yeah, my main problem with this whole thing is the way this story *fits* together (or doesn’t . . . ) He who whines the loudest, prob only has that to go on ;)

It will be interesting to see if his “just passing through, I’m a victim” holds up with all the MSN and BSL laws around the country already in place . . .

Please visit the NYCACC website and let me know which ‘AR progams’ you object to. Also feel free to visit the City Health Depts and let me know about their’s also.

You’re kidding right? Ed Boks was Executive Director Animal Care & Control, New York City 2003-2005. He’s moved on to LA now where he and Judie Mancuso AR activist, authored CA AB 1634. You don’t think he left his AR mark at NY AC&C?

Heaven knows I place my full journalistic trust in the NY Post. Alas, I can’t find *why* he’s suing the city for $30,000. Anyone?

responsible pet ownership IS educated pet ownership.

now, what i found interesting about the newest articles, this farm working dog (?) was with the owner in front of his “Bergenfield construction company yesterday”. lol!~

and i never said he was a reckless byb, HE said he may want to breed his dog. ONE of the reasons he didn’t want to neuter his dog, that yes, was technically a stray when picked up.

and i wouldn’t really refer to the City Health Dept as ARs, there are reasons for persuing this, re-read your post.

i still want to know who breaks into a truck with 110 dog in it, even if caged. and 5 tranq darts?!

We’ll see. According to the NY post today “Georgoutsos is suing the city for $30,000″

I agree with New York’s law, but also believe rare, non-medical exceptions should be allowed as long as there is a hefty punitive cost to do so. Mr. Georgoutsos wants his dog back without having to comply with the S/N requirement? Then he should be willing to pay for it. A $10,000 bail/bond forfeiture sounds fair to me.

The Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice, a senior vice president at the ASPCA, the dog’s own vet and the Councilman who wrote the law all say the MSN law does not apply in this case, yet the AR’s want to appeal the decision and as a result he had to post $10k to get his dog back until that appeal is heard. This is beyond ridiculous. All of these new MNS laws can and will be challenged in court because they are unconstitutional.

straybaby says: I’d like to know it was a sound dog before it multiplied!

The dog is 5 years old and has never been bred so I tend to think this guy is not the reckless backyard breeder he has been made out to be.

straybaby says:I realize AR folks have their S/N agenda, but as responsible dog owners, we need to keep an eye on the big picture beyond MSN. Responsible dog ownership.

This is not the way. Education is the answer, not unconstitutional laws that violate our property rights and threaten the extinction of our pets.

Pete Georgoutsos was thrilled to learn that his beloved brindle mastiff, a hefty 120-pound dog named Spartacus, had been found hours after a burglar broke into his vehicle and released the dog in Queens last month. But his elation was short-lived
Within hours he was told that the return of his pet from a Brooklyn animal shelter would be no easy task. Spartacus would have to be neutered, the city told him. A 2000 city ordinance designed to reduce the number of stray, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs on city streets mandated the procedure.
The policy led to a heated and expensive legal battle in Brooklyn Supreme Court, prompting officials and animal-rights activists to question whether it is applicable to pet owners just passing through New York.
“It makes you want to hit your head against the wall and say, ‘Stop wasting taxpayers’ money,’” Georgoutsos said yesterday. “The law was meant to protect the health of citizens in New York City. But by neutering my dog you’re not protecting their health; you’re violating my property rights.”
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Arthur M. Schack ruled in Georgoutsos’ favor June 15 and ordered the unmolested return of his pet of five years. But the city appealed the decision the same day, extending Spartacus’ incarceration.
Since the appeal may not be heard for months, Georgoutsos agreed to post $10,000 bail and was reunited with his dog yesterday.
If the city wins, however, Georgoutsos may be ordered to drive his dog from his Warren County farm, located in Asbury, back to New York to be neutered.
“I’m the victim of a crime, and yet they want to fight me tooth and nail to keep me from getting my dog,” he said.
Georgoutsos was visiting friends late Sunday of Memorial Day weekend while Spartacus remained Georgoutsos’ truck, caged, with the windows partially open. Georgoutsos returned to find the truck broken into and the dog missing. He said he immediately filed a police report.

Passed in 2000, the city administrative code noted that 67,000 unwanted, stray or abandoned dogs and cats entered city animal shelters in 1998. Of those, about 70 percent were not spayed or neutered.
“While wandering the city streets, homeless dogs and cats reproduce at alarming rates, exacerbating a potentially unhealthy and dangerous situation,” the ordinance reads.
It grants exceptions, however, for show dogs and cats and in cases where neutering can lead to adverse health effects.
Georgoutsos’ attorney, Gabriel Tapalaga, argued the health exception in court. He said the mastiff, which already suffers from an ear infection, was struck by five tranquilizer darts and taken to the shelter.
“Any further sedation may cause Spartacus more harm,” Tapalaga said yesterday, citing a letter from the dog’s vet in Ridgefield Park, who advised against the procedure.
The city health department, which oversees the animal shelters, referred calls to the city law department because of the litigation.
In a statement, city senior attorney Paula Van Meter said several city veterinarians found that the procedure would not harm Spartacus.
“Neutering and spaying procedures are critical — and humane — methods used to curtail animal overpopulation in the city,” she said.
Lisa Weisberg, a senior vice president at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York, said she doesn’t believe the law applies to Spartacus. “If the person (owner) is just passing through the city for whatever reason, the spay-neutering requirement does not apply,” she said.
Privately, several city officials said granting an exception in what has become known as “The Spartacus Dog-Neutering Case,” could open a Pandora’s box of litigation.
Meanwhile, back in New Jersey for the first time in four weeks, Spartacus frolicked on the grass in front of his owner’s Bergenfield construction company yesterday. The dog was released about 2 p.m., after Georgoutsos posted $10,000 in cash, noting that he could find no bondsman interested in bailing out a dog.
“The dog jumped up in my arms,” Georgoutsos said of his pet’s release from the New York Animal Care and Control shelter, where he said he visited him daily. “He was ready to play. It was adorable.”
But Georgoutsos, 42, a former Montclair State University wrestler and wrestling coach, said it may be months before he can relax.
“You go to court and spend thousands of dollars,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Um, the law is already in place here. That is what this about. Not the merits of S/N. Or the errosion of rights. The dude is saying he fits within the exceptions and he doesn’t from what it seems like so far. If he did, the dog would be home. Hard to say how savy the Judge was on animal issues vs what the law says/working dogs/breeding/etc. And It sounds like it took some heavy tranq to bring the dog in, on the personal front, I’d like to know it was a sound dog before it multiplied! Breeding unsound dogs could actually breed more restrictions. More BSL, more insurance issues, more housing issues, more limit laws and effects all dog owners.

I realize AR folks have their S/N agenda, but as responsible dog owners, we need to keep an eye on the big picture beyond MSN. Responsible dog ownership.

There are already spay neuter laws, laws limiting the number of dogs/cats/antisocial apes one can own, breed specific legislation, ownership versus guardianship laws…. how much do you control to you want to give to the same government that is responsible for allowing contaminated food and water supply?

Do you *really* want to give them more power than they already have?

The answer is not in legislation. It lies in education.