The other process server thread convinced me that i should finally after a year post my story of a process server visit. My father and i have the same name and the process server came to my house looking for my mother for an old business tax matter. It happened over a year ago, but still has me shook up and emotional.

I had been in bed and asleep after a long day of working outside in the cold. My house layout is a small two story 2 bedroom, upstairs i converted into a large bedroom with a half wall around the stairs to the downstairs living room. 10PM my german shepherd leaps off the bed and goes straight down the stairs and goes so quick that i would imagine he did not even touch any of the stairs. This is odd because i had a good friend of mine and his 2 year old living at my house at the time that was suppose to be returning around the same time and would never hurt them, the dog followed the 2 year old and would let her do anything to him. ( another story, friends wife was a cheating deadbeat) As soon as my dog got to the bottom of the stairs to the living room i heard the dog go full bore attack like i have never heard, and a man yelling. I jumped out of bed, grabbed the bedside 870 and looked noticed the motion light was on, but on my way past the window noticed no car in the driveway! ALERT level 10! I run down the stairs and the front door is open and dog and unidentified person is now on enclosed front porch. I call my dog off as soon as i get to front door and keep cover with the door and the dog gets right to my side. I asked the man who he was and why he came into my house while he was holding his leg. He told me to go F myself and that my dog attacked him! So i asked again why he was there and he said my mothers name, and that he had papers to serve her....well i did not see any papers, he was not holding any, there was no car in my driveway, it was 10pm, and he opened my front door and came into my house? Nothing added up, until he took papers out of his pocket and threw them at me. The process server came to the wrong house looking for my mother. He then told me that he almost shot my dog! This baffled me because first of all he did not fare so well with the dog in the first place, and second, he did not know it but the whole time behind the door he had a 870 in his direction. I called my mother and fathers house, she told me to send them to the correct address. I asked the process server if he needed medical attention and he declined. He apologized for what happened and assured me that he would not be hearing from any police or animal control.....

Sure enough animal control shows up 2 days later and tells me that the process server went to the hospital later that night and wanted the dogs papers and to issue me two tickets, no licence for the dog in the town, and not controlling my dog/human bit. I explained the whole situation to me. They wanted to quarantine my dog for 10 days but instead told me that the dog was to not leave the house or be around any other people or animals. He was just laying there on the couch with the 2 year old when they showed up. I had to report to dept. of health 10 days later to let them know how the dog was acting. no problem. I registered dog with the town the day after, no problem. I talked to a family lawyer, they said nothing should be a problem.

Court date a month later. I was told i would have to pay a small fine for not having the dog registered and that they would drop the dog bite thing because of the situation.... myself and what everyone had told me including my lawyer was WRONG! I had brought all my vet paperwork, training paperwork and town register paperwork.They basically ambushed me from the time i walked into court. They had a special "dog prosecutor" from the county who took me aside before court and told me that they would be successful in prosecuting my dog as a dangerous dog. They told me that if i did not plead guilty that i would have to pay $3000 in fines and they WOULD put my dog down. They told me if i did not plead guilty that i would be fined $500 i would have to have a list of things done. Dog must be neutered, which was already done. Dog must be chipped, which was already done. Dog must always be on leash and with muzzle if outside of house/dog pen. Must carry homeowners insurance, already done. Must have a 6 foot high fence that is lockable if he is outside/pen area, already done. The last thing was that they would have to send a dog evaluation specialist to my house at my expense and of their choosing so they could do an evaluation of my dog, if he failed, they would seize my dog and put him down. The judge and prosecutor told me that it did not matter where it happened on my property or in my house. The man was not there to break the law even though he was at the wrong house. There were even 4 other people in the court room that had just happen to be there for other reasons like speeding tickets that knew me and the dog that spoke up! The judge told them it did not matter.

The dog evaluation person came over weeks later in which they did a bunch of tests. They first came in and shook my hand and met me and the dog. they gave the dog some basic commands. They told me to give him some commands. I told him to go find the remote, go get a beer, find my cell phone, act shy, all things he did. They did tests like pulling on his tail, paws, his lips, putting their hands in his food bowl, hugging me. They also did these tests where they put a mask on and had this noise maker whip and they would yell and me and the dog. They brought a bike and rode past me and the dog as well while yelling and such. The person doing the evaluation was very impressed and told me flat out that my dog has no problems and that the dog was better than almost every dog they have seen for evaluation by far and even many of the dogs they have seen for competition.

