XPost: alt.pets.dogs, misc.legal, rec.pets   
   XPost: talk.politics.animals, uk.rec.pets.misc   
   From: theprof@jonez.net   
      
   > Boulder woman ticketed for dyeing poodle pink   
   > Salon owner faces $1,000 fine   
   > By Vanessa Miller   
   >   
   >   
   > Originally published 01:21 p.m., March 10, 2008   
   > Updated 01:21 p.m., March 10, 2008   
   >   
   >   
   > A Boulder salon owner has been ticketed for dyeing her miniature   
   > poodle pink - and the woman said she plans to fight back.   
   >   
   > Cici is a "breast-cancer awareness dog" that's been showing off her   
   > pink coat for three years at Zing Salon, 1100 Spruce St., said Joy   
   > Douglas, who owns both the salon and the poodle.   
   >   
   > "Cici is being stripped of her civic duty," Douglas said. "And I   
   > don't plan to take it sitting down."   
   >   
   > Officials at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley said Douglas was   
   > warned several times before an animal-control officer issued her a   
   > ticket on March 1 for violating the city's code, section 6-1-14:   
   > "Dyeing fowl and rabbits prohibited."   
   >   
   > Douglas said she didn't violate that law because she uses beet juice   
   > - and occasionally Kool-Aid - to "stain" Cici's coat. She said she   
   > never has used chemicals, and her pooch never has had a reaction to   
   > the stain.   
   > "If this is really true that you can't put beet juice on your dogs,   
   > than the law just needs to say that," Douglas said. "But I'm not   
   > dyeing fowl or rabbits. And I wouldn't do anything to endanger my   
   > animal."   
   > An expanded text of the law, according to city's online version of   
   > the code, reads: "No person shall dye or color live fowl, rabbits, or   
   > any other animals."   
   > Boulder's animal control officials said the regulation originally was   
   > passed to keep people from dying chicks and bunnies around Easter.   
   >   
   > "It's to prohibit the dyeing of Easter bunnies in an inhumane way,"   
   > Douglas said. "But I've been doing this service for three years, and,   
   > in that period of time, there's been no indication that organic beet   
   > juice is harmful."   
   > Lisa Pedersen, chief executive officer of the Humane Society of   
   > Boulder Valley and the Animal Control and Care department, said her   
   > officers received "several calls about the animals" before they wrote   
   > the ticket.   
   > "There were lots of people concerned about the dog," Pedersen said.   
   >   
   > Despite Douglas' assertions that she doesn't use chemicals, Pedersen   
   > said officers have no guarantee.   
   >   
   > "In our mind, the ordinance reads that there is no dyeing," she said.   
   > "It's a practice that we don't want - to expose animals to things   
   > that might be harmful."   
   >   
   > Douglas is scheduled to appear in Boulder Municipal Court early   
   > Tuesday, where a judge can either determine a fine amount or Douglas   
   > can opt to have her case go before a jury trial.   
   >   
   > If she doesn't appear, she'll face a $1,000 fine.   
   >   
   > "I don't believe that it's something that will hold up in court,"   
   > said Douglas, who plans on having Cici outside the courthouse during   
   > Tuesday's hearing.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)