On December 14, 2007, I was convicted of theft and receiving stolen property for coming to the aid of this dog, who lay chained, unable to stand, and suffering in an East Freedom, Pennsylvania backyard. Despite overwhelming evidence of cruelty on the part of the dog's caretakers, no charges were ever brought against them by either the humane officer or the police. A private criminal complaint filed by myself and Dogs Deserve Better languishes unaddressed on the desk of DA Richard Consiglio. Both video evidence of the dog struggling to get up and after-photos and video of the dog walking were suppressed from the jury. These videos are currently available for viewing on YouTube and our site. I am to be sentenced by Judge Elizabeth Doyle on February 22, 2008. I am expected to receive a fine and/or community service, as well as probation for this supposed crime. I am morally and ethically unable and unwilling to pay any fine that goes to pay the salaries of those who use power wrongly; those who punish citizens for helping animals and allow animal abusers to go free will not receive monetary support from me. The DA has taken flack in the opinion columns of local newspapers for wasting Blair County taxpayer money on my trial. His solution? To charge ME for the cost of the trial, reported to be over $1000. He expects me to pay costs for a jury who knew nothing of jury nullification, and knew not that they were free to exercise their own judgment based on their consciences rather than follow the advice of those in power just because they said they had to. They were therefore railroaded into a conviction by the actions of the DA and Judge Doyle. It is not enough for Mr. Consiglio to drag my name and the name of Dogs Deserve Better through the mud in order to distract our citizens from the fact that cruelty laws were already being broken, and that the humane officer and the police failed to do their jobs. He would have me foot the bill for it. As a taxpayer of Blair County, Pennsylvania, I have already contributed my share to this trial. I will contribute no more. As founder and director of Dogs Deserve Better, I do community service virtually ever day of my life. If fact, I was performing community service the day I picked an aged and dying dog out of the mud and got him the veterinary care he was entitled to by law. I am a law-abiding citizen of both Pennsylvania and the United States of America. I have served my country as a top-secret cleared linguist in the U. S. Air Force, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant at my first available opportunity, and honorably discharged in 1988. I strive very hard to obey all laws that seem fair and do not cause harm to others. I stop short of obeying any law that would force me to watch a dog die in the dirt, just because he is considered mere property of another. I will continue to fight for better laws for man's best friend, as well as shine a light on the current lack of enforcement of existing cruelty laws. This dog was not just another piece of trash that a Pennsylvania couple could allow to die unassisted, chained, and flailing about in the mud and his own feces in their yard. Doogie had the right to live or the right to a death free from cruelty, and the right to veterinary help by Pennsylvania law. It is incumbent upon Blair County voters to remove from office anyone who by their actions or inactions condones animal cruelty and abuse and punishes those who seek to help these animals. This includes Judge Elizabeth Doyle and DA Richard Consiglio. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that "noncooperation with evil is just as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good." And Thoreau stated "Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison...where the state places those who are not with her, but against her-the only house in a slave state in which a free man or woman can abide with honor." The only way for me to maintain a clear conscience is to choose prison as punishment for my crime. I hereby request that Judge Doyle jail me for however many days I should be imprisoned for the taking of a piece of property who's value, while stated in the misdemeanor charges at 0-$50, after vet fees was more like negative $960.65. However, as one of our supporters said, Doogie's freedom from abuse and restoration
This is Tammy Grimes's story:
On December 14, 2007, I was convicted of theft and receiving stolen property for coming to the aid of this dog, who lay chained, unable to stand, and suffering in an East Freedom, Pennsylvania backyard. Despite overwhelming evidence of cruelty on the part of the dog's caretakers, no charges were ever brought against them by either the humane officer or the police. A private criminal complaint filed by myself and Dogs Deserve Better languishes unaddressed on the desk of DA Richard Consiglio. Both video evidence of the dog struggling to get up and after-photos and video of the dog walking were suppressed from the jury. These videos are currently available for viewing on YouTube and our site. I am to be sentenced by Judge Elizabeth Doyle on February 22, 2008. I am expected to receive a fine and/or community service, as well as probation for this supposed crime. I am morally and ethically unable and unwilling to pay any fine that goes to pay the salaries of those who use power wrongly; those who punish citizens for helping animals and allow animal abusers to go free will not receive monetary