December 2, 2007 5:38 AM

Another DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener

Dead Dog Blues: Alan Weisenberg’s old pet Chihuahua was confiscated by Animal Control, and later died. He is now being charged with cruelty to animals for letting it live so long. (thanks to Bob for this one)

DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener #696: Karen Jones

Picture a female named Bambi, age 18 or 19 years old. But before investing too much energy in the wrong image, you should know that Bambi is a dog. A Chihuahua, in fact, equivalent to a centenarian in human terms. So the fact that she died last month really isn’t any surprise, but the fact that her owner’s facing jail time maybe is. It’s an odd tale. On one side there’s Alan Weisenberg, a 58-year-old West Hartford man who is by most accounts a responsible dog owner. Then there’s Karen Jones, a town Animal Control officer who is by most accounts a responsible dog warden. Until Sept. 17, the day Weisenberg says she threatened to arrest him on animal cruelty charges if he didn’t have Bambi euthanized. The dog died in her sleep on Oct. 5, and two weeks later Weisenberg went to the police to turn himself in after learning of an Oct. 16 arrest warrant in his name. Now he’s waiting for his Dec. 11 court date, where he faces up to a year in jail.

Man, this sort of unbridled official stupidity is almost enough to make a Libertarian out of me (I said ALMOST, Bob….). While I can understand that the job of an animal control officer is to protect a community’s animal population from its sometimes irresponsible human population, since when does someone in that role get to determine that a crime is being committed because an owner isn’t euthanizing a pet when said officers deems it necessary and appropriate? Regardless of what you think Alan Weisenberg should have done, it’s really no one else’s business. If an animal is being neglected or mistreated then of course Karen Jones has a responsibility to step into the breach to protect and advocate on behalf of an animal in peril. If it’s matter of personal opinion, which this clearly seems to be, then Jones, while entitle to her opinion, has no right to force it upon others. This is the stuff that DUMB@$$E$ are made of….

If Jones had suspicions about Weisenberg’s treatment of Bambi, then she could have at least done a minimum of due diligence to confirm her suspicions prior to overreacting so egregiously. Surely, Jones is skilled enough to recognize an unfit pet owner when she sees one…after all, that’s part and parcel of her job. Exactly what about Alan Weisenberg said “unfit dog owner”? Jones could have spoken to his neighbors or checked on his other two dogs. Instead, she decided to show Weisenberg who had the power, thus confirming forevermore her standing as a true and deserving DUMB@$$. While it may seem a bit of a stretch to accuse an animal control officer of official oppression, if the shoe fits….

I can’t help but think that there are probably a number of dog owners in West Hartford who legitimately abuse, neglect, and generally mistreat their dogs. These are the people that taxpayers expect Jones to go after. Instead, Jones decides to go on a power trip…and comes off looking like a DUMB@$$. Sounds like someone needs to remember who’s paying her salary, eh?

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on December 2, 2007 5:38 AM.

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This would be funny if so many people didn't consider this Gospel is the next entry in this blog.

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