Published: December 09, 2007 11:43 pm      

Supporters to picket chained-dog trial

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Supporters of an animal advocate charged with taking a chained dog from the yard of a private home have received a three-day permit to picket at the Blair County Courthouse during her trial.

An undetermined number of people is expected to be on hand Wednesday, the first day of the trial for Tammy Sneath Grimes, whose story has gained national attention.

Grimes, 43, of Bellwood, is charged with theft and receiving stolen property for a September 2006 incident. Police contend she stole a 19-year-old German shepherd-black Labrador mix from Steve and Lori Arnold of East Freedom.

The dog – named “Jake” by the owners and later renamed “Doogie” by others – was chained to a doghouse in the Arnolds’ yard. Grimes said at the time that he appeared to be dead.

Grimes, founder of “Dogs Deserve Better,” an organization opposed to tying or chaining dogs, turned the dog over to an animal rescuer, but he died six months later of what was said to be natural causes.

The Arnolds, who wanted the dog back, said they were planning to have Jake put to sleep because of his worsening arthritic condition.

Trespass and criminal mischief charges, part of the original filing against Grimes by the Freedom Township Police Department, were dropped last year at the district judge level.

The jury’s potential exposure to the supporters, who will march with signs in front of the courthouse in Hollidaysburg, is unclear. But animal activist Terri Nelson-Bunge of State College said marchers are coming from as far as Gettysburg.

“We don’t have any idea of how many there will be, but in the past we had 65,” she said. “We’re expecting a lot.”

With a jury in place, Blair County Judge Elizabeth Doyle ordered all involved in the case, including Grimes and Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio, not to discuss the case.

Both are abiding by the gag order, but Grimes said last week she will have plenty to say after the verdict.

On a Dogs Deserve Better Web site, Grimes earlier this year admitted she took the dog. “I will gladly go to jail for Doogie, and I would do so a thousand times over,” she said. “I am not scared or intimidated.”

In previous court documents, Consiglio said the case is one of stolen property and has nothing to do with canine rights.

Monica Schreiber, a spokeswoman for Grimes, said animal rights are becoming a greater issue not only in Pennsylvania, where the Legislature is considering updating the laws, but elsewhere.

“This case is probably a forerunner of similar cases to come,” Schreiber said from her California home. “Even if you agree dogs are property, they are not property as with a chair or a car.”

Schreiber and other animal-welfare advocates say the Grimes case may not be a slam dunk conviction.

“I think the DA is probably concerned,” she said. “I think there are probably going to be people on the jury who view it outside a strict interpretation of the law.”

Grimes, the mother of two children, works full time for the organization she founded more than five years ago. She founded the group because seeing a dog on a chain “ate away at me,” she said last week.



Timeline

July 7, 2006: Tammy Grimes, founder of Dogs Deserve Better, sponsors a “chain-off” in Mundys Corner with 11 people chained to doghouses as part of a

two-week competition to win a car.

Sept. 11, 2006: Grimes allegedly takes “Jake,” a 19-year-old mixed breed dog, from yard in East Freedom, Blair County, where he was chained.

Sept. 11, 2006: Freedom Township police charge Grimes with trespass, receiving stolen property, theft and criminal mischief.

Sept. 19, 2006: District judge orders Grimes to trial on theft and receiving stolen property. Other charges are dropped.

Sept. 21, 2006: 75 supporters rally outside the Blair County Courthouse in Grimes’ defense.

March 1: Jake dies at a foster home.

April 17: More than three dozen attend a second rally.

Nov. 6: Judge rules dogs are property and can be stolen.

Nov. 19: Jury selected.

Wednesday: Grimes’ trial to begin.