support from me. The DA has taken flack in the opinion columns of local newspapers for wasting Blair County taxpayer money on my trial. His solution? To charge ME for the cost of the trial, reported to be over $1000. He expects me to pay costs for a jury who knew nothing of jury nullification, and knew not that they were free to exercise their own judgment based on their consciences rather than follow the advice of those in power just because they said they had to. They were therefore railroaded into a conviction by the actions of the DA and Judge Doyle. It is not enough for Mr. Consiglio to drag my name and the name of Dogs Deserve Better through the mud in order to distract our citizens from the fact that cruelty laws were already being broken, and that the humane officer and the police failed to do their jobs. He would have me foot the bill for it. As a taxpayer of Blair County, Pennsylvania, I have already contributed my share to this trial. I will contribute no more. As founder and director of Dogs Deserve Better, I do community service virtually ever day of my life. If fact, I was performing community service the day I picked an aged and dying dog out of the mud and got him the veterinary care he was entitled to by law. I am a law-abiding citizen of both Pennsylvania and the United States of America. I have served my country as a top-secret cleared linguist in the U. S. Air Force, reaching the rank of Staff Sergeant at my first available opportunity, and honorably discharged in 1988. I strive very hard to obey all laws that seem fair and do not cause harm to others. I stop short of obeying any law that would force me to watch a dog die in the dirt, just because he is considered mere property of another. I will continue to fight for better laws for man's best friend, as well as shine a light on the current lack of enforcement of existing cruelty laws. This dog was not just another piece of trash that a Pennsylvania couple could allow to die unassisted, chained, and flailing about in the mud and his own feces in their yard. Doogie had the right to live or the right to a death free from cruelty, and the right to veterinary help by Pennsylvania law. It is incumbent upon Blair County voters to remove from office anyone who by their actions or inactions condones animal cruelty and abuse and punishes those who seek to help these animals. This includes Judge Elizabeth Doyle and DA Richard Consiglio. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that "noncooperation with evil is just as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good." And Thoreau stated "Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison...where the state places those who are not with her, but against her-the only house in a slave state in which a free man or woman can abide with honor." The only way for me to maintain a clear conscience is to choose prison as punishment for my crime. I hereby request that Judge Doyle jail me for however many days I should be imprisoned for the taking of a piece of property who's value, while stated in the misdemeanor charges at 0-$50, after vet fees was more like negative $960.65. However, as one of our supporters said, Doogie's freedom from abuse and restoration
We signed the "Please show your support to a Pennsylvania lady who was convicted of theft for trying to help a dyin" petition!
# 3,093:
3:28 pm PDT, Jul 4,Greta Malkotzoglou, Greece
# 3,092:
8:12 am PDT, Jun 18,Michelle Gebur, California
Wow. I was utterly shocked to read about the Grimes case. So the dog is a possession worth, according to the court, $0-$50, but Grimes was charged with the equivalent of kidnapping a child? So you can have a dog, apparently a possession not even worth $100, and treat it badly, but should someone decide the dog deserves a better life, you charge them with kidnapping? How can you kidnap a "possession"? That's more like theft, a much lesser crime. If a child was chained and dying, the rescuer would have been a hero. But Grimes is a criminal. Either call the dog a possession or call it a "child equivalent" but at least be consistent and punish accordingly.
# 3,091:
11:54 am PDT, Jun 13,Lorrin Maughan, Washington
# 3,090:
7:01 pm PDT, Jun 4,Name not displayed, Pennsylvania
I am a person of faith and believe that we are stewards of all that is here on earth. That means that we care for those who have less and who depend upon us. That dog was dependant upon someone who should have gone to jail for cruelty to animals. This act of compassion on the part of Ms. Grimes would have been praised elsewhere, but in Blair County the mentality of oppression and old line Eurocentric males prevailed and her act of kindness was punished. Shame on the District Attorney and Shame on the Judge. They should be tied up and helpless and then decide if being property takes away the pain of neglect!
# 3,089:
5:19 pm PDT, Jun 4,Norma Long, Pennsylvania
My husband is an officer of the law and finds this lack of concern for an animal totally unacceptable. He has fined people himself for animal abuse and it held in court. I say Consiglio needs to go. He seems to be famous for personal vendettas.
# 3,088:
9:09 pm PDT, May 30,Diana Ely, Ohio
# 3,087:
6:18 pm PDT, May 23,Kathleen Morrison, Canada
# 3,086:
9:46 am PDT, May 15,Ginger Geronimo, Alabama
This does not make one bit of sense. This woman did the right thing. Why isn't anyone doing anything to the horrible owners of the poor dog? This woman HELPED the dog!!
