Investigation: Microchips Assist in Reunion
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 10, 2014 – Animal Services officers worked with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and county Code Enforcement officers during a two-day investigation that led to the reunion of two dogs, another 12 dogs that were impounded and more than $13,000 in citations.
The reunion took place in the field on Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 9) in the 20500 block of Clark Street in an unincorporated area of Riverside County west of Perris.
Riverside County Animal Services was contacted by a county Code Enforcement officer who was already at the Mead Valley-area property to investigate possible code violations. The
Riverside County Code Enforcement officer noticed that the property contained more than 30 dogs, including two poodles that the officer suspected looked very similar to missing dogs posted on a social-media site.
When a Riverside County Animal Services officer arrived, she scanned the dogs for possible microchips. The dogs did have microchips and the presumed owner of the poodles was contacted. The dogs had been missing for weeks. The owner, Nicole Hanmer (CQ'd – her name is spelled with the N first) of Quail Valley rushed over to the scene and brought paperwork and photos of her standard poodles: Murray, a 2-year-old cream-colored male and Savvi, a 4-month-old, brown-and-white female.
A sheriff's deputy, convinced the dogs were hers based on the microchip information and the documents she brought, returned the dogs to her. They had been missing since last Friday morning.
It was uncertain how the dogs ended up at the Clark Street property. However, a dog is considered property, per state law, and the sheriff's deputy is planning to file with the District Attorney's office an allegation of misappropriation of found property against one of the men who resides at the home.
Riverside County Animal Services officers are very familiar with the property. The property owners have been in violation of a county ordinance requiring a proper kennel permit when a property has more than four dogs. The owners have been cited for a failure to have a kennel permit in the past.
On Tuesday, a man at the home relinquished eight more dogs to Animal Services.
Nonetheless, officers issued 32 citations for each of the adult dogs at the property for failure to vaccinate, failure to license, failure to microchip and failing to spay or neuter the dogs. Each citation carries a $100 penalty, so each citation is equal to $400 in fines.
The property was cited for a kennel violation for a fourth time, which carries a $500 penalty. Since all administrative citations for the kennel permit have been exhausted, the property was issued a criminal, kennel permit violation. The penalty for that citation is determined by a Riverside County judge.
Animal control officers returned to the property today and impounded another two dogs. All told, 12
dogs have been impounded. Officers plan to return to the property on Thursday and Friday to encourage the dog owner to relinquish the animals for adoption.
All the dogs will be cared for at the county's main shelter, the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley.
The dogs will be placed on special, 10-day holds to offer would-be owners ample time to retrieve their pets, just in case some of the animals might have belonged to someone.
Whether the dogs belong to anyone else is uncertain. Two of the impounded dogs did have microchips, but the owners connected to those dogs said that they had long ago surrendered ownership to other people.
One of the dogs impounded by Animal Services was confiscated due to concerns about the dog's health. It is still possible animal cruelty charges could be considered.
Ms. Hanmer said she was shocked to find out Murray and Savvi were so far from her home and couldn't understand how they had gotten that far. But she said she was very happy her dogs are back at home and encouraged other pet owners to microchip their pets.
