You go, girl!

Idaho Woman Breaks Into Dog Pound

From Associated PressMay 31, 2006 8:43 PM EDT

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - A northern Idaho woman spent Memorial Day in jail, booked for investigation of burglary and malicious injury to property after police say she forced her way into the local dog pound to free her incarcerated canine.

Coreen Rae Culbreth, 42, was arrested Monday after she was reportedly caught on a security video taking her black Labrador from the Coeur d'Alene Animal Shelter a day earlier, when the facility had been closed.

Culbreth claimed she found an open door, entered and left with her dog - rather than waiting to pay the $40 fine, police said. Police say employees of the shelter told them the door was pried open.

"She said it was a foolish thing to do," Police Officer Mark Knapp said, following Culbreth's arrest. "She knew she would have to pay a fine."

The dog had been taken to the shelter hours before Culbreth retrieved it Sunday, police said. The dog remained at Culbreth's home after she was arrested and taken to the Kootenai County Jail.

A 1st District Court judge in Coeur d'Alene released Culbreth Tuesday on her own recognizance. A hearing is set for mid-June.

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Okay, I know, I shouldn't advocate canine anarchy. I realize this is probably just some low life that didn't want to pay the $40 fine. But little pisses pooch owners off more profoundly than someone messing with their canines. I know.
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In February, my boyfriend was visiting from Missouri. We were out working in the yard when the dogs decided to tussle over a piece of coated wire. We got in the middle, a stupid thing to do, and both of us got bitten. At my boyfriend's insistence, because this ain't my first rodeo and clorox works great, we went into the doctor and almost as soon as we arrived, so did the canine police.
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They were great, actually, and because I was able to ferret out current rabies shots on both the terrorists, I was able to impound them at home. They even let me send Oz, who admittedly didn't start the fight, to Pat's house to stay so they could both cool off.
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But I was royally p.o.ed, at the county's intrusion into what was clearly a dog bite from a dog I owned. I was also disgusted that the doctor's office staff didn't tell me when I called to make the appointment that they'd have to call the police.
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The officer told me that it was owners breaking up fights that was the case with most of the bites he saw. But in the county's ultimate wisdom, they rushed right out to set the matter right, dog against man.
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If they had impounded the dogs I would have been heartbroken and I was pretty upset as it was. I don't know that I wouldn't have done what this woman did, because for me the fear of jail (been there, done that) keeps me walking a pretty straight line. (Incidentally, that's what law was originally intended to do, I think, keep people in line so that we could all live in happy little bunches. See how well it's working?)
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Maybe there's a group out there--the Canine Liberation Front. Or maybe there should be. I'm back on my former soapbox, though. Doesn't the state, defenders of our freedom, er, supposedly, have better things to do than incarcerate recalcitrant canines? I guess not.
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So until tomorrow, it's one paw clenched in canine solidarity.