I suppose I should back up a bit.
While I have mentioned my anxiety levels lately, while not fully due to this event, it is certainly partially the cause.
Back in June, Shep and I were chilling out back. Unfortunately, an amazon delivery person opted to bring a package to the back of the house.
Until today, other than 710, one other person and a lawyer, I've said nothing to anyone about this.
She came through a closed gate with no verbal announcement. And also instructions for delivery are to the front door only.
I do not have canine hearing, but Mr. Shep does. He heard her. He got up from his nap and charged her, barking his scary bark the entire way.
Blobby will plead willful ignorance here, and slightly assumed Shep nipped her. However, she said nothing and showed me nothing. Mind you, at the same time - due to tension and being a bit off guard myself - my reaction was to tell her she was not to be back here at all.
Mind you, I called Shep off in seconds and he returned immediately.
I thought that was that until the po-po showed up a half hour later.
Seems the woman went back to her van and called 9-1-1. ....that seemed a bit extreme to me, but that's my take. She called for police, but said no EMS needed. After the cops did the she said - he said thing, I thought everything was done. One half hour later they came back to give me a citation and court date, as the woman decided to prosecute.
Great. Just great.
This set off a lot of things, including the county needing confirmation that Shep didn't have rabies. Vet records and a FaceTime were required.
The other is court appearances for a third degree misdemeanor - culminating in a $750 fine and / or 90 days in jail !!!!
Just let me tell you, seeing 34,092 hours of Law & Order where I thought I could easily represent myself, 710 fought me on that. Also let me tell you, finding a lawyer who represents the homeowner and not the victim is très difficult. They're called 'ambulance chasers' for a reason.
Me, being me, had all the documentation ready to go for the lawyer: screen shots of my delivery preferences on the amazon site. screen shots of the last two years of deliveries from the emails they send when they deliver along with a picture (all at front door). And I had Ring doorbell videos in the back entrance of Shep leaving the porch barking and another coming back like 17 seconds later. There is no view of her with the dog, just of the porch....to which she never made it for delivery.
Part of one lawyer visit was viewing all the discovery - which meant all the bodycam footage from the police officers. Oh yes. Multiple officers. And it is numbing. The process. For whatever reason there was no speed through, so you had to watch them walk from car to door, and door to victim, back to car, back to house.....and so on.
And me stopping myself from standing up and screaming at the screen when the driver talked and said, how I didn't react at all and let the dog attack her for minutes.
17 seconds. 17 seconds including the 4-5 seconds it took him to come back and 4-5 it took him to get to her. So....8-10 seconds total. And I was up out of my seat in 2 seconds.
She continually refused medical care. And she sat there for 90 minutes, which tells me she wasn't truly injured. She even said - on body cam- she wasn't, but the police kept saying she should get checked out.
And not to demean her (kind of), but it took almost 20 minutes to write her statement. Me, it took like 7. So I expected a three page thingy from her. It was less than 25 words. .......in 20 minutes. And 38% of them spelled incorrectly. I get it - the education system sucks. But somewhere between the cops 2nd and 4th visit to her, she went from not wanting to prosecute, to wanting. I'm sure she talked to someone in between, but who can know for sure.
It should be noted that I was being charged with failing to control a dog in a public area.....which was on my own secured and gated property. But they considered our yard to be "the city".
Fuck. That.
Oh, the amazon lady also stated she "ran" from the house. She did not. She stopped, took the pic of the package delivery (in my hand), sent it and walked out.
But the video told me one thing: she was upset because I didn't apologize. She must have mentioned it at least a dozen times. I honestly think that's why she prosecuted. Her nose was bent out of joint. I'm not letting Shep off the hook here, but there wasn't even a puncture wound as far as I could tell.
And she's right, I didn't. I'm also trained if someone hits my car not to immediately say "it's ok" or "I'm alright". I mean, not like Buster Bluth.
I don't need "I'm sorry" to be construed or spun to be a perceived admission of guilt. Again, she said nothing of being bitten to me. And at first she said the same to the cops.
Anyhooo.......the other day was the 'pre-trail' which was via phone and for which I didn't need to be present. My lawyer called me a few minutes after it was done with good news.
I will have to pay her $108.15 urgent care bill and my case will be dismissed with no record.
It is somewhat of a relief, obvi. But if I'm 100% truthful, I hold a little resentment against Shep. He was protecting his property, but I trust him less and less around people. I am 100% on my guard on every walk - and we've decided maybe no more Bow Wow Beach or visitors to the house. We just can't take the risk.
While no one really thought I'd do time, I did fret for a long time that they'd force us to put Shep down. They aren't, but he has a strike on his record with the county. Another one could be a different outcome for him.
We will see if this will do anything for my anxiety. I hope so, but I suspect I'll just replace it with another woe.
Song by: America
