Animal Friends of the Valley

What an experience we had today. I pulled up at a tiny former 2 bedroom house with 10 parking spots. Seriously...is this it. Oh boy, it is NOT going to be big enough to contain the people that are involved in this case. There were 19 people alone who signed the petition. I walked in and confirmed that this was the correct building and that I should take a seat at the 6 person conference/dining room table. LOL! I giggled and mumbled...not enough chairs.

By 5 minutes to 11:00 there were 6 of us on the petitioners side. At 11am the homeowners walked in. There was no one there in their defense.

The stories circulating the table were crazy. This was the first time many of us had heard the other stories. Here we all thought we were in our struggles alone and that it was our faults. This crazy lady has threatened more people than I can even fathom. All I can say is that I am glad I have never been on her receiving end. There's been threats and dog poop slinging and road rage and police involvement and restraining orders served. Craziness. I'm just a poor mom with 4 kids trying to get some sleep.

They call everyone into a tiny office and swear us all in at once and tell us how things will go.

The AC officer sits at her desk, the homeowners sit in front of her facing her. The petitioners are brought in one at a time (or as a couple) and sit to the side, but behind the homeowner so that no one can look at anyone. All comments are directed at the AC officer and no one is allowed to talk directly to anyone except the officer. The witness makes a statement and presents documents. The homeowner is then given a chance to rebuttal and ask questions. The witness then gives counter evidence and then the witness is cleared.

The original complaintants go first. Brent and Misty arranged all of this so we give them the honors. They are in there for about 45 minutes.

My turn is next. I stayed on task and really wanted to offer things from my perspective. I think I did a great job of emphasizing that we have 16 feet between the dogs and our house. That the homeowners have 100 feet of slope as a buffer that we do not benefit from. I also made my point that my children do not understand why the dogs bark so much just that they do and that the homeowners have never done anything to train their dogs (although I have tried training both the dogs and my kids). I was in there about 45 minutes as well. But, honestly crazy and her husband spent more time in their rebuttal of my statement talking about another neighbor who wasn't even there....they suck. Stay focused people.

I left during teh time that the last three people that had to go in. But, I was very happy that 2 ladies from my side of the street showed up. It's loud and it's crazy and I'm glad there were 3 of us who GOT that point across.

I'm pleased. We'll hear back in 10 days as to a verdict. Now, of course like any other custody case the AC officer's job is to try to keep the dogs with the owner. We'll see if our case was strong enough to pull them. I however, would be just as happy to keep them off the slope (as per the HOA's CC&Rs...too bad the HOA is a bunch of clowns).