CSNbbs

1-7-12
We don't know how old he is we just know he has been chained like this for at least a year. Someone in his neighborhood reached out to us for help.

Just about 3 hours ago we went to the home to Check on Max and get some photo's of his condition. I have a zoom lens so I was able to get these photo's from the street. The neighbors were extremely worried about the dog with good reason. You can obviously SEE that this dog is in bad shape. The neighbor, as well as a volunteer, walked into the backyard and over to Max to pet him and check out his condition.

As they were in the backyard (that had no fence and no "No trespassing sing"), a vehicle screeched into the driveway. A young man and woman jumped out of the vehicle and ran down the side of the house into the backyard. The man screamed "What the F are you doing?" .... My volunteer said "We are just checking on your dog man" and as the guy pointed a gun at them he yelled " Don't move".... So of course as soon as they all saw the gun.... They started running.... AND THE MAN STARTED SHOOTING....

I was in the front yard in my vehicle waiting for them so I heard the gun shots.... As the neighbors and my volunteer were running across the backyard back toward me, the gunman was running across the front yard toward them (and me). Of course I FREAKED OUT... I threw my vehicle in reverse and got the heck out of there. My volunteer ran inside the neighbors house along with the neighbors. The gunman came to the house they were hiding in and was banging on all the doors yelling at them to come out. Of course they called 911 and waited for the police.

I pulled around the corner and called 911 myself. They took my info and told me to wait there which I did.

Meanwhile, 2 Metro police officers show up to the house. They seemed very nonchalant which was surprising since they just got 2 911 calls about someone shooting at people. At any rate, to make a long story short. The police talked to the gunman who said that this was his brothers house. His brother was in jail so he stopped by every now and then to check on things. I call bull on that because the way he flew into the driveway, he obviously knew someone was in that backyard. He had been alerted and he was there to see what was going on. He said that they had another dog who had recently been stolen so that is why he started shooting. He thought they were steeling the dog. Even though he was shooting at people's BACKs as they were running away from him. Not threatening him or his home.

I didn't think it was legal to shoot first and ask questions later but apparently the police said that since they were on his property, he legally had the right to shoot them. WTF??? The police did not ask the shooters name to see if he had any warrants out and even was allowed to have a gun. They did not ask if the gun was registered. THEY DIDN'T EVEN MAKE A REPORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When the police were told that we were just there checking on the condition and health of the dog, the cop said something to the effect of "I have had dogs all my life. That dog is old and obviously in poor health. Just let it die" OH My GOD.... Those police officers could have helped this dog. They could have at least CALLED ANIMAL CONTROL but instead they say to us "Just let him die". One of the police officers did say "If you want to help the dog, call Animal Control, don't go on the people's property".

What I don't understand is why didn't THEY call animal control??? Anyone with eyes can see that this dog is in dire need of a vet. Anyone can see that this is OBVIOUSLY sever Animal Cruelty and neglect.

Here is a direct copy and paste from Metro Codes for Animal Control:


8.12.030 - Cruelty to animals prohibited.

A.
No person shall intentionally or willfully or knowingly kill, maim, torture, torment, grossly overwork or overload or cause any of the actions stated herein to be committed.

B.
No person shall fail unreasonably or cause another person to fail unreasonably to provide adequate food, water, care or shelter to any animal in the person's custody or to abandon any animal in the person's custody. For the purposes of this section, "shelter" shall mean a structure or enclosure which provides an animal with protection from the elements (weather), which structure or enclosure must have a roof, floor and three sides, and be of sufficient size as to allow each animal to stand up, lie down and turn around in a natural position.

E.
Any police officer or any employee of the metropolitan government authorized to enforce the provisions of Chapter 8.04 and 8.08 of the Metropolitan Code of Laws may lawfully interfere to prevent the perpetration of any act of cruelty as defined herein upon any animal in his presence. No person shall interfere with or obstruct any such officer or employee in the discharge of his duty.


As you can read from above. Not only is this dog clearly being abused as far as the law is concerned. The officers who came out on this call had the authority to remove that animal due to animal neglect. Instead they LET THE GUNMAN take the dog into the home and then get in his car and leave. THEY DID NOTHING!!!

