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Woman Arrested for Not Renewing $35 Dog License
Being a busy mom and surgical nurse, Becky Rehr of Kalamazoo County, Mich., kept forgetting to renew the license for her family’s 11-year-old springer/border collie mix. She finally turned in the paperwork on June 18 but a few days later received an arrest warrant from the local government. Not renewing a dog license is a criminal offense in this corner of southwestern Michigan.
While running errands with her 14-year-old daughter, Rehr swung by the sheriff’s office to show Johnny Law her $35 receipt and clear up the trivial matter. She was shocked when they took her mug shot, fingerprints, and tossed her into a holding cell at the county jail.
“They frisked me and put me in this intake cell with all these inmates in orange jumpsuits,” Rehr said. “I was pretty nervous.” It took three hours before CSI: Kalamazoo released her on a $100 bond so she could return to her daughter who had been waiting in the family car.
Her co-workers at Bronson Methodist Hospital “think I’m kidding,” said Rehr, who is a surgical nurse. “They think there’s no way this is how we’re spending our tax dollars.”
Criminal charges for not renewing a dog license are allowed under the Kalamazoo County animal control ordinance.
Steve Lawrence, director of Kalamazoo County Animal Control, said the agency seeks arrest warrants about “four or five times a month” for people who haven’t renewed a dog license. The county has 32,000 licensed dogs.
“We’re not looking to punish people,” Lawrence said. “We’re just looking for people to get their dog license.”
“Government” is just another word for the dog owners we arrest together.
Today, Rehr was hauled before a district court judge for her slow renewal of the dog license, a crime punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine. Beforehand, she had called several lawyers for advice; some said she should hire an attorney to fight the case while others counseled her to plead guilty and pray the court cleared her record sometime in the future. Her only previous legal violation was a speeding ticket.
After her story was published in the Kalamazoo Gazette — and later picked up nationally by the Associated Press — the County Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the case and the judge agreed. Publicizing the petty excesses of local bureaucrats embarrassed the County enough to do the right thing.
Rehr shared the good news via an email to the local newspaper. “No court and total dismissal!!!!!” she said. “I don’t have to go to court and I get my bond money back. I’m free!!!!”
No word yet if Kalamazoo County will revisit their ridiculous criminal code or fire their power-mad personnel.
Published in Law
I am a bureaucrat. This is why people hate us.
I would have turned this over to collections like any other massively overdue payment, after charging late fees.
It was made a criminal matter by ordinance of the county. I don’t think you can turn such matters over to a collection agency, can you? There is some room to question whether the method of enforcement was as good as it can be, but I doubt that a collection agency is an option.
I find it interesting that it is a criminal matter in Kalamazoo County, but I still would like to know how common that is, and what the reason is.
I am not willing to sit here in the next county to the east and proclaim that this or that is the best way to handle these issues. I am suspicious that those Ricocheters who are willing to make such sweeping judgments on the basis of scanty information are the same ones who would be willing to enact a uniform national method of handling animal control issues, which would further weaken the crazy patchwork of state and local regulations that is the only basis for hope of getting our federal system of government back.
There is no requirement to seek a warrant for arrest if you know someone has committed a crime. That’s actual, normal prosecutorial discretion there.
I have had two or three experiences with local government bureaucracy in my life. All of them were extremely difficult. There was always some rule that did not make sense that the bureaucrat was intent on enforcing to the letter no matter how much harm was caused. If you have read ” The Death of Common Sense” by Philip K Howard you know what I mean.
My experience with township government has been good, but that’s the government that’s closest to the people. I’m a Republican in a heavily Democratic, blue-collar area, and know of only one Republican who has ever been elected to the township board. That hasn’t caused any problems. When I first moved here I tried to avoid things like building permits, but when I couldn’t reasonably do that, I learned that the township people were very helpful, even though I tend to go about things in non-standard ways. I also found them to be good in correcting problems with our tax assessment. It’s not all like a Norman Rockwell painting, but I’m glad to support Michigan townships in protecting township government from encroachment by the state, as has happened in other states.
Siberian hamster – filigree.
Kill the dog, have CPS take her children. Nobody will be late on a fine again. What is the use of having power if you do not use it.
Who made the decision to arrest? It sounds like it was the sheriff. What is the sheriff’s name?
Steve Lawrence, the animal control guy is the only one named (and seems bad enough, defending a law that arrests 1 in 600 dog owners every year!) It is the sheriff who out to be embarrassed.