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Chicken eatin’ dog! I pulled my Colt, thumbed a hot one under the hammer and drew a tight sight... Who was I kidding? I can’t shoot a dog. Even though Carolyn had put Oreo on finger pointing, threat of death probation no less then three times for killing chickens, I just couldn’t do it. Instead, I yelled, Oreo dropped the bird and ran for cover.
To add to that sad situation, last night, my friend, Sammy came by to say “Happy New Year” and to tell me of a tragic incident in which his dog “Tuff” was involved. Several nights ago Tuff, a red healer, came running home with a chicken in his mouth, one of our chickens. Sammy, with the vigor of a defense attorney about to lose his case, pleads the dog’s innocence with nearly a straight face. He pointed out, “We may be jumping to conclusions assuming the dog killed this chicken. Because Tuff had the chicken in his mouth doesn’t mean he killed it. He could’ve been trying to get the chicken much needed help.”
As Sammy buried himself deeper into his plea, my mind drifted back to work and the lawsuits and notices of Tort Claims that have come across my desk lately. Once they hit my office they become public record, allowing me to talk about that part of the action.
Attorney Adam Rafkin has filed a federal case on behalf of Dean Shelby who, according to the DA, is in some “undisclosed” prison. Rafkin has filed 5 charges against Chief Bird, Officer Haskins, and Judge Roehrig. 1st charge, of course, is violating Shelby’s Civil Rights. Rafkin claims officers told Shelby not to have “any contact with Mr. Randy Spear” and this order “violated Plaintiff’s right to freedom of association, as guaranteed by the federal constitution.” Rafkin charges Battery in the 2nd count, “by virtue of their (officers) handcuffing and arresting him (Shelby)...” I wonder if Rafkin was laughing when he wrote, “At no time was the harmful or offensive touching of Plaint iff (Shelby) by Defendants (cops) consented to by Plaintiff” Count 3 Rafkin charges the cops of Malicious Prosecution, saying, “Defendants improperly and maliciously instituted criminal prosecution against Plaintiff..” Rafkin charges Wrongful Arrest in count 4, and that the cops “arrested Plaint iff without probable cause.” Court 5 charges False Imprisonment, saying, “Defendants Bird and Haskins did falsely imprison Plaint iff as they had no probable cause to arrest him and thereafter restrict his freedom and movement.”
I tried to listen to Sammy’s “the dog didn’t do it” defense but instead my mind wandered and I wondered if Shelby’s accelerator stuck causing him to do 70 MPH through town. Since he made several passes he must have been praying for someone to rescue him. Did he run from the police and hide under a house
because he feared he would be misunderstood? Shelby’s attorney says Chief Bird arrested Shelby for DWI but never “administered any field sobriety test and never administered a blood alcohol test to Plaintiff..”
“Steve, we can’t be sure about this chicken killing business,” Sammy said, snapping me back to the chicken caper. Was he right? If we apply lawyer-logic, even though I saw Oreo with a chicken in her mouth, shaking it and feathers flying and when I yelled she ran but I never tested the dog to see if in fact she had eaten chicken. Could I be sure she killed the chicken? Dogs have rights too. When I laid hands on her catching her was I guilty of Battery? Was it Wrongful Arrest and False Imprisonment to put her up to save the chickens? Were the dog’s Civil Rights violated in restricting her movements to prevent her from continuing this unchecked chicken killing rampage?
The dog thing didn’t hold my interest long. I thought of the December 1 letter from Adam Rafkin, again. Informing me his client Jimmy (Corky) McEuen planned to sue because, “While the Mayor’s report does not identify my client by name, it identifies Christine Alanis as his stepdaughter and identified his address at the same time as being 412 Second Street in Capitan.” That was the report I told you of the counterfeiting, stolen ID’s, drugs, and Hondo School’s stolen computer.
Then there’s the November 30th letter from Randy Spear’s attorney, you guessed it, Adam Rafkin, informing me he planned to sue me for “defamation”. Rafkin says in the November 2005 Mayor’s Report I said, “That Dean Shelby advised the police that my client consumes illegal drugs and that he distributes same.” 1 don’t know what Mayor’s Report he read but I wrote, “Shelby told police, ‘...he had witnessed and participated in the smoking of Marijuana with Agent--- in the past’. “ A direct quote from a Capitan Police Memo Report dated 7/14/05. I didn’t mention the agent’s name or that he “distributes” drugs. I found it interesting that nearly 10 officers have come and gone through the Taskforce in the past 5 years and Randy Spear threatens a law suit. Equally baffling is that Shelby, Corky and Spear have the same attorney, Adam Rafkin.
But I couldn’t think about that, this chicken eatin’ dog thing was what was eating on me now. When I yelled at Oreo I didn’t call her by name but she knew she was wrong and dropped the chicken and ran. Are the dogs really chicken eaters? “Tuff’s a good dog and only runs with bad dogs to do good and save chickens,” Sammy’s voice broke into my thoughts. “So what’ll we do?”
What do you do with a’n “alleged” chicken eatin’ dog? You can’t shoot them, it does no good to threaten them, you won’t shame them into doing right, and a dog is just a dog. Do the chicken eatin’ dogs have more rights then chickens? What should I do? It’s confusing. Maybe I should just pat the dogs on the head, pretending not to see how sorry they’ve become and let the chickens fend for themselves.