags, do you realize that if they were to get loose they could possibly be hit by a car? Or even worse, they could end up biting someone and then they would be picked up by animal control, quarantined for 10 days at either a shelter or vet’s office and since there would be no way to find out who the owner was, your dog may end up at a shelter that only holds dogs 3 days before euthanizing or adopting out. Another frightening scenario is, you mentioned you live near a chicken farm and a farm with livestock like horses and cattle. If your dogs were even seen in the pens or pasture, just running after the livestock or trying to get in the chicken coop, Arizona law allows the owner of the livestock/fowl to SHOOT YOUR DOG ON SIGHT. You could lose one of your beloved dogs so easily that way. You need to re-think your opinion about this issue and adjust your attitude to a more pro-active, caring owner, not just one who collects dogs and pours food in their bowl with no concern for their health and safety or safety of others.