In the early 1990s pet theft was a hot topic among animal rights activists, but it seems to have died down — perhaps because animal rights activists themselves seem to be getting in on the act. Such is the case of a dog-napping in Portland, Oregon.
John Lindberg, an Oregon doctor, had been jogging with his dog in Portland last May. He leashed the dog to a post outside of a market for a few minutes, and when he emerged from the store his dog was gone. When the dog did not turn up, Lindberg assumed the dog was stolen.
Patti Webb works with the Boxer Rescue League and received a call from Kim Singer. Singer used to be a news anchor at a Portland station, and described to Webb a boxer she had come into possession of. Webb realized that the dog was the same boxer that Lindberg had reported stolen, and told Singer to take the dog to Animal Control.
Instead, Singer gave the dog to Samantha Miller who, like Singer and her friend Paige Powell (who apparently stole the dog in the first place), has a history of being involved in this sort of “pet rescue”/theft.
The dog had a history of stomach problems and when it began experiencing problems while with Miller, she took it to a vet. The vet told her the animal needed an operation. Since none of the three people involved in stealing and transferring the dog were willing to pay for the operation, the dog was euthanized.
Singer and Powell both denied to police that they had any involvement in the theft of the dog. But when Lindberg filed a lawsuit against them, the duo quickly changed their mind.
In March, Singer and Powell reached a settlement with Lindberg in which they each agreed to pay him $12,500 and agreed to stop making public statements that they had nothing to do with “events relating to the dog, Shaq.”
More importantly, the settlement agreement calls for Singer and Powell to testify truthfully in any further civil lawsuit, and Lindberg’s lawyer maintains he is preparing to file suit against Miller.
Source:
Boxer’s story takes a sad twist. Phil Stanford, Portland Tribune, March 29, 2002.