Tour: Barefoot Dirty Girls Dog Kennels

.

... where there's always a special room for Rex!

Last September 8th, 2009, I told the City of Manteca Animal Control Department that five dogs, plus an assortment of cats, chickens, orangutans, spotted owls, California Condors, sturgeon, and Beluga whales, inhabited the single lot (APN 222-11-003) known as 810 Fishback Street.

I was mistaken... there are SIX canines - in addition to the other occupants of indeterminate species.

Please meet:

House dog #1

House dog #2

House dog #3

Yard dog #1

Yard dog #2

Yard dog #3

On her visit over a year ago, Animal Control Officer Peg Miller, in a spectacular leap of illogic, arrived at the conclusion that three dogs belonged to one address and two dogs belonged to the other address on the same parcel. This completely contradicts the fairly clear language of Municipal Code section 17.07.030, which reads:

In any district on a lot with a principal permitted use, no more than six small animals may be kept, provided none are kept for commercial use. Not more than three of such animals may be dogs or cats over ten weeks of age and not more than two may be pot belly pigs.

My speculations on the reasons for Ms. Miller's brain fart are:

1. Theresa "Red" Brassey (filling in for the absent spokesmouth, Lynda "Yellow" Allen) filled the officers ears with that really old bullshit about having a "grandfathered" business, which occupied the mobile home at the second address, 812 Fishback Street (which never was a "house" or residence during the BDGs' twenty-three year possession.)
2. Somehow, "grandfathered' status exempted them from the municipal code and allowed the BDGs to have extra dogs on the property to stand guard duty on the business assets.
3. Without laying eyes on the excess four-footed charmers, Ms. Miller took the word of a charlatan and wrote it down on an official citation. (Hey, City of Manteca, are those your "best practices" for investigation and documention standards?)
4. Peg was smoking some of the same "weed" Lynda now legally smokes. ("Hey, brah'... uh, pass me, uh... some chipsssh.")

Twice I submitted a written request to the Manteca Police Department to review Peg Miller's (mis)interpretation of the zoning law. Never did I receive an acknowledgement or a response. The letters must have disappeared into a black hole on the way to City Hall. (Oh, how I love to speculate in the absence of any emanations from the Black Hole!)

Some critical things have changed now.

• First, there appears to be no TLC Catering operating from the property any more, although business assets still encumber the place. February 15, 2010 is the (not yet admitted) end date of TLC Catering.
• Second, the mobile home, designated as 812 Fishback Street, was demolished over the course of a week commencing July 20, 2010. The illegal structure no longer exists.

These are two conditions that I have been waiting for before renewing my complaint of the Barefoot Dirty Girls harboring too many dogs on their residential property.

I’ll be very interested to hear whatever new rationale Animal Control dreams up now - or what lies the BDGs attempt to spin - seeing as how there is no longer an operating business and only one "house" exists on the property.

.