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http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100126/NEWS01/701269999/-1/NEWS
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Article published at MonroeNews.com on Jan 26, 2010
Two sides of a story
For years, Jan Jay says, he has been fighting nuisance dogs that wander onto his rural property in Exeter Township and kill his livestock.But a neighbor said he’s gone too far after he shot her two dogs at point-blank range, leaving one with pellet marks across its body and another that might be permanently blind."He could have shot in the air," said an emotional Daphnia Davis, the dogs’ owner, who lives on Exeter Rd. about a mile from the Jay property. "He didn’t have to shoot them in the face."But Mr. Jay said he was defending himself from attack. He also said he was trying to protect his geese from the two dogs that came onto his property last week. He said at first he shooed them away with a rake but opened fire as the two dogs aggressively came toward him."I was petrified," Mr. Jay said. "The dogs attacked me."A Monroe County sheriff’s deputy investigated the incident. On Monday, Monroe County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Brown said he reviewed the case and decided not to file criminal charges because he believes Mr. Jay did not break any laws."The dogs were shot on his property," Mr. Brown said. "The geese were cornered. There were no conflicting statements."The decision not to file charges was upsetting to Mrs. Davis and Trina Stillwagon, shelter manager at the Humane Society of Monroe County. Ms. Stillwagon became involved in the case when she and her staff helped find and nurse the injured dogs."They’re clearly friendly dogs," Ms. Stillwagon said. "It’s disappointing. These dogs were no bother to anyone."An outspoken critic of many government issues over the years, Mr. Jay said he has probably lost 200 birds, such as geese and ducks, in the past decade from stray dogs wandering onto his property and attacking his livestock."Everybody loves to bring their dogs to the country and dump them," he said. "This is nothing new."He wasn’t familiar with the dogs and he and Mrs. Davis said they don’t know each other. Mr. Jay said the dogs were going after his geese so he rapped them on the head with a rake. Shortly afterward he says he was in his driveway when the dogs, which he said were staring at him from the road, came after him. Mr. Jay said he used his walker to try to keep them away, but then he pulled out his .410 caliber handgun."I pumped a round into it," he said. "The other came at me so I pumped a round into it."Mr. Jay, who has a concealed weapon permit, says he legally carries a handgun for protection. After firing at the dogs, he called Monroe County Central Dispatch.Mrs. Davis describes her dogs as friendly and passive. The larger of the two, Brodie, is a 3½-year-old golden retriever-lab mix. The smaller is Rags, an 8-month-old Australian shepherd that she and Humane Society workers describe as timid.Both dogs survived the shooting and were nursed back to health at the Humane Society office on N. Telegraph Rd. Ms. Stillwagon said Brodie is blind and will need to be retrained with his owners. Rags, which had a large area of his body shaved to remove the pellets from the gunshot blast, is back home."They’re not ferocious," Mrs. Davis said while playing with her two pets. "They’re mild and gentle."Mrs. Davis said Mr. Jay’s story doesn’t make any sense because she, too, has chickens, ducks and turkeys on her property and the dogs never bother them."These dogs are out there with those animals all the time," Mrs. Davis said. "They’ve never bothered any of those animals."Mrs. Davis said she keeps the dogs penned, but they must have escaped. She said she searched for days for her dogs going door-to-door in the area between Carleton and Maybee but couldn’t find them.Ms. Stillwagon and her crew also searched for the dogs and eventually found them injured and bloodied. She said it took thousands of dollars to care for the dogs. One was located at the Monroe County Animal Control pen."We were happy to help those dogs reunite with their family," Ms. Stillwagon said. "I’m proud of my staff."Assistant Prosecutor Brown cited a 1919 law that allows property owners to use force to protect their livestock from dogs. He said owners who lose livestock to predators like wild dogs are entitled to compensation from the county, but Mr. Jay said he has received very little money for his losses over the years.Mrs. Davis believes Mr. Jay was cruel to her dogs and was upset that he will not be charged criminally."That’s unfair," she said, her voice shaking. "That’s very unfair."