# 3,085:
8:20 pm PDT, Apr 25,Debra Lee, Florida
Dear God! What is wrong with the world? You should not only stop persecuting and prosecuting this caring woman but you should be forced to pay her restitution for any money she has paid and also pay her for the pain and suffering you have inflicted on HER! Go after the hateful people who were the cause of this poor animal's suffering. You do have animal abuse statutes. Why are you not enforcing them?!!!!
# 3,084:
7:30 am PDT, Apr 18,Liz Marshall, Washington
# 3,083:
6:31 pm PDT, Apr 16,Bonnie Schoenfeld, New York
Tammy Grimes is a compassionate person why must she suffer!
# 3,082:
12:14 pm PDT, Apr 11,Erin Shelly, New York
# 3,081:
8:28 am PDT, Apr 11,Krystal Theede, Canada
A woman goes out of her way to save a dog that was in need of help. And now she is going to jail for theft.... what about the owners of the dog? Were they questioned about why the animal was in unsafe or unhumane conditions?
# 3,080:
7:18 pm PDT, Apr 10,Paula Cline, Georgia
# 3,079:
11:06 am PDT, Apr 10,Candis McCarville, Canada
# 3,078:
11:08 am PDT, Apr 8,Patricia Nigro, Florida
I read Tammy's story & was horrified. How can one think of a living, breathing creature as " Personal Property". I understand that the owners were never punished for their treatment of Doogie & I for one would like to know why. Tammy is being punished for her love of neglected dogs & saving Doogie's life of a living hell, you cannot put a price tag on a life. At least he had some love after Tammy rescued him if even only for a short time which was more then the owners gave him in the years he was with them. Animals are not " Personal Property" they are a life that God created & are entitled to dignity, respect & love. They feel pain & bleed just as we do. Tammy is my heroine, the laws in Pennsylvania need changing.
# 3,077:
11:07 am PDT, Apr 8,Donna Smith, North Carolina
# 3,076:
9:09 pm PDT, Apr 7,Sarah Galmarini, Ohio
# 3,075:
5:46 pm PDT, Apr 7,Jana Wyckoff, Illinois
# 3,074:
1:44 pm PDT, Apr 4,Carolina Sorrentino, United Kingdom
# 3,073:
3:28 am PDT, Apr 1,Toni Sokoloski, Massachusetts
# 3,072:
1:14 pm PDT, Mar 31,Penelope Wagner, Wisconsin
I cannot believe that our USA has charged an individual for helping an animal was was in terrible need of medical assistance and that the dog's caregivers did nothing to help the dog but leave it on a chain with deplorable conditions. I am in the legal profession and feel that Tammy should be exonerated of this conviction. Thank you.
# 3,071:
2:31 pm PDT, Mar 30,Mirna Markovic, Croatia
# 3,070:
11:19 pm PDT, Mar 29,Ilse Schade, Florida
Dear Governor Ed Rende:
Please forgive me for being blunt but - - I am outraged that Tammy Grimes is convicted of a crime after coming to the aid of a highly abused dog when she only acted as a good samaritan! In Florida animal abuse can be treated as a Felony! Where does Pennsylvania stand?
Why don't you initiate legal steps to turn the tables -
ANIMAL ABUSERS DESERVE STIFFER PENALTIES!
A FELONY CONVICTION, I suggest 7-10 years JAIL time PLUS a 10,000.--FINE!
CONVICT the ABUSER - NOT the rescuer! PLEASE STEP IN! PLEASE do something about this case!
I will continue to support this case globally!
Thank you for taking action.
Dr. I. Schade
http://myspace.com/medicalauthor
# 3,069:
5:57 pm PDT, Mar 28,Cheryl Silkett, Missouri
# 3,068:
5:51 pm PDT, Mar 28,Judith Jenny, Louisiana
There are no words to express my disgust at what has happened to someone who had compassion for an animal in desparate need. The Judge and DA should be put on a chain for as long as Doogie was. Now that may be justice. I support Tammy Grimes and her humane action.
# 3,067:
2:41 am PDT, Mar 27,Barbara Tatti, Italy
# 3,066:
2:40 am PDT, Mar 27,Fabio Savio, Italy
# 3,065:
5:53 pm PDT, Mar 26,Amanda Thompson, Pennsylvania
HOw in america does this happen? In the land of the "free" what about the poor animals!!!
