Battling for Control of Your Dog's Balls: New York Bill O'Reilly stands up for dog owners and property rights. Where the hell are the Dems? Jersey resident and dedicated dog owner Pete Georgoutsos finally, finally, finally got his dog bailed out of the NYC pound--in ONE piece. Price of a little temporary freedom for a dog and dog owner that did nothing wrong? $10,000 for a bond, which Georgoutsos was obliged to post in cash, as he defends his dog from NYC's mandatory castration requirement. The meter is still ticking on his attorney's fees. Picked up stray after a bungled robbery attempt set him loose, Spartacus the dog waited over a month--impounded in a public shelter. Two hearings were held because Georgoutsos refused to let the City of New York castrate his dog pursuant to city ordinances. NYC Gonad Nazis remain hellbent on enforcing a local requirement that all dogs and cats undergo surgical sterilization before release from city shelters. The requirement applies to animals claimed by their lawful owners, and it applies even if the animal was in the city temporarily and even if the animal was impounded only because a crime was committed against the owner. Holding pets hostage, blackmailing dog owners "The city would not let me see my dog for three weeks," Georgoutsos said, "and it was getting really ugly. "They said if I didn't neuter my dog he would be put up for adoption or euthanized. They were using Gestapo techniques." Georgoutsos maintains that the dog's health deteriorated during the impoundment period. Spokespeople for New York's CACC? Unmoved. Judges know extortion when they see it Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Arthur Schack doesn't mince words: We'll hold [Spartacus] hostage and then we'll kill him," said Schack. "That's what it sounds like. Judge Schack ordered the dog released, testicles and all. It took another couple of weeks of bickering, and $10,000 in cash, but Spartacus is now back home in New Jersey. The City is appealing the ruling, and it appears that Georgoutsos will be back in court this fall. Property rights on trial: Bill O'Reilly says a mouthful It took arch-conservative Bill freaking O'Reilly to point out the obvious: this just ain't right. The Factor was stunned by the episode. "We're supposed to be free in this country. If you have a dog and the government is saying you have to have him neutered, I think that's a violation of your freedom." Ok, this is painful for a liberal-type like me, but. . O'Reilly's right. That little bit of canine real estate that the City of New York wants to chop off and send to nearest landfill? It belongs to Pete Georgoutsos. City Councilman Peter Vallone: Oooops. We didn't mean it like that. The NYC law's author, that self-described animal rights activist and city councilman Peter Vallone Jr., found himself in a little bit of a jam over dog laws. Again. The judge is mad. The dog owner is mad. Bill O'Reilly is mad.

The people of the City of New York are mad.

"We never anticipated anything like this," Councilman Peter Vallone told the Daily News last week. "This is someone from out of state. It's not his fault the animal was loose." Oh, puh-leeze. Something like 40 million people visit the Big Apple each year. Do ya think Pete Georgoutsos is the first one to lose a dog, Councilman? Do you think this was the first time a dog was impounded through no fault of the owner?

Then there's the even lamer reasoning from MissionOrangeWorld--

ASPCA just makes shit up "Lisa Weisberg, a senior vice president at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in New York, said she doesn't believe the law applies to Spartacus. "If the person (owner) is just passing through the city for whatever reason, the spay-neutering requirement does not apply," she said. Uhhh, Lisa? The law doesn't say that. There is no "whatever" clause. The Whatever Legal Theory But let me get this straight. . .

According to the ASPCA's deeply orange rhetoric, its imperative--VITAL-- to neuter each and every loose dog because loose dogs are a public safety threat, and they spawn bazillions of puppy-dogs each year.

[Note that in the few hours he was loose, Spartacus didn't harm anyone. In fact, since the--by all reports very friendly--dog was hit with five tranquilizer darts before being brought to the shelter, I'm thinking he didn't have much of an opportunity for romance, either.]

Is "just passing through for whatever reason" a legal concept? Do residents of the City of New York somehow have fewer property rights than people who are "just passing through for whatever reason"?

Maybe Jerseyites have superior legal status for a reason, Ms. Weisberg?

Did Lisa Weisberg make sure that "just passing through" concept is included in the bill that the ASPCA is right this very minute promoting in Albany? NYS Assembly Bill 8032 mandates that every single dog or cat released by a "city" shelter must be surgically sterilized. There's no "whatever" clause. In fact, I don't even see the exceptions for so-called show dogs in the current New York City local law.

Footloose in the Big Apple

I agree that dogs shouldn't run loose on the mean streets of New York, by the way. They might get run over by an ASPCA paddywagon. Heck, they might even . . . wind up on Animal Planet and get blasted by another judge.

And that wouldn't be cool.

Or would it?

Life in a "free" country

Bill O'Reilly said it best: we're supposed to be living in a free country. Dog owners cannot be forced to neuter their dogs because the dog was picked up stray or impounded. Those dogs, and all their little pieces and parts, belong to their owners. New Jersey's Pete Georgoustos is a perfect example of how ridiculous, how useless, and how unfair the NYC law is. Councilman Vallone's Long Hot Summer But since all politics is local, we'll be checking back on NYC Councilman Peter Vallone this fall. Already an infamous pit bull hater and profiler of pit bull owners, how's he going to defend the assault on the personal property of all New Yorkers -- and every once in a while, a Jersey boy -- that he championed, anyway? See ya in September, Councilman Vallone. You're gonna have a little more 'splaining to do.