HEMET, Calif. – An officer at a San Diego County correctional facility who had complained about the barking of her neighbor's dog was arrested after being accused of stealing the animal and abandoning it some 15 miles away.

Diane M. Brown, 42, was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property, Hemet police Sgt. Kevin Caskey said. She was booked Thursday and released on $5,000 bond.

Brown had filed multiple noise complaints about Spike — a white Maltese — who lives next door to her Hemet home, Riverside County Animal Services officials said.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/...026odd3-CR.htmlOAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1')

Thank God poor Spike was found and returned to his owners...

OMG! Poor Spike - that's unforgiveable!
Cherie and I read this together, then we talked about it for a bit. The article did not mention whether or not any action had ever been taken regarding the neighbor's multiple complaints about the barking. I'm by no means condoning what she did - I would never ever do that. But Spike's owner should absolutely have gotten the dog trained - no matter what - if his barking was upsetting the community. That is a dog owner's responsibility. I can understand a person feeling like they would have to take matters into their own hands, if complaints were made, but never followed up on. But what she did was just cruel ... Spike could have easily died. And it's not Spike's fault if he's an incessant barker.
On the other hand, since we're outside of the situation, we don't really know what happened ... it's possible that the neighbor's (abductor) complaints were unwarranted ... that would be a good reason for the police (or whomever) to not take any action with the dog owner. If the neighbor was "overly-sensitive" to the barking, then that would change the whole scenario. If she flew off the handle everytime she heard a bark, then she's obviously unstable ... which I suppose would explain the actions she ended up taking.
Oh my, I've rambled on ... my main point is that the woman who abducted and abandoned Spike was definitely wrong, and should be punished. I wouldn't mind smacking her. But if Spike's owner knew there was a legitimate barking problem and did nothing to fix it, he/she was wrong too. But either way, poor Spike did not deserve what happened. Thank goodness he's ok. This may not be the last we hear of this story ...

Good grief - this world is getting crazier. I wonder how she managed to get her hands on the dog. Personally I never let any of mine out alone, but then I'm paranoid.....too much mischief for them to get into out in the yard unattended.

I don't approve of her method but, NO ONE should allow their dog to bark enough to disturb the neighbors. It's rude, inconsiderate and shouldn't be tolerated.

I understand that she was frustrated about the constant noise that the dog was making but being an officer herself, she should have known better. She should have called Animal control and had them visit the residence of the dog. What she did was cruel and horrific. What if something happened with that poor dog. I think that woman deserved what she got in regards to a punishment!

I agree that something should have been done about the barking but what she did in unacceptable! You can't go stealing peoples dogs and then putting them in dangerous situations no matter what the reason. I'm really amazed that she did that! TG that dog was found so quickly and returned. It could have had a very bad ending.

Not only am I horrified that someone would do that to a defenseless dog I am shocked at some of the comments people made to the story. Some people never seem to disappoint. Morons. I know not everyone loves animals as I do. I don't understand it but everyone has a right to their opinions and feelings. No one, however, should condone cruelty. I'm glad Spike is ok. I hope the owner can control his barking. I am sympathetic to her since my baby barks too. We have had some success in quieting her but she still barks some. A little understanding & communications goes a long way.

I agree with you all. If the dog was a problem, I can understand the frustration, but I would never condone what that woman did. Thank God Spike was returned to his owner. Barker or not, that was just plain wrong. There are other (safe!) avenues to correct the problem.

I'm deeply disturbed by the comments posted by other people about this article on that page. It makes me ill to think so many people applaud the actions that woman took. That poor guy could have died VERY easily. How can people be so cruel? I will never understand. I don't want to ever understand.

What that woman did was wrong. What if something had happened to Spike? She should not have taken it upon herself to do something about it. If Spikes barking was out of control than the owner should have taken Spike to some training classes, also why was Spike left outside by himself? I never leave mine out by theirselves. I have constant barker named Chloe and we are working on her barking issues. I would die if someone had taken her out of the yard.

I wonder how the both are feeling about being neighbors? I think she needs to move. There will probably be an ongoing war now, and I couldn't ever feel comfortable letting my dog out wondering if my neighbor would poison, or steal my dog.

Not one person on this board condoned what the woman did. Perhaps you were talking about something else when you posted this.

I think she was referring to the comments made on the site that the story was on, not this one.

I was wondering since I didn't read anything condoning what the woman did.

I've had problems with neighbors and their barking dogs. I understand the frustration when having inconsiderate neighbors. But I still can't imagine dumping the poor dog. Some people shouldn't own a dog. Leaving a dog outside alone to bark is cruel.

I was shocked at the comments, too.

This is a sad situation, if Spike's parents knew that the barking was a problem, then they are responsible for training, but this action was despicable.

I just want to clarify what I meant in my response earlier. I got a message from someone who took it wrong and want to be sure others understood what I meant. When I said I was shocked at the comments people made I was referring to the comments made by people which were shown after the story, not people here, in SM. Bonnie's Mommie understood me and I hope you all did too. I would never say anything intentionally to upset anyone in SM.

