Court upholds verdict in dog-theft case

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October 3, 2009

By KATHY MELLOTT The Tribune-Democrat Sat Oct 03, 2009, 12:22 AM EDT

HOLLIDAYSBURG — A Blair County woman who three years ago took a dog she believed was mistreated said Friday she may be at the end of her battle.

Patton native Tamira Ci Thayne, formerly known as Tammy Sneath Grimes, 45, said she was disappointed by this week’s state Superior Court decision to uphold her December 2007 theft conviction.

“I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with my attorney yet, but as long as dogs are property, there is no use in taking it further,” she said.

In 2006, Thayne removed a 19-year-old dog named Jake from a property in East Freedom, Blair County, without the owners’ permission.

Thayne, the founder of Dogs Deserve Better, a Tipton-based group that is now an international organization opposed to tethering dogs, took Jake to a veterinarian and had him placed in a foster home until his death several months later.

Jake’s owners, Lori and Steve Arnold, called police to report Thayne’s actions, and she was charged with stealing the mixed-breed German shepherd, refusing to return it and related charges.

Thayne maintained she took the dog to save its life.

Following a three-day trial that attracted animal activists from a number of states, a jury took less than 30 minutes to find her guilty of all charges.

She was sentenced to a year on probation and 300 hours of community service. She also was ordered to pay the trial costs and remove all images of Jake – including items bearing his picture that she was selling – from Internet sites.

“Pretty much all of the punishment is over, I’ve done it all,” Thayne said Friday.

The three-member state judicial panel upheld Blair Judge Elizabeth Doyle’s ruling that a dog is personal property and a justification defense does not apply to dogs.

For Thayne, the case has been what she termed as a distraction for more than three years.

However, she said she continues to pursue private criminal charges against the Arnolds for what she views as animal abuse.

Blair County District Attorney Richard Consiglio has rejected the charges, and Thayne argued her case in late September before a visiting judge.

“We’re waiting for a ruling to see if we can go any further,” she said. “But this is the way of the activist – somebody’s got to be the forerunner.”

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Court upholds verdict in dog-theft case

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