EAST FREEDOM, Pa. (AP) — Tied up in a backyard and lying on the ground, old Jake was a sad sight to Tammy Grimes.
So the dog-lover said she removed the 19-year-old German Shepherd mix from his chain and took Jake to get care.
Grimes called it an act of compassion. Police say she stole the dog. Owners Steve and Lori Arnold want Jake back.
“Any reason why someone would take your dog?” Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio asked Lori Arnold on Thursday afternoon at a preliminary hearing in Roaring Springs for Grimes. She pleaded not guilty to charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
“I have no clue,” Lori Arnold said.
Grimes disagrees. She runs a Tipton-based organization called “Dogs Deserve Better” that advocates against chaining or penning dogs outside. Police said that Grimes told them that she had taken Jake on Sept. 11 and brought the dog to a veterinarian.
Her lawyer, Tom Dickey, tried to argue Thursday that Jake was taken because he was neglected, though District Judge Craig Ormsby said that was an issue to present to a jury, not at a preliminary hearing.
The vet found the dog was malnourished, had an enlarged heart and had a hip condition, Grimes said this week. She has defiantly refused to return Jake, or allow police to see the dog.
Grimes even renamed the dog “Doogie” and has placed him in foster care.
“All I know is we’re not going to give that dog back. That dog is going nowhere,” Dickey said outside Ormsby’s office as a crowd of several dozen supporters cheered.
“We believe … this owner, whoever the owners, are, abandoned this dog,” Dickey said. “When you have a dog, there are certain things you have to do to that animal. You have to feed it, water it, take care of it. That’s what you have to do. If you can’t do those things, then you shouldn’t have a dog.”
The Arnolds contend their dog has never been mistreated. A Humane Society representative at Ormsby’s office said the organization had never received a complaint about Jake.
At his home Thursday in East Freedom before the hearing, Steve Arnold recalled memories as he showed snapshots of Jake.
Jake’s doghouse at the edge of the backyard, near two other dogs belonging to the Arnolds, was empty. One-year-old Blackie, a Jack Russell terrier mix, walked nervously around his pen. Two-year-old Buddy, a white German Shepherd mix, paced nervously as a female photographer approached.
“Ever since Jake has been taken, Buddy has been suspicious of ladies,” Arnold said.
Jake suffered from arthritis and his condition had deteriorated over the past month to the point where Arnold said the dog had trouble standing at times. The couple contemplated putting him down, and Lori Arnold said in court she had called the vet about it the day Jake was taken.
“It’s the hardest thing for anybody, just like a human on life support,” he said.
Neighbor Kim Eicher, who also owns a dog and lives across the street from the Arnolds, said Jake had not gotten up for three days, a premise that the Arnolds dispute. She said she placed a call to the Humane Society on Saturday, Sept. 9, but did not get a response that day.
The next day she walked over to check to see if Jake was breathing. Finally, on a rainy Sept. 11, Eicher said she called Grimes’ office.
“They never paid attention to him,” Eicher said this week.
Grimes arrived with a video camera. Jake was tied up, laying on mud, with some feces on his back, she said.
“We rarely get calls about a dog in as bad a condition,” she said.
Her group started a public-relations blitz. The Dogs Deserve Better site advertises mugs and T-shirts about the case. About 50 supporters attended a rally in front of the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, some holding signs such as “Free Tammy” and “Justice For All Including Animals.”
“It’s really time we stand out and say ’This is ridiculous,”’ Grimes said Wednesday. “Since when did saving a dog’s life not matter.”
Freedom Township Police Chief John Reilly, whose department handled the investigation, said the Arnolds have followed the law in providing food, water and shelter for Jake.
“I haven’t seen the dog, so I have no idea what condition he’s in.”
Two lesser charges against Grimes of criminal trespass and criminal mischief were dropped at Thursday’s hearing. She is next due in court on Oct. 27.
