Community, officials at odds over free-roaming dog

[Removed #1]

http://start.toshiba.com/news/read.php?rip_id=<D9V3B4381@news.ap.org>&ps=931

By JERI CLAUSING Associated Press The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Blue the dog doesn't have a home. And he apparently doesn't want one. But the blue-eyed Australian cattle dog has $1,800 in savings, a Facebook page and an air-conditioned dog house.

He also has a lawyer, who is working to get him an exemption from local leash laws so he can continue his free-wheeling lifestyle in southern New Mexico's lakeside community of Elephant Butte, where he was abandoned as a puppy a decade ago.

The City Council has scheduled a June 13 meeting, where supporters of Blue, who is also known as Bluedog, hope to end an impasse over his fate.

Janice Conner, co-owner of Butte General Store and Marina, says it all began about 10 years ago when the dog was abandoned at Casa Taco, where Blue was cared for by the owner until he died two years ago.

After that, Blue made his way to the general store, where he was fed and peacefully coexisted until last spring, when a 48-year-old woman was fatally mauled by pit bulls in nearby Truth or Consequences.

After that, Conner says a woman started complaining to the city when Blue would follow her and her dog on a nearby walking path. And this spring, Conner's husband, Bob Owen, was cited for having Blue off-leash, prompting the legal skirmish that caught the attention of Albuquerque attorney and lake property owner Hilary Noskin.

Noskin says she is working pro bono, trying to win an exemption for Blue so he can live out the rest of the years in front of the store he now calls home.

"He's one of my favorite clients," says Noskin. "He is a sweet, sweet dog. He doesn't meet any vicious dog standards. Somebody said he snarls ... but I am not sure I believe that."

City Manager Alan Briley says the city hopes to reach a compromise on Blue, but he noted that the safety of the dog and the community comes first. He says the city has received complaints about Blue snapping and growling and almost being hit by cars crossing the street.

Conner says Blue has rebuffed several attempts at adoption, always making his way back to the store where he has become a community mascot of sorts. She says residents have dumped more than $1,800 in a jar for his care — funds she says she keeps for legal bills or medical issues. Residents have also built him a dog house with heating pads for the winter months and air conditioning for the summer.

"Everybody just loves this dog. People who can't afford a dog bring their kids here to play with Blue. ... He is the only dog I know who got four plates of Thanksgiving dinner at his dog house," Conner said.

Conner says she has collected more than 1,100 signatures in support of Blue, who is on Facebook as Bluedog EB-Mascot.

She says she just wants to find a way for Blue to "remain the way he always has. He was here before we became a city, so all we are asking for is for the city to grandfather him in as a representative of the community."

I'm not quite sure how I feel bout this. I'm not a big fan off off lead dogs at all....and I don't know that grandfathering the dog in is the best choice for the community....but ummm what are you going to do in a town that seems to lack animal control, that has this sort of support? Is this something that should be able to be grandfathered in?

Also I wonder how much of this is Blue doesn't want to live with a family...and how much of it's people's general misconceptions and attempts to apply human type feelings and cognitive reasoning to an animal.

Crackers why am I awake?

If they do grandfather him in...then whose actually responsible for his care? His medical bills? Is the whole city going to pay for that...or is is a local vet going to offer lifetime pro bono vet care?

[mydiamond]

=\ if there are reports about this dog snarling, growling, and almost got hit by a car then Blue should not be let off-lead. I'm not a big fan of off-lead dogs at all, and IMO people have let too much human feelings go into this case. In my most honest opinion I think the only reason why Blue kept coming back to the store is because he is an escape artist and always managed to escape from his owner's yard. Not because he wanted to continue living off-lead or because he has called the store "his home" =\ besides, he's an old baby boy is it really true that vets will offer him a lifetime free vet care? With the current economic situations I don't think this would be possible, and Blue needs a family. For goodness sake, people that is A DOG. A dog doesn't reject families that wanted to adopt him because "he has been a mascot". A dog doesn't care whether he got legal exemption or not. IMO people should just let the dog go to a nice, loving family soon =\

[jess86]

It's red dog all over again!

[Mollys Dad]

I would only let dogs off lead in a controlled area so they a) don't clear off and hurt someone / themselves and are less likely to be stolen. Is this place really going to continue paying his bills when things start to go wrong - as he gets to the later stages of his life? Maybe.

I hope he has a happy life either carrying on as he is or settling in with a family.

I did have to do a double take when I saw the place names though - Elephant Butte and Truth or Consequences?