# 3,064:
1:11 pm PDT, Mar 26,Karen Stevens, Oregon
# 3,063:
12:59 pm PDT, Mar 25,Ronald Schmiegelt, Texas
Judge Doyle and DA Consiglio's actions have made Pennsylvania look like a state that cares nothing for the life and welfare of anything living. In my eyes they are both guilty of gross Dereliction of their constitutional duties and should be subject to what ever judicial review is provided for in Pennsylvania. Ms. Grimes also deserves to be pardoned and praised for her actions in trying to provide for the welfare of a living being.
# 3,062:
11:04 am PDT, Mar 25,Marilyn Evenson, Washington
This is not justice. Ms. Grimes rescued the dog from a terrible fate. She should be applauded, not condemned
# 3,061:
9:01 am PDT, Mar 25,John Kamradt, Illinois
# 3,060:
7:56 am PDT, Mar 25,Christine Kamradt, Illinois
# 3,059:
6:41 pm PDT, Mar 24,Ines Iturbide, Uruguay
# 3,058:
10:38 am PDT, Mar 24,Marie Jean-Pierre, Texas
Animals deserve to be treated a lot better.
# 3,057:
9:55 am PDT, Mar 24,Sandy Rusch, Illinois
# 3,056:
10:08 am PDT, Mar 23,Linda Bailey, Indiana
When the law decides that animals beings deserving of the basic necessities of life rather than just property, the Arnolds would and should be on the receiving end of this persecution disguised as prosecution. There is clear bias on the part of Doyle and Consiglio. They should both lose their jobs. I have gone to the courthouseforum website and voted for doyle as the worst judge. I will continue to encourage others to do do as well. The fact that the video was suppressed is an outrage.
# 3,055:
9:56 am PDT, Mar 22,Linda Richard, Canada
How could anyone charge a person who rescued a dying dog from animal abusers be charged. Govener that makes you an animal abuser . how do you sleep at night.
# 3,054:
9:09 am PDT, Mar 22,Diane Keegan, Ohio
Please help to convict the real criminal here the Arnolds - not Tammy. Animals need protection from the inhumanity of people. I really do not understand neither you nor your state laws??? Let us punish kindness and humanity. That makes a lot of sence to me in this senceless world.
# 3,053:
8:20 am PDT, Mar 22,Carey Belcher, Utah
Dear Governor Rendell: You've rescued dogs, so you probably know the horrible things people can do to animals as well as each other. I'm not even asking for you to act only on compassion, but to consider the animal cruelty laws in your own state that Jake/Doogie's "owners" were breaking. Why do animal cops in Houston and Miami and so forth actually enforce the animal cruelty laws, actively, and your state refuses to act to enforce your own laws? And then your state punishes someone who steps in to relieve the suffering of a helpless and dying being when your own authorities won't act? It makes no sense. And I have no desire to ever visit PA or spend money there, while such backwards, vindictive "legal" actions can be tolerated and supported in defiance of your own laws by a judge and lawyer no less, who should be held to a higher standard because they are the enforcers of the law. I'm asking you to pardon Tammy Grimes from the obvious miscarriage of justice by two elected officials who succumbed to their own predjudices and did NOT uphold their own laws or do their jobs as they are sworn to do. Thank you Tammy Grimes for helping Jake/Doogie when nobody else would so he didn't have to die alone, shivering, dehydrated and starving, unable to stand up, lying in his own feces. Did you hear of the woman kept prisoner in her own home, tortured, beaten, starved, pregnant and mentally disabled who just died finally from all the torment? That's what this reminds me of. Nobody stepped in to help her when a whole family was torturing her. Somebody should have helped her, but they didn't. Nobody was helping Jake/Doogie either, until Tammy stepped up. She should be given an award!
# 3,052:
3:03 am PDT, Mar 22,Cristina Popa, Romania
# 3,051:
8:56 pm PDT, Mar 21,Laurel Sea, Illinois
Dear Governor Rendell: Crimes against humanity have definitely been committed in this case! First, by the Arnolds who have cruelly inflicted pain & suffering to an elderly animal by obvious neglect. Secondly by judge Doyle & DA Consiglio who unfairly punished Grimes for having the courage & compassion to do the right thing, when no one else would!
Governor - It's now your turn to display courage to do the right thing! Act swiftly to bring justice by reversing the court's decision, then publicly commend Grimes for her selfless act of love & compassion that put an end to the pain & suffering of a neglected dog.
