PUBLIC ENEMY #1

Yesterday I had an engagement session in Destin, Florida. The clients I worked with were so much fun and despite the location glitches we had in the beginning, the session went really well. Meanwhile at my house, my dog Gotti was "terrorizing" the neighborhood causing him to be shot with a tazor gun twice and maced.

Yep, this guy right here.

We came home to find a note on the door from Escambia County Animal Control stating that we needed to give them a call because our dog broke out of the yard with his "tie-out" still attached and they were not able to capture him.
We called the Animal Control Officer and he explained that the police were flagged down because a "bad dog" was loose. The police called two more officers to the scene and Animal Control. Apparently my dog was running around "barking and charging at people." The ACO said he was the worst dog that he came across in about 5 years. The ACO stated that there were children and people everywhere and that Gotti was so "vicious" that the officers were driving around making everyone go into their homes. My dog was maced and shot with two tazors. After the second tazor hit him Gotti ran into the woods. The ACO said that if Gotti had not ran off the police were prepared to shoot him...with a bullet. The ACO advised me that Gotti was still on the loose and we have some decisions to make come Monday. So far we racked up citations for Gotti getting out of the yard (being "at large"), not having his current license and/or vaccinations , and his conduct, plus he is on track to be deemed a vicious animal which comes with a yearly $250 fine, plus restrictions on his living accomodations-one being he can only be outside in an cement bottom kennel. I was also told that we can get out of paying the citation fines, but we would have to turn him over to the Animal Control to be put to sleep. So here we are, 10pm, home from a long day we are tired, hungry, and now having to face the trouble we are in, plus look for our dog that is out there somewhere in the thick woods with his tie out still stuck to him. I was scared for him considering what he had been through and may be facing out lost and alone. Shoot, I was scared for us or anyone he comes in contact with considering what he had been through, because we were still liable for anything else he does.

We took off into the night walking, driving, looking, and yelling. No luck-No signs of him anywhere. We knew we would have to go into the woods, but we were scared. I find enough snakes and spiders in my yard so I could only image whats in those woods. At about midnight Marcus decided to go buy some flashlights and I sat out on the porch hoping maybe Gotti would have enough sense to come home. A group of teenagers came up to me talking about what had happened while we were gone. They also stated that they may have heard him roaming in the neighborhood behind my house, but I couldn't leave because I had Marcus Jr with me. I explained to the teens that when we first moved here we never had an issues with Gotti being outside, but we would find...and before I could say another word they said, "the kids in the neighborhood messing with him," and I said, "exactly." I told them how I would catch kids in the little swamp area behind our house taunting and throwing stuff at him. Eventually it would get to where if he saw anyone near the fence he would go nuts, so we started to tie him down with a steel cord. The teens began talking about how the kids are out here and that they saw two of them behind our house and even named one- before Gotti snapped his tie-out a loose. I wasn't suprised. Marcus came back with the flashlights and we went looking for Gotti in the neighboorhood the teens told me about. No Luck. We drove back to the front of the woods by the pond were Gotti was last seen and looked. No Luck. We went to the side of the woods along Hwy 98 and searched. No luck. Our next plan was to drive further down Hwy 98, but I had a different plan. Gotti was hurt and scared with his tie out still attached-I wanted to stay close to the woods by our neighborhood. Earlier in our search we went to an area where the woods ended on one side because of a parking lot and a church. I told Marcus to stop the car because I heard something whinning, but after we got out and yelled for Gotti we only heard crickets and frogs. I wanted to go back to that spot before we go any further. I got out and walked along the grass as Marcus drove along the side of me. I kept yelling out "Gotti, come on, Gotti,"but nothing. But I kept trying and trying and eventually I heard little howl and a cry. I told Marcus to stop the car, but he was already ahead of me because this time he heard it too. It was in the same spot that we stopped at before. Marcus got out and went deeper in the woods. I got in the car and drove as close to the woods with our headlights on. The crying got louder and we could hear some shuffling in the woods. Finally, at 2 am, after four hours of looking our wet and scared dog came walking out of the woods towards us. We were so relieved. He looked so terrified. He still had one of the tazor darts lodged in his skin and some cuts, but he was no longer lost. At home Gotti has always been a big force in our home, but when I saw him he looked so small, like a baby. I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him. Marcus walked him home on his leash and little Marcus and I followed along side of them in the car. Its 2 am our dog is home, he is safe, but its far from over...

What is Gotti's fate? Will we pay the fines and keep him registered and confined as a "vicious" animal, or do we release him to Animal Control and have him put to sleep? What would you do?

TO BE CONTINUED.....