Since the incident i have not been the same. I know i should have had the door locked. Now i keep the door locked PLUS the enclosed area latches on the front and back porch have small locks that i keep locked. I do not go out as much and i am not as social. I have let my team membership run out and have not even been posting on any of my favorite sites anymore.

Today my best friend turns 7, i do not know what i would do without him. I have had him since he was 3 months old and is like another human to me.

You went to court without a lawyer???

.gov is out of hand

I went thru a situation where they accused my 10lb mini weiner dog of being dangerous.

My dog was extremely docile, and wouldn't fight her way out of a wet paper sack.

It was fucking ridiculous.

He couldn't have reported your dog if you had just shot him when he came into your house.

...opened the door for a stranger?

That's a fucked up situation.  Not your dogs fault some asshole came into your house.

Sorry bud.

You're dog did his job, and did it well. I can't believe the process server opened the door, what the fuck was he thinking.

The haters can suck it.

Some one opens the door to my house and walks in after dark gets shot.

You did not press charges for breaking and entering?  I am so confused how did you not have the police come?  A police report would have helped you greatlY.

You never go to court without a lawyer. Ever.

Even in NY burglary of an occupied residency is justification for a trigger pull.

Fixed

Why didn't you press charges for B&E?  Unlocked door or not, unless there's some bullshit special legal authority to enter uninvited that goes with being a process server that I don't know about, he broke the law.
 

ETA:  If shooting the prick would be justified (which, it sounds like, it would), then the proper and justified action to take with the dog would have been issuance of doggie treats, some belly rubs, and lots of "who's a good boy?"

 Good point, I was trying to relate to op and over complicated it.

Reportedly the server came in through an unlocked door.  Maybe he was just on the porch.

In many places he could have been shot as a deadly threat.

PS...Great dog.

Virginia is a weird place. I'd of shot him dead if he was inside my house.

"I run down the stairs and the front door is open..."



http://www.ets.org/toefl  



 

You have castle doctrine? Just shoot the fucker next time. Fuck trespassers.

 
Sounds like an enclosed front porch was entered. In a lot of homes I've seen you would need to enter the porch to ring the bell.

This is so wrong on so many levels. What part of VA are you in? I'm an attorney, trust me, always bring one to court. There are tons of law school run clinics throughout the commonwealth that can provide you with a student attorney to prevent this kind of treatment. Despicable.

It makes perfect sense in the arfcom GD fantasy world.


 

Lucky for the moron you did not shoot him.  He'd have had an awful hard time explaining why he broke into your house with a face full of 00 buck.

I would also sue the fuckhead for the costs and pain in the ass he caused.

This whole thing would have been a lot simpler if you just shot the intruder.  

Should have 00 his ass back into the yard!

FIFY

You should have called the cops and had them deal with the "intruder" right then and there.

OP...log out and then log back in.

Yeah, for the dog to get to the asshole from inside the house, the house would have to be open.  Sounds like the chomp was inside the home, or the dude tried to retreat when he saw angry teeth, but only made it to the porch.

 

I'm as confused as everyone else--the asshole  opened your door and walked in at 10 pm without invite?  And he's still alive?

Does VA have a castle doctrine?

Sounds good.   Then use that against them to not go after your dog.  

FIXED IT

Sue the process server for trespassing and all cost related to the dog incident in small claims court.

They won't even go past my gate.

Sounds like total bullshit, to me.

How the fuck can even a process server enter your house without a warrant?

WTF happens is he walks in on an armed homeowner and gets himself shot? If I do that, it's criminal trespass.

You should have retained the best lawyer in the area and went after them on this one. I'm pretty certain you got railroaded.

so, you had a loaded 870 in your hand and you did not shoot the asshole standing in your house after 10p?

There seems to be a house layout or story detail missing then, because either OP left his inner front door wide open for the dog to get to the guy, or the porch door is the actual door to the house. I read it as the latter.

I'm amazed by dogs.  How incredible is it that the dog, upstairs and out of sight, heard someone come in and knew for a certainty that it was opened by someone who doesn't belong there.  Amazing animals.

 

How is this NOT an example of an out of control police state?