Dogs Deserve Better member leaves group over arrest
By Mark Leberfinger,
mleberfinger@altoonamirror.com
Beth Yale of Valdosta, Ga., says she believes in animal welfare but doesn?t support what happened Monday in East Freedom.
Yale was the area representative in Valdosta for Dogs Deserve Better, a Tipton-based dog protection organization, with about 150 area representatives in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Yale resigned after organization founder Tammy Sneath Grimes was arrested.
Grimes is charged with stealing Jake, a 19-year-old German shepherd-black labrador mix. She says she took the dog off his chain and to the veterinarian to keep him from dying.
Jake was taken to a vet after a neighbor saw him lying on the ground, not moving for three days, Grimes said.
Grimes? justification doesn?t matter, Yale said.
?I feel we cannot push anti-tethering legislation while we are breaking the laws already in place,? Yale said.
Grimes? response to Yale?s resignation: ?See ya.?
?You cannot leave a dog to die for three days. It?s not ethically right. Any area representative not on board with this should not be with us,? Grimes said.
Jake?s owners, who deny any abuse, aren?t charged with a crime. Freedom Township police and the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society say they have no evidence of Jake?s abuse and have been rebuffed in efforts to see the dog to examine the claims.
?She was always adamant about not breaking the laws. The dog was certainly in need of help, but no one from the outside can be judge and jury without notifying proper authorities,? Yale said.
Grimes won?t reveal the whereabouts of the dog she calls Doogie but says he is doing better and was seen by another vet.
Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society says it will support the effort to have the criminal charges dismissed, according to a written statement. The society also says it will work with Blair County government on legislation to allow concerned residents to intervene in cruelty to animals cases without repercussions.