http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100126/NEWS01/701269999/-1/NEWS
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.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage
{font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;}
Article published at MonroeNews.com on Jan 26, 2010
Two sides of a story
For years, Jan Jay says, he has been fighting nuisance dogs that wander onto his rural property in Exeter Township and kill his livestock.But a neighbor said he’s gone too far after he shot her two dogs at point-blank range, leaving one with pellet marks across its body and another that might be permanently blind."He could have shot in the air," said an emotional Daphnia Davis, the dogs’ owner, who lives on Exeter Rd. about a mile from the Jay property. "He didn’t have to shoot them in the face."But Mr. Jay said he was defending himself from attack. He also said he was trying to protect his geese from the two dogs that came onto his property last week. He said at first he shooed them away with a rake but opened fire as the two dogs aggressively came toward him."I was petrified," Mr. Jay said. "The dogs attacked me."A Monroe County sheriff’s deputy investigated the incident. On Monday, Monroe County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Brown said he reviewed the case and decided not to file criminal charges because he believes Mr. Jay did not break any laws."The dogs were shot on his property," Mr. Brown said. "The geese were cornered. There were no conflicting statements."The decision not to file charges was upsetting to Mrs. Davis and Trina Stillwagon, shelter manager at the Humane Society of Monroe County. Ms. Stillwagon became involved in the case when she and her staff helped find and nurse the injured dogs."They’re clearly friendly dogs," Ms. Stillwagon said. "It’s disappointing. These dogs were no bother to anyone."An outspoken critic of many government issues over the years, Mr. Jay said he has probably lost 200 birds, such as geese and ducks, in the past decade from stray dogs wandering onto his property and attacking his livestock."Everybody loves to bring their dogs to the country and dump them," he said. "This is nothing new."He wasn’t familiar with the dogs and he and Mrs. Davis said they don’t know each other. Mr. Jay said the dogs were going after his geese so he rapped them on the head with a rake. Shortly afterward he says he was in his driveway when the dogs, which he said were staring at him from the road, came after him. Mr. Jay said he used his walker to try to keep them away, but then he pulled out his .410 caliber handgun."I pumped a round into it," he said. "The other came at me so I pumped a round into it."Mr. Jay, who has a concealed weapon permit, says he legally carries a handgun for protection. After firing at the dogs, he called Monroe County Central Dispatch.Mrs. Davis describes her dogs as friendly and passive. The larger of the two, Brodie, is a 3½-year-old golden retriever-lab mix. The smaller is Rags, an 8-month-old Australian shepherd that she and Humane Society workers describe as timid.Both dogs survived the shooting and were nursed back to health at the Humane Society office on N. Telegraph Rd. Ms. Stillwagon said Brodie is blind and will need to be retrained with his owners. Rags, which had a large area of his body shaved to remove the pellets from the gunshot blast, is back home."They’re not ferocious," Mrs. Davis said while playing with her two pets. "They’re mild and gentle."Mrs. Davis said Mr. Jay’s story doesn’t make any sense because she, too, has chickens, ducks and turkeys on her property and the dogs never bother them."These dogs are out there with those animals all the time," Mrs. Davis said. "They’ve never bothered any of those animals."Mrs. Davis said she keeps the dogs penned, but they must have escaped. She said she searched for days for her dogs going door-to-door in the area between Carleton and Maybee but couldn’t find them.Ms. Stillwagon and her crew also searched for the dogs and eventually found them injured and bloodied. She said it took thousands of dollars to care for the dogs. One was located at the Monroe County Animal Control pen."We were happy to help those dogs reunite with their family," Ms. Stillwagon said. "I’m proud of my staff."Assistant Prosecutor Brown cited a 1919 law that allows property owners to use force to protect their livestock from dogs. He said owners who lose livestock to predators like wild dogs are entitled to compensation from the county, but Mr. Jay said he has received very little money for his losses over the years.Mrs. Davis believes Mr. Jay was cruel to her dogs and was upset that he will not be charged criminally."That’s unfair," she said, her voice shaking. "That’s very unfair."