ExpertLaw.com Forums

Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors

Printable View

  • 11-22-2007, 12:15 AM
    Big Tex
    Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    This is a long, long story of our plite. If you don't want to read it then be forwarned and go to the next problem on the forum. If you don't mind reading a little bit then please be our guest. Jurisdiction is Wisconsin.

    Here is our problem......

    We own ten horses in. We keep them on approximately 20 acres of rented land that includes a barn with stalls and a storage barn. One of our horses became unhealthy due to, making a very long story short, a dispute with our landlord. The rest of our horses are
    very beautiful and somewhat overweight. We had a visit from our county sheriff. He said that several people called to complain about our horse. My son caught our neighbors, from down the road, trespassing and going through our barn about 3 days before. They mean well, I guess. The sheriff gave us a list of demands and if they were not met then he will seize all of our horses (one horse was the issue, not all of them). He told us that he did not know very much about horses. We complied with his every wish. Three days later
    we are visiting my brother-n-law in a hospital 100 miles away. He was in hospice and only expected to live about 3 days. I get a call on our cell phone from the sheriff himself. He told us that we were not taking care of our horses (again only one was in question) and
    if we did not come down to our house he was going to get a court order to seize all of our horses. I percieved that as a threat. He said he was getting more calls about our horse and that we were not taking care of them. This was untrue because we made sure that there was one person in our family at home at all times so the horses would be and was cared for. He did not believe me. So I left my brother-n-laws death bed and came home to do what my daughter was doing, taking care of the horses. He showed up with the local
    humane society representative. I showed him that we had hay, feed, water, shelter, and we had a veteranarian to check on our horse. We had complied with all of his wishes. I told him that, because of his unwarranted threats, I missed my brother-n-laws passing by
    30 minutes and that I was very upset. He said that this issue is not closed and we need to take care of our horses (again, only one was in poor health). He said he will visit again in about 3 weeks and we had better have at least 100 square bales of hay in our barn.
    He says that he is still getting calls that we are not taking care of our horses. I told him that we are and I do not know why he is being a bully. During one visit the sheriff was standing by our horses water trough (which was 3/4 full of fresh water) and asked my daughter if we were watering our horses. My daughter was dumfounded. She said that yes of course we are watering them, look down at your feet. The other day one of our horses (not the one in question) got loose. The sheriff was called before we could do anything. He said we are going to get a ticket for our loose horse (on a farm road in rural America) and that he is still getting complaints. He was very angry and said the reason why this horse was loose was because we were not feeding him (as previously mentioned he is slightly overweight). I could not convince him otherwise that we were feeding him. He is a young colt that has learned to escape the fence. As we left for home, the caring neighbors of ours were sitting in front of their house window waving and smiling and laughing. I told the sheriff that he was getting involved with some very, very nosey neighbors. We are logging in everything that we do for our horse that was in poor
    health. Our neighbors always sits in front of their window gauking at us everytime we go over to maintain our horses. They even drive very slowly by the horse pasture about 4-5 times a day. The sheriff has also threatened that if he gets one more call about our
    horses (again why all of our horses) he will take them all away. I told him that I was not responsible for bored neighbors that have nothing to do but make other peoples lives miserable.

    Our horse that was in question is now in very good health and in very good spirits. We love all of our horses very much.

    My question is what can we do? We want to be very much left alone and to maintain our horses as we see fit. What can we do about the bully sheriff who keeps harassing / threatening us? Will we make him angrier and suffer retribution? What can we do about our neighbors? I don't know why they enjoy causing us problems. We have done absolutely nothing to them.

    Can anyone help us or give us some information

    Thank you for reading our long story (trust me this is the shorter version)

    Signed "Victim of Circumstance"
  • 11-23-2007, 10:32 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    What can you do about a Sheriff who is concerned about the manner in which you care for your horses, and is checking to make sure that they are okay? You can live with it.

    Was there something more to your question, somewhere in that narrative?
  • 11-23-2007, 02:47 PM
    Binky .357
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    Could it be that you have a problem with a tresspassing neighbor, and that's where the sheriff is getting his motivation to enter your land? Not neccessarily from the sheriff, but from a nosy do-gooder neighbor type?

    Back in '96, my aunt was getting harassed by my next door neighbor, who happened to be an animal rights extremist type. He would go three miles out of his way to drive by her house and harass her any chance he got; he went as far as walking past several "No Trespassing" signs and climbing over an electrified (*OUCH!*) barbed wire fence to "check up" on her animals on his own (to be read as: no legal authority) initiative and then report percieved "abuses" to the local sheriff's dept.

