Trouble Spots : Dedicated Dalmatian Rescuer Is Back in Legal Doghouse

High up along the Ortega Highway, amid towering oaks and pines, dog activist Randy Warner has established his latest--and, authorities hope, his last--headquarters for Dalmatian ResQ.

Jailed four times already in various Southland communities, Warner now is scheduled for a July 27 trial in Riverside Municipal Court on charges of failing to have a kennel license and harboring, by his own count, 17 Dalmatians.

He faces $130 in fines and $1,037 for the license. He must spend an additional $2,700 to install kennels.

It’s money he doesn’t have, Warner says. In his back yard, a worn-out 1977 VW camper badly in need of $550 in transmission work sits gathering dust. Meanwhile, Warner says, he spends nearly $1,000 a month on dog food and veterinary fees keeping the Dalmatians healthy.

“They just don’t like me rescuing these dogs who otherwise would be killed in a dog pound,” Warner said at the A-frame house where the Dalmatians have the run of the place. For 18 years, the Ohio State University graduate has forsaken more standard careers to commit himself to saving the lives of hundreds of Dalmatians.

It all started, Warner says, when he spotted a Dalmatian at a dog pound, about to be put to death. He took the dog home, even though he had been looking for a blue-eyed collie.

Since then, he has moved around--Costa Mesa, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Los Angeles--all the while gaining the attention of animal control agencies.

In October 1996, he was arrested by Orange County sheriff’s deputies on an animal charge. He was brought to jail in Santa Ana only to be recognized by a deputy who blurted, “Oh! It’s the Dalmatian man!” Warner does enjoy the limelight. He once brought 51 Dalmatians to the David Letterman show, was the subject of stories by CNN and “Hard Copy” and made appearances on the Arsenio Hall and Leeza Gibbons television shows.

Recently, his celebrity followed him to court.

Riverside County Court Commissioner Ann Loree, who had read about Warner, cringed when he walked into her courtroom in May. Loree recused herself, saying in court that she admired Warner and his activities. She called him a hero.

“When I left her courtroom the bailiff was so touched with my work that I was handed a check to buy dog food with!” Warner said.

Ava Park, executive director of Orange County’s People for Animals, the county’s largest animal rights group, describes Warner as a “kindhearted” pied piper of Dalmatians.

Park calls local animal laws that limit pets “silly” and in need of review. To cite Warner, she said, is ridiculous when “hundreds if not thousands of people” in Southern California have more than four animals, the legal limit.

“And, with all the numbers of homeless animals we have, animal owners [with many pets] are doing the county a favor,” Park said.

The increased popularity of the breed following the Disney release of “101 Dalmatians” has kept Warner busy.

Many people bred Dalmatians intending to capitalize on the movie’s popularity, without thinking about the dog’s temperament or of improving the breed.

Parents wanting to make their children happy have bought Dalmatian puppies only to find later that they are temperamental and high-strung and sometimes not good for families with children.

“It wound up with a glut on the market with Dalmatians,” Park said, adding wryly, “Those movies should come with a warning: Do not go out and buy the animals depicted in this movie.”

But as long as people do, Warner says, “I just want to make sure that dogs like these are safe or at least have a lovable home somewhere.”