Dog advocate found guilty
From the Altoona Mirror.
Dog advocate found guilty
But Tammy Grimes won’t face jail time
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
POSTED: December 15, 2007
Jake/Doogie
HOLLIDAYSBURG — A jury took less than 30 minutes Friday night to find Tammy Grimes of Tyrone RD 5 guilty of theft and receiving stolen property for taking an ailing, 19-year-old dog named Jake from a yard in East Freedom, then refusing to return him to his owners.
As she emerged from the packed courtroom, Grimes, leader of Dogs Deserve Better, was surrounded by supporters, many using the term “sad” to describe the outcome of the three-day trial.
Grimes was consoled by her mother, Lorena Estep of Flinton, as she said, “I may cry for half an hour, but they can’t keep me down.”
Grimes was not surprised by the verdict, describing the last 15 months like being put on a “railroad,” but her legal charges will not deter her efforts in support of state legislation that will prohibit chaining dogs outside from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Grimes is optimistic that House Bill 1065 eventually will pass.
The end of the trial turns the page in a crusade that has attracted supporters nationwide and enabled her to expand her organization to include 150 representatives in the United States, Canada and France.
The theft case, Grimes said, polarized people. Many supporters rallied around her after her arrest Sept. 11, 2006.
The other side of the story is that a lot of people also used the case “to try to take you down,” Grimes said.
Jake the dog, renamed Doogie by Grimes, was owned by Steven and Lori Arnold of East Freedom.
Grimes became involved when Kim Eicher, a neighbor of the Arnolds, complained to a representative of Dogs Deserve Better that Doogie was prone in the Arnolds’ yard for three days, unable to move and without food and water.
She took the dog to Altoona Veterinary Associates for treatment. The veterinarian there described Jake’s condition as a “two” on a scale of 1 to 10.
Grimes said she never intended to deprive the Arnolds of their dog, but she refused to return the dog to authorities. She insisted they investigate possible animal cruelty charges against the Arnolds.
Instead, Grimes was charged with theft and receiving stolen property.
“People can’t take the law into their own hands,” Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio said after the verdicts.
He has nothing against Grimes’ attempts to free dogs from chains, but “You just can’t go about it as she did.”
Consiglio said several witnesses in the case were threatened by dog-support organizations.
“If I find out who those people are, they are going to regret it,” he said.
Grimes will be sentenced Feb. 22, but Consiglio said she will not face jail time.
Sentencing guidelines recommend probation, he said.
Grimes’ attorney, Phillip O. Robertson, argued Friday that she should be found not guilty because she never intended to deprive the Arnolds of Jake, just obtain medical care for him.
The law, Consiglio said, was clear that dogs are considered personal property and there was no legal justification for taking the dog.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