    He, and his wife justified their actions as "civil disobedience" and wouldn't change their behavior, despite the fact that the fence was electrified. (Ultimately, they did, but how that was achieved in my case is not germaine to this conversation. ;))

    Anyway, to get to the point, one way to see if Officer Friendly is doing this on his own initiative, or someone nearby is stirring the pot, you may want to invest in one of those game trail cameras to see what, exactly, is going on. Mount it high, and mount it well. If you can afford it, harden your home against these nosey neighbors as much as legally possible. Cameras (even if they're fake). Motion lights. Radio Shack at one time sold a wireless driveway monitoring system. Anything you can do to document their conduct; the beauty of a lot of these systems is they require very little upkeep and minimal resources.

    Then, if it turns out you have a tresspasser, pursue whatever legal action you can, as agressively as you can manage.

    As for the sherriff, does he have a warrant when he shows up? Just wondering if that is neccessary in this particular case.
  • 11-23-2007, 03:09 PM
    edbehnke48653
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    some suggestions:
    1. make sure a vet has seen all of you animals and has determined that they are ok.
    2. i assume that the human society/animal shelter would be the one to take action if the horses were to be removed. you may want to talk to them and you may even want to show them current documents from your vet. ANYWAY, WHAT DID THE ANIMAL SHELTER PERSON SAY...HE/SHE would be the expert? And 100 bales of hay???? come on, give me a break.
    3. neighbors...not awhole lot you can do unless they are on your property.
    4. get reports of police complaints
    5. give vet reports to sheriffs office. also, is it the sheriff who is talking to you or a deputy?????? you may want to talk to the sheriff directly if it is just a deputy.
    6. make sure your horses don't get loose, even for one moment.
    7. as a backup plan, you probably need to see an attorney and find out the process is for taking your animals.
  • 11-25-2007, 09:11 AM
    Big Tex
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    Thanks for your replies. Here's an update.

    I spent most of one day inside our horse barn just to see what goes on around our horses during the day. It was very fruitful. I noticed our nosey neighbor drive by very slowly twice and rubbernecking. She did not notice that I was there.

    On the property there is also a rent house rented out by my landlord to another family. My do-gooder neighbor even came over to their house for about 45 minutes visiting. When she left I overheard her giving them her cell phone number and telling them to call her at any time. I do know that this family that moved in the rent house also would like to have the pasture facilities that I am renting because they have some horses at another location. They are also a very disfunctional family, common law husband moving out, moving in, loud cussing battles, etc.

    Our loveable neighbor called the sheriff again because our little colt got out again and was in another persons yard. He had ample free-choice hay and water. She must have seen him on one of her drives by the pasture. The sheriff was very angry and said we are getting a big ticket in the mail. My kids put him in one of the barn stalls until we can fix the fence. As my kids drove home from the pasture, our over-caring neighbors were at their house window waving gleefully, laughing, and flipping us the bird.

    I have fortified the fence and added a new fence electrifier. This should discourage any bad learned horse behavior.

    Is there any law against people habitually calling law officers to make life miserable for another person and to have a law officer go along with their wishes? He has threatened to take all of our horses away and/or give us another ticket if our neighbors call again. Are we responsible for them making calls to the sheriff whenever they want to give us a hard time???

    Anyone can see that we are providing for our equines properly. They all are in very good health.

    We are almost at our witts end.

    Signed,

    Victim of Circumstance
  • 11-25-2007, 11:53 AM
    cdwjava
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    Quote:

    Quoting Big Tex
    View Post
    Is there any law against people habitually calling law officers to make life miserable for another person and to have a law officer go along with their wishes? He has threatened to take all of our horses away and/or give us another ticket if our neighbors call again. Are we responsible for them making calls to the sheriff whenever they want to give us a hard time???

    Unless the neighbor is calling and intentionally making false allegations against you, the neighbor has a right to report perceived wrongdoings or problems.

    - Carl
  • 11-25-2007, 09:11 PM
    souperdave
    Re: Sheriff's Conduct and Complaints from Neighbors
    Quote:

    Quoting Big Tex
    View Post

    ......My kids put him in one of the barn stalls until we can fix the fence. As my kids drove home from the pasture, our over-caring neighbors were at their house window waving gleefully, laughing, and flipping us the bird.

    ...........


    You may want to ponder the thought of taking a camcorder with you to document those "endearing" moments.

    If you do, make sure the date and time stamp is on and you get a nice, steady zoom shot of their behavior.

    Sounds like you're heading toward a situation where you very well may need as much documentation (read evidence) as you can garner. The previous video suggestions are also very good ideas.

    It's said "a picture speaks a thousand words", and that holds true! But, moving pictures speak volumes!!!!

    Good Luck!!!
All times are GMT -7. The time now is 01:02 PM.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.4
Copyright © 2023 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2004 - 2018 ExpertLaw.com, All Rights Reserved