Justice Goes to Dogs, Cats, Pigs

Buster the pot-bellied pig had two bad days.

Twice, the 50-pound pedigreed porker had been mauled by the German shepherd and the Rottweiler that lived next door.

Darlene and Vernon Tatum feared their children would be next.

It was a case before Vicki Reeves, magistrate of Hillsborough County’s Animal Court.

The Tatums said that last summer and again in December, their neighbor’s two dogs broke through a fence and bit Buster, the Tatums’ pig, on his face, ears and neck. The neighbor, they said, won’t properly restrain his dogs, even though he has been cited numerous times.

Once a month, Reeves, a 41-year-old, estate-planning lawyer in Tampa, holds court, acting as a magistrate to enforce such things as leash laws, rabies vaccinations and animal licenses. She also rules on disputes such as the one the Tatums had with their neighbor.

Her team includes the animal-control and police officers involved in the cases.

Reeves, soft-spoken but firm, takes control in the courtroom and doesn’t take excuses. The neighbor involved in the Tatum case said he couldn’t come to court because he was sicker than a dog. Reeves arranged to have a speakerphone set up in the courtroom so the man could present his case from home.

When the dogs’ owner said he would need 20 minutes to tell his side of things, Reeves gave it to him, cutting him off after 20 minutes and one second.

The offending dogs and cats usually don’t join the nearly 100 people who jam animal court, because their owners are held responsible for any bestial misdeeds.

But Chester, a 2-year-old Australian sheep dog, was the accused and the canine charged with seeing his blind owner, Janet Booth, into the courtroom.

Barking and snarling was the charge, levied by the manager of the mobile home park where Booth and Chester lived. Apparently, the manager rides around in a nearly silent golf cart that startles Chester.

“If he does bark, it’s just because he’s protecting me,” Booth explained.

Reeves, who has been magistrate of animal court for three years, apologized to Booth and immediately dismissed the complaint. “I’m terribly sorry you had to come down here,” she said.

Compliance issues cram Reeves’ docket, with most cases involving dogs or cats that don’t have tags or haven’t had their shots.

“We want them [pet owners] to get in compliance or give up the animal,” Reeves said. “If they can’t afford the vaccination and tag, they probably can’t afford the pet.”

For offenses involving misunderstandings, most pet owners get off with a warning or a small fine.

“Our solution is not citing them monetarily,” Reeves said. “It is for neighbors to work together and find a solution, whether it’s a new fence, giving up the dog or getting a companion animal.”

But when she’s not satisfied with a pet owner’s actions, there is plenty of bite behind Reeves’ bark.

In the case of Buster the pig, she upheld two counts of vicious canine behavior and two counts of dogs running at large.

The man on the speakerphone was fined $150. He said he was being “railroaded” and promised to appeal.

Reeves directed him to the office that handles animal appeals, thanked him and hung up the phone. The chamber gave her a lengthy ovation.

“She showed great restraint,” one spectator said. “I would have hung up on that guy a looooong time ago.”

Reeves smiled, ever so slightly, and called the next case.