It's a good thing that woman doesn't live in our neighborhood......She'd be a busy bee....and she'd probably need a bus (with all the barkers we have).

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to make light of the situation, I just got to thinking about what my street sounds like when the UPS truck comes around

A constant barker can be annoying, especially a loud high pitched bark - but what's more annoying to me is living near someone who doesn't like animals.

One of our neighbors down the street came to our door last night....it seems someone gathered a bag full of dog poop and threw it all over his yard. He wanted to know if this had ever happened to us. Well I suspect it had nothing to do with his dog, as he is sort of an idiot himself, but I wouldn't tell him that! . I just told him it was probably someone who didn't like dogs.

I knew exactly what you meant

Yep! I understood and agree 100% Some of those comments about made me ill.

pfui spinne!!! how awful!

and this little detail...blimey!!!

lucky and great that spike wasn't harmed. what an awful thing to do. he could have been run over by a car or whatever. so sad! I thik I would instantly move away. I would be so scared that something happens to him. if there is such HATE against him?!

What the lady did was totally wrong, but I do wish some pet owners were more responsible. I live in a neighborhood full of people who just let their dogs roam. They have harassed our dogs, but my personal favorite is when their dogs dump a load on our front steps. Nothing like walking outside to a big smelly German Shepard sized poop. These people beat our dog with a broom when she started chasing their dog back home. For the record, we were playing with her when the dog came over. We took off after her, they saw us coming after her and still beat her. I was so furious! People like this are one reason some people hate dogs. I love dogs, but it's frustrating to me. I wish there was more that could be done about irresponsible pet owners. How many times should you have to call someone to tell them to come and get their dog? How many times should you have to pick up trash after they knock over the trash can? Our trash lid is now strapped down with bungee cords because of dogs. Once again, what she did is HORRENDOUS! But the owners should be ashamed of themselves. That poor sweet lil baby! He was just lonely. This is making me cry.

Right now as I read this I am listening to a large dog who starts at 6am and barks NON STOP till 9pm. Apparently this is within the time frame for regulations of when your dog is allowed to bark. I dont think when they wrote this rule they thought the dog would bark continuously every day for those hours. The people just leave him out go off to work and let him in when required at night. It is so frustrating to all of the neighbors. I honestly feel like calling animal control, someone else could take much better care of this dog.

Great and thanks.

Great. Thanks for responding. I feel better now.

I do understand how annoying a barking dog next door to you is. I lived next to one for years. I couldn't hear the TV in the summer time if the windows were open. I complained when awakened at 5 AM while home on vacation. The owners, of course, were still sleeping! Nothing changed after the complaint. It wasn't the poor dog's fault. He was tied out & ignored all day. He was lonely. Dogs ran all over that neighborhood too. I agree with you, the owners should be ashamed of themselves. They aren't though as they don't know any better. They think we are nuts & crabby.

Although I absolutely do not think what that woman was right, I lived next door to some people who had a beagle that howled every time the owners left, I can totally understand her frustration. What made matters worse was , I did say something to the neighbors. Even told them that dog alerted the whole neighborhood when they were not home & if there was someone with criminal intent, that dog may as well have just opened up the door & let them in.

But they didn't do anything except agree with the fact that she had that problem. Luckily, they moved, but man...!!!!! I sure feel sorry for whoever they moved next door too!

I agree the woman should be punished for on the basis of animal cruelty, but the owners need to be cited for not taking care of that dog & disturbing the peace! Poor Spike!

I don't condone what the woman did either. She should have taken the owner out in the middle of nowhere and dumped her. I can't imagine letting my dogs bark like that or leaving them where someone could get their hands on them that easily. I live next door to two Labs that bark out of boredom 24/7. I find the Labrador bark quite irrating. The owner used to go to work at 4am and that's when it started, yuck. Now he travels for work and his wife leaves them out all the time, yuckier. I mentioned something to them one time and the witch said, "I want to get rid of them anyways." I just suffer in silence now. Who on earth would want two, plain, backyard bred, yellow labs who aren't neutered, haven't been socialized, trained or housebroken? No one in my area. Labs are everywhere and the chocolates are the "in color." People practically give the yellow ones away. The worst part about it is she asked me, before they got them, if they should get two and I told her it was a bad idea. They didn't listen and when the puppies became destruction, they were banished to the laundry room and backyard.

Whoa, how very strange! My communications professor told my class an eerily similar story in the beginning of the semester. He has a dog that barks a lot. When my professor came back home from work, he noticed his dog was gone. He went around his neighborhood and asked his neighbors if they had seen his dog. One of his neighbors told him that he saw Jerry (sorry, I don't remember his name, but I'll call him Jerry just to make things easier) load the dog into his car, and drive off. Jerry supposedly dumped the dog in the middle of nowhere. And get this: Jerry is an officer, too! How strange is that? Thankfully, the dog was picked up and brought to a shelter, where my professor claimed her. I'm not sure if he pressed any charges, but I just wanted to share this story since it's so similar to the story Steve shared.

Man, some people are just plain cruel.