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September 19 was an interesting day for customers at Ceshalyn Rust State Farm Insurance in Ulysses.
A pitbull was stationed outside the business at 716 West Oklahoma Avenue and had been acting aggressive towards customers and nearby residents. Ulysses Animal Control Officer Anne Langston was dispatched to handle the situation and issued citations to nearby resident April Head because the animal was believed to belong to her, a fact Head denies.
Head was in court December 2, to address the allegations.
After Langston, Head and witnesses were sworn in, City Attorney Lynn Koehn questioned the individuals and judge Peggy Alford presided.
Langston said she was called about the aggressive dog charging at people going into the business around 9:30 a.m. and spoke with two individuals, April Head and Patricia Reyna. Head lives adjacent to the business, according to Langston.
“I was told the dog had been charging at people trying to go into the business that morning and when I arrived, he was sitting on the porch of April Head’s residence,” Langston said. “When I approached her, he also got aggressive but did not leave the property, charged at me and then went back to sitting on the porch, so he was aggressive in nature.”
Langston spoke to Head about ownership of the dog, and head said the dog had been there for “About a week,” and was acting aggressive because Head’s female Chihuahua was in heat. Langston said the dog would charge, but stop before attacking anybody.
“It was my understanding that prior to me arriving to the scene, he was attempting to bite people going into the business,” Langston added. “I never observed him going after anybody on scene, but due to his behavior while I was there I did deem him dangerous.”
Langston instructed Head to put the dog inside her home, but the dog did not willingly go inside and Head picked him up to put him in. When Langston went to her vehicle to write the citation for vicious dog, the animal jumped out of a flap window of the home to charge at Langston, she said. Reyna and another male witness on scene said the animal had charged them “At least three or four times that morning,” Langston said. The Animal Control Officer, with help of another Ulysses Police Department officer, seized the animal for public safety. The dog was eventually euthanized.
Head was charged with Vicious Dog, Dog-at-Large and no proof of rabies vaccination.
Head said Langston left out some items. She said she was on her property working on her fence to protect her two Chihuahuas.
“This dog showed up at my house in the middle of the night one night,” Head said. “I never let him in my house until she ordered me to put him in my house because of him being aggressive towards her.”
Head said she begged Langston to take the dog because it had attacked one of her smaller dogs that morning “And tried to kill it,” she added. “He tried to bite me. He’s not my dog, I don’t know where it came from.” She added that a friend of hers gave the dog away three years ago as a puppy. The dog ended up with Furever Friends but she never heard anything else about it. She wanted to verify with them that she did not adopt the dog.
“I did not take that dog into my possession,” Head added. “I don’t like pit bulls. I’m scared of them, I was bit by one as a child.”
Head said she was familiar with the owner of the dog’s litter mate and had made plans for that individual to take the animal.
Reyna works at State Farm and made the initial call to police September 19, and her husband made a second call. She said she had seen the dog in the previous “Two or three weeks” in a vacant lot nearby, but she was able to get inside before the dog had a chance to charge at her.
Koehn said the gist of the case came down to not whether or not Head owned the dog (but) if she had control of the dog. He said Langston was within her discretion based on what she learned that Head was the possessor of the dog at the time, because the dog had been there for more than a week and there were plans for what to do with the dog in two more weeks, knew the dog’s name and age.
“The city’s position isn’t that Miss Head actually owned or had ownership interest of the dog rather that she took the dog in.” Koehn said, adding that with city code you don’t necessarily need to have ownership, but if you possess or have control of any kind, you can be deemed to be in possession, which is what the city relied upon in its charging for showing ownership/possession of the animal.
Head said she never had any control of the dog.
The judge said it was a difficult case because it was “she said, she said.”
The judge waived the at-large charge and the rabies fee, but the charge for vicious dog, court costs and restitution and Head was ordered to pay $364 and signed a promise to pay for February 3, 2025.
In other court cases:
Many of the cases on the docket were deferred to the next court date of December 16, or January 2025 court dates.
•Adolfo Maldonado was charged with dog/cat running at-large, no rabies vaccination and vicious dog//cat and was ordered to pay $253 by January 6, 2025.
•Jose Alfonso Palma was charged with dog/cat running at large and no rabies vaccination, and was ordered to pay down the $203 fine each month and return to court December 16.
•Alma Ramirez-Ramirez had been charged with no driver’s license and paid a $133 fine.
•Victoria Salinas was charged with no driver’s license and agreed to make payments and return December 16.
•Lance Yaws was charged with Driving Under the Influence, Transportation of Open Container, License Suspended, Cancelled or Revoked, and No vehicle tag. He paid his $1,104.84 fine in full.
The next municipal court date is December 16.
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