Bronte Has a House

doghouseI built this for our constituents, so they’ll feel happy that Bronte has a proper house. So far, she seems pretty disinterested in it, even in the rain. We’ll see if she feels like she needs it!

A few days ago, we looked out the kitchen window to see a tall man hopping over the locked gate in the pasture. I tell ya, people just seem to think they’re alone out there, and free to do whatever they want. I trotted down there, unnoticed by him, caught his attention as he was coaxing the dog (who was having nothing to do with him). I said, “excuse me, sir,ย would you like toย tell me what you’re doing in our pasture?”

He suddenly became awkward and embarrassed. He claimed he was from the Sheriff’s office (shoot, later I wish I would have demanded to see his ID so I could have ratted him out for searching without a warrant!). He said was having dinner at a nearby restaurant when a woman talked him into checking up on the dog. She told him there was a puppy tied up in an abandoned field with no food, water or shelter.

He acknowledged that what she described was not at all what he saw, that he was picturing a tiny puppy tied on a short rope in squalid conditions. Not an 80-pound, woolly, well-fed guard dog in a 4-acre green pasture. He confirmed the dog looked healthy and not in conditions that are anywhere near what would be legally concerning. He groaned that people often call the Sheriff over supposed animal abuse cases that turn out to be false alarms, wasting their time that could be better spent on real crimes.

I offered to give him my phone number to pass on to the concerned citizen, if she wanted to talk. But he shook his head, and said he’s straighten her out. He apologized for trespassing, made his excuses and quickly skedaddled.

4 thoughts on “Bronte Has a House

  1. bruce king says:

    The sheriffs dept isn’t who gets called for animal cases — it’s the animal control. I know, because I’m on a first name basis with all of them from concerned citizen calls about my pigs.

    Always ask for ID if they identify themselves as law enforcement, and if they cannot supply, get their license number. If the guy is interested enough to enter a locked gate, he’ll be back. If he is a sheriff he knows better than that.

    My guess? Dog thief. Had two of my dogs stolen around christmas. got them back, but only because the bastard wanted to ransom them back to me. Police caught him at the dropoff, and he was convicted last month. Possession of stolen property.

    • workingcollies says:

      Yeah, we’ve had Animal Control out too, and that guy was very official and polite, providing his ID up-front. He was cool, he laughed off the complaint that our sheep were cold, joking “well, they DO have wool!” ๐Ÿ™‚

      This fence-jumper guy acknowledged that this wasn’t a formal complaint, this was someone who knew him who arm-twisted him to do an informal check-out because they knew it was on his way home for where he was dining with his wife (and she was standing outside the car waiting for him, in the driveway). They appeared to be well-off people, not your typical horse thieves. ๐Ÿ™‚

      He rattled off enough stuff that either he was a super good liar, or he really did work there, as he joked about some of the other silly animal complaints they’d had, and he knew the laws well regarding animal welfare. I wondered about it later that he didn’t provide ID, but I think it was because he was off duty and trespassing, so I think he was just trying to fast-talk his way out of a tight spot. As I was talking to him, at least he did not trigger any gut-feel bad instincts from me that he was not who he said he was. I could be wrong, but I hate to be “conspiracy theory.” I just wish I would have thought to ask, it would make me feel better now.

      My inclination at the moment was to let it slide, since he had decided not to make trouble for me, he apoligized for hopping the fence, and he was very polite. I *think* he was genuine, and was just caught red-handed using poor judgment to jump a fence, because at the moment, he probably figured nobody would see him… I’m sure he’s not the first cop to make such a decision. ๐Ÿ™‚

      And, fortunately, I think that dog would be pretty hard to steal, not only is she hard to catch, she doesn’t walk on a leash, and is freakin’ heavy to lug around! ๐Ÿ˜› The sheep are the same way, it would take some serious determination by multiple people to catch them and load them, without the help of a stock dog. I read about your crazy dog ransom situation though, man, that is seriously frustrating. It has made me more aware, and we do keep all our outside gates locked, so at least it’s not convenient to get in. I’m glad at least they caught your dog theif guy!!
      Michelle

  2. bruce king says:

    The thing about con men and good thieves is that they inspire confidence. Who would give money to madoff if he didn’t come across as a standup guy? The three or four confidence guys I’ve known have all been personable and funny and glib. I make it a practice to get the license plate number of anyone I have a run-in with.

    The latest call about my pigs was that the troughs were too high for the pigs to drink out of.

    This woman appeared at my farm gate offering to give me an RV that her husband willed to me after his death, and could she borrow $600 to pay off a plumber who was being rude to her?
    http://heraldnet.com/article/20081016/NEWS01/710169853
    http://heraldnet.com/article/20081017/NEWS01/710179893

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