We have since called to see what action was taken by the police officers as a result of this call and the answer is "nothing". They did not even make a report. If this crazy gun shooting neighbor decides that he wants to come take revenge on the neighbors for "checking on his dog".... there is nothing for them to use to prove the events of today.

This is a disgrace. This poor dog is now locked inside a home that apparently no one is living in (per the gunmans statement) and now Animal Control can't even go check on the dog. They would never be able to get a search warrant to get inside that house to check on the dog. Most likely that dog will starve to death inside this house and now there is NOTHING WE CAN DO.

The police are suppose to be here to protect and serve. The only person who got protection today was a young trigger happy thug. The people out there trying to better our communities and help these animals and Max, all lost. Most disturbing is that this poor dog will get no help.

How is this possible in a large metropolitan city? When in doubt, make a report right? Why didn't they make a report? Why didn't they help this dog? Why was this man allowed to shoot a gun in a residential neighborhood and the police did nothing? I am at a loss.

I am so sorry we failed you Max

Location: Nashville, TN

Meet Max

Update:1-8-12
We have Max!!!! Oh yee of little faith! I told you to give me a little time and we MADE IT HAPPEN in less than 24 hours!!! We have been on the phone all day and night with people up the food chain. Low and behold, the officer who let us down yesterday, came back out to the house today and "persuaded" the shooter/owner/brother (whoever he actually is) to sign the dog over to to Animal Control. THANK GOD Jenna was in the area and was able to intervene and got Max signed over to us rather than Animal Control. But the Animal Control guy was super nice and helpful. He even got the approval from his supervisor to let us take him. KUDOS to Metro Animal Control for making this happen on a Sunday! The guy who was shooting at us yesterday and was so willing to KILL us over this dog, just handed him over without a care. He was actually even nice about it. This is a crazy world!

My AMAZING vet at Animal House is coming in today to treat Max and get some IV fluids in him. She is going to stay the night at the clinic to ensure that he is taken care of!!! If you would like to donate to Max's care before I can get a Chip-In set up, you can donate directly to Animal House 223 Largo Drive Nashville, TN 37211-4603 (615) 834-6441....

The news is all over this story so hopefully this will help in our efforts to get a tethering ordinance in Nashville!

Max is doing GREAT! He is extremely friendly and happily giving kisses to everyone! I will post more pictures and an update soon!

THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who helped save this baby! Jenna with Music City Pit Brigade was in this with me from day one. She has been amazing!! and THANK YOU to everyone for all of your prayers and support. Thank you for trusting in me and believing in me that we would get him out of there!'

YEA MAX!!! I promised you that I would not leave you there!
Rebecca - DDB Nashville

[

Geez... that's an insane story. But the ending was great. Hopefully, they can get Max to a healthy condition quickly. Poor dog has been through a lot!

I would like 5 minutes with the people who chained that dog up so I could completely f*ck them up with said chain.

I like what the cop said at the end of xmas vacation
"If I had a rubber hose right now I would beat you..."

This horror story should be followed up methodically with every agency involved in this fiasco. Lawsuits, media publicity, whatever it takes should be done to shed light on what went wrong here, in order to prevent this from happening again.

Nashville, Smashville! It ain't all that.

(01-09-2012 01:40 PM)alterego2 Wrote: [ -> ]This horror story should be followed up methodically with every agency involved in this fiasco. Lawsuits, media publicity, whatever it takes should be done to shed light on what went wrong here, in order to prevent this from happening again.

Nashville, Smashville! It ain't all that.

No doubt.

Deadly force is allowable if someone is IN YOUR HOUSE without permission. That does NOT mean you can use deadly force if someone is on your property.

Either the police:
1. Don't know the law (which I doubt),
2. Didn't care (more believable than 1 but I still doubt), or
3. The details regarding the police's response aren't accurate.

If someone did shoot at the rescuers then the police had an obligation to investigate and take someone to jail. If they didn't do this then they should be fired.

Oh, and I'm glad Max is OK.