Man faces charges after dog kills raccoon that caused damage to garage

Jackson Citizen Patriot ^ | February 09, 2011, 6:00 AM | Danielle Salisbury

[Gennie]

Man faces misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty after his dog kills young raccoon that caused some damage to garage

Seth Foster, 23, said he found his family garage in disarray last summer and sent his dog in the building to investigate.

Grizz, a blue heeler, returned with the culprit, a young raccoon.

As two teenage boys watched, one of them filming its actions with a cell phone, Grizz killed the coon, Foster said.

Now, Foster is facing a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty resulting in death, which is punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 25 in Jackson County District Court.

Foster, whose father owns a nuisance animal control business, contends he did not do anything wrong. The raccoon damaged his family’s property on Ivan Drive in Spring Arbor Township.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said of the charge. “Everybody I’ve talked to says it’s ridiculous.”

There is a proper way to deal with a pest and it does not involve animal agony, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer. Raccoons can be trapped alive or quickly and efficiently killed, he said.

Blumer said the dog was encouraged to attack the raccoon and “tear it apart.” He likened this to cockfighting or dogfighting, both of which are illegal. “There is legitimate sport, and then there’s cruel sport,” he said.

“Because you have a license to kill a deer, doesn’t mean you can break all its legs and watch it die slowly.”

He said the prosecutor’s office offered Foster a “reasonable settlement,” the details of which Blumer did not know, but Foster declined to take it. “I am innocent,” Foster said.

The two boys also were charged. Their cases were handled by the juvenile court. Blumer did not know how or whether they had been resolved. The case files are not open to the public.

Foster said the boys lived near his family at the time and would sometimes come to their home. They egged on the dog, he said. Foster said he took the raccoon from Grizz, but the dog got it back.

It did not take Grizz, a smaller herding dog, a long time to kill the animal, Foster said.

A neighbor’s mother called the police, Foster said, and a deputy arrived. According to court records, the incident occurred Aug. 1.

The dog helps Foster and his father, Mike Foster, locate raccoons in attics or small crawl spaces while the Fosters do their work. They catch the animals and sometimes euthanize them.

Mike Foster owns Foster’s Wildlife Control Services. He’s been in the business for about 30 years. The company specializes in trapping, removing and excluding nuisance wildlife. He said he and his son hunt and the family primarily eats wild meat.

In all his work with animals, Mike Foster said he has seen worse than a dog killing a coon. “People put out antifreeze for animals to poison,” he said.

“You can’t call one thing cruel and let other stuff slide.”

The whole incident has been “blown out of proportion,” he said. “To me, it’s no different than if you buy a cat to kill mice.”

There is a difference, Blumer said. The killing of mice is not controlled.

There are trapping and hunting seasons for raccoons. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, a property owner without a license or permit may kill a raccoon all year if the animal is damaging or about to damage private property.

Mike and Seth Foster said the raccoon Grizz killed put a hole in the garage. It damaged a door, ate stored bird feed and knocked tools off a work bench. It was “raising hell,” Mike Foster said.

Dogs cannot be used in Michigan to kill game, only to chase, retrieve or find it, a DNRE spokeswoman said.

Blumer said it would be different if the dog had gotten the raccoon on its own and killed it without human intervention. In that case, it’s nature.

[1010RD]

Request a jury trial.

[Gargantua]

"You're seriously demented."

Thank you for the kind encouragement, but it's actually much worse than that. Have a nice night.

;-\

[GOYAKLA]

Feral cats in Florida are consider targets in everglades and similar areas. Also said to be great python food.
Note: “everglades” here is not capitalized!

[chessplayer]

“People tape their hound hunts for coons regularly, for their enjoyment. And yes the hounds often catch the coon and kill it. You think that should be illegal?”

Damned right killing animals for some sick “enjoyment” or “kicks” should be illegal. Jeffry Dahmer got his kicks by killing animals.

[Tallguy]

There is a proper way to deal with a pest and it does not involve animal agony, said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mark Blumer. Raccoons can be trapped alive or quickly and efficiently killed, he said.

Oh man! Where to start? I'll just say this to the "prosecutor"... if this guys dog was running loose your local cops might have shot it rather than call the Dog Law Officer to catch the dog. It happens all over the country when a dog runs loose in the presence of local law enforcement. And you are bitching about a racoon? What a waste of local resources.

[Gargantua]

"How about letting nature take its course?"

I'm a natural part of the chain of life here on earth. Anything I do in or as a part of "nature" is "nature" taking its course.

When you read of the guy who intentionally let the domesticated (we'll leave that one for another conflab) dog loose in the garage, did you think to encourage him that he should have let "nature take its course"? Or is your version of "nature taking its course" somewhat more selective than all that?

Mine sure is. And yes, I have never met a raccoon I didn't like. I already dislike you intensely. Score one for you.

;-\

[darkangel82]

LOL, that looks somewhat like my dog. She does the same thing to rabbits too.

[Sequoyah101]

Does anyone wonder why the courts are backed up and cost so much. What a stupid waste of time and money.

[Gargantua]

"Does anyone wonder why the courts are backed up and cost so much."

You nailed it. Our courts are backed up and expensive because of all the "raccoonicide" cases. I think your tagline about "half the population" might include you.

LMAO!!!
8^D

[RoseyT]

Raccoons are overpopulated, destructive, lethal disease vector vermin.

We try to do our part in reducing the raccoon population. One managed to get into our chicken coop. It beheaded half a dozen or more young chickens.

Fortunately, they are pretty easy to trap and a guy on my husband's mail route loves raccoons (grilled) so they don't go to waste. :)

[triumphant values]

Damned right killing animals for some sick “enjoyment” or “kicks” should be illegal.

Yes, let's let the populations of deer, raccoons, coyotes and other pests overrun all human areas and carry disease and destruction so that no one may take enjoyment in their death.

Jeffry Dahmer got his kicks by killing animals.

That's one weak analogy.

[RikaStrom]

What beautiful animals, what breed of dog are they?

[3niner]

Cats kill rats and mice. Is that illegal too?

[cracker45]

“Shoot
Shovel
Shut-up”

10-4!!

JC

[triumphant values]

You seem to have some sort of anger against people that is truely sick and twisted.

All the orphaned coon raisers I've ever met were weirdo animal hoarders, so you're probably not too far off there dirtman.

[Tea Party Reveler]

Jury Trial. place a jury demand against this case and then SUE THEM when they drop it. Don’t accept a plea. Generate adverse publicity like this—

YouTube = Solano Communist County - Solano USSR!

YouTube = Sewer Soon City Police Misconduct

[Bean Counter]

And if he’d just shot the critter he’d have been charged with a firearms violation!

Just nuts!

[Vendome]

That’s just plain stupid and they are all about the money

[cracker45]

“And yes, I have never met a raccoon I didn’t like.”

That tells me you don’t know squat about wild coons! I have neighbors begging me to help get rid of them and I live in town...

JC

[Da Coyote]

“Hope for a judge with a brain.”

Easy test: R=brain; D=no brain.