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76-year-old Northern Neck woman avoids jail in dog-napping case, but is fined $25 Date published: 9/12/2009
BY FRANK DELANO A Northern Neck woman has been fined $25 for taking in a deerhound brought to her animal shelter in 2005. A Richmond County jury imposed the fine Thursday after finding Annie L. Davis guilty of a misdemeanor that prohibits the temporary taking or use of an animal worth less than $200 without the owner's permission. Davis, who operates the shelter at her home near Warsaw for the Northern Neck Humane Society, was originally charged with larceny of a dog, a felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Davis, 76, said she was "heartbroken" over the verdict. She said her court costs and legal fees total about $10,000. "I'm the only person in the Northern Neck with a no-kill animal shelter, and this is the thanks I get for trying to help mistreated animals," she said. Donald C. Clark Jr. of Montross testified at the trial that the dog was Hunter, a deerhound that he and other members of a hunt club could not retrieve after a hunt Dec. 5, 2007. The dog showed up the next day at the home of Theresa E. Gordon of Callao. Gordon found Clark's telephone number on the dog's collar and called him to pick it up. When he was slow to arrive, Gordon took the dog to Davis. Gordon was fined $500 last year when she pleaded guilty to taking the dog without permission and removing its radio collar. Clark found the collar in a pond near Davis' home. Davis testified that the dog was Sawyer, a rescued hound that had escaped from her kennel two months before. "The dog was mine," Davis said. Former Richmond County Animal Control Officer Keith Herbert said Davis refused to allow him and a deputy to search her house for the dog. While waiting for a search warrant, Herbert said he saw the front door of Davis' house open and the dog come out. Davis, a retired medical secretary and the humane society's adoption officer, said she funds the shelter largely from her pension. She testified that 31 dogs and 20 cats, all "abused, neglected or abandoned," are currently at the shelter. "I take them in, love them, cuddle them, feed them, retrain them and adopt them out," she said. "If it were not for Annie, we wouldn't have a humane society," said Larry Hinson, the society's president. Frank Delano: 804/761-4300
Sounds like the typical actions of PETA zealots. They don't like hunting or hunters, so they claim the dogs are abused. This reminiscent of the Spotsy case last year that ZBOS member Marshall should have stayed out of!
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