Councilman James Gardner starts out as "Tough Guy" but then ends up as a "Weakling" when his accusations don't have "teeth"

I would not think of re-counting this story if somehow I heard it "off the record" - however, the events detailed below were initially disclosed by Councilman James Gardner in his post and a city council meeting earlier this month. So I feel they are fair game for public disclosure.

The moral of this story is that Councilman Gardner publicly levels accusations at the Orange County Animal Control for political purposes and his strategy backfires miserably.

Story according to Councilman Gardner on the Patch

According to his post on http://patch.com/california/lakeforest-ca/city-council-preview-dec-6, Gardner states " . . two weeks ago I was playing with my other dog and he bit me by accident. The bite was serious enough that I went to the hospital and got it treated, and a few days later I got a phone message from OCAS saying they wanted to conduct a rabies investigation. I returned the call, only to get a recorded message saying that they were closed for the holidays. I tried for 3 days even after the holiday was over and got the same message."

"During this time I found a notice from them in my garden. I assume they placed it on the gate and it blew into the garden, but who knows."

"On Sunday morning about 8 am I went for a walk with my dogs and found an animal control officer waiting for me. She wanted to know why I hadn’t responded to their notices. I told her I called 3 times but they were never there. She asked why I didn’t leave a message. I said because their message says you should only leave a message if the problem is “urgent”. Since there was nothing “urgent”, I left no message. She was unaware that only “urgent” messages could be left."

"She explained that they were concerned that I had been bitten by an unregistered dog who didn’t have a rabies vaccination . . Anyhow, I wondered why she was asking me about a dog that was registered with OCAS and about whom they had the full rabies vaccination information. She said she found nothing. I dug out my license certification which had the rabies vaccination, and she took down the data. She then charged me $95 to pay for her time coming out to investigate, which seemed curious given that the need for her to come out was precipitated by the fact that OCAS lost my dog’s information. But I paid anyway."

"My personal stories here are probably more than you want to know [Editors Note: No James, we are interested in every detail about your life and want more!] , but the point is that OCAS does a poor job no matter what they do."

Story according to Councilman Gardner at the City Council meeting [video]

This is worth every minute of the less than 10 minute video:

Councilman Gardner starts by saying that it was his fault when he was bit by his own dog when Gardner put his hand in his dog's mouth who is old and blind. Gardner then went to the hospital and reported his dog bit him.

According to Councilman Gardner, about 4 days later he received a call from the Orange County Animal Care and they left him a message saying his dog is suspected of rabies. Gardner calls back the next day and gets a recording saying to leave a message if it is urgent.

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Let me stop for a minute. If it were me, I would have left a message. Calls from someone saying your dog is suspected of rabies is much more urgent than other issues someone might have for Orange County Animal Care:

1. Can I pay for a past due dog license?

2. How do I register a dog?

3. How long is a license good for?

4. Where can I get a rabies shot for my dog?

5. Can I pay for my license over the phone?

When I get a call from the Orange County Animal Care about suspected rabies, I would definitely think it is an urgent call.

Anyway, back to the video of the city council meeting:

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Gardner then says they he doesn't think it is an urgent issue, so he doesn't leave a message.

According to Gardner, an Animal Control Officer from the Orange County Animal Care is able to get ahold of Gardner at his house to check his dog on the fourth day.

Gardner' states his hand and dog now look healthy, but the polite officer doesn't have a record of his dog's rabies vaccination.

Gardner pays the $95 fee for the home visit and requests a refund during the council meeting.

Councilman Gardner then complains because he alleges he is double-billed on another dog license from the Orange County Animal Care.

Gardner does not want to invest in a "company" when "records are screwy."

Orange County Animal Control responds during City Council meeting [video]

Ms. Watson states that every dog, under state law, needs to be quarantined when it bites a person. Gardner levels accusations about quarantine and Orange County Animal Control explains that his dog qualified for Home Quarantine which Gardner hasn't heard about. However, the $95 fee is for mandated follow-up on this item. His "refund request" is (in essence) denied.

Councilman Gardner agrees that it is important to follow up on dog bites [Editors Note: But not "Urgent"]

Steve Franks from Orange County Animal Control addressed Gardner's "records" concerns at the meeting.

On five different occasions, the Orange County Animal Control visited Gardner's house to check on his and his dog's well-being:

1. November 23rd - left a door tag
2. November 25th - also left a door tag
3. November 26th - 1st attempt and left a door tag
4. November 26th - 2nd attempt that day and left a door tag
5. Finally, on November 27th, Orange County Animal Control was able to talk to Councilman Gardner about Puff-Teddy on their 5 attempt.

Discussion then centered on how Gardner's dog is registered to his wife and not registered to Councilman Gardner. There is confusion about whether the dog is registered, which I feel is partially due to Gardner saying it is "his" dog (but registered in his wife's name). Gardner again is lame to blame OC Animal Control in losing records because they didn't lose anything. The confusion was that his own dog is not registered in his name.

Franks also stated Orange County Animal Control did not mis-handle the case and made every effort to promptly follow-up. Franks also stated it is inappropriate to level accusations (that Gardner makes) that his department is losing records when that is not the case.

Garnder's concerns are more than addressed by Orange County Animal Control, proving that Gardner's bark is worse than his bite.

Puff-Teddy (or is it Puff Teddy?)

Another point of this story is that we find out that Gardner's dog is called "Puff-Teddy" near the 8:30 minute mark. I would like to dive deeper into the psychology of naming pets (especially this one). However, this article is getting long enough.

Summary

I am not a defender of the Orange County Animal Control and they may have made mistakes, but I just have a few questions/comments:

1. Why didn't Councilman Gardner ever try calling the Orange County Animal Control during normal business hours?

2. Councilman Gardner said he never left a message because it wasn't urgent. Isn't the health of yourself and your dog an urgent item? You did visit the hospital regarding this issue, and potential rabies would be considered an urgent item.

3. Councilman Gardner received 5 different visits from the Orange County Animal Control - why didn't Gardner ever respond and leave a message? Orange County Animal Control sure thought it was urgent.

4. As a self-proclaimed animal activist, wouldn't he know that the Orange County Animal Control is going to follow-up with him on his and his dog's health since Gardner was bit by his own dog?

5. Why air such "dirty laundry" in front of the public, city staff and colleagues on such a personal item? And then only to be shown that you have more than your fair share of responsibility in the matter?

6. Your dog, Puff-Teddy, is registered in your wife's name and this was a major point of confusion in this situation. If Puff-Teddy is your dog, register him in your name. If it is your wife's dog, register him in her name. If this were to happen again, all of your pets should be in your name and all of hers in her name to alleviate further confusion.

7. When you say your dog is getting old and going blind (and you said the same for yourself), don't put your hand in your dog's mouth when he is known to bite! Maybe use a chew toy and not your hand.

8. You complain about long meetings - this meeting went long due to you and you alone. You can't complain about long meetings when it's your fault.

9. Please learn more about government. OC Animal Control is not a "company" as you say at the council meeting - it is a government agency and part of the County of Orange.

10. Why in the world would Garnder ever name his dog "Puff-Teddy?" There has to be a marijuana joke in there somewhere.

Conclusion

Councilman Gardner is an embarrassment to Lake Forest and also should be embarrassed by trying to make his issues with his dog an issue with Orange County Animal Control. Councilman Gardner was quick to lob accusations against the Orange County Animal Control, but they certainly tried to contact him and he neither called during normal business hours nor did he ever leave a message.

Orange County Animal Control also didn't lose his dog's records. They couldn't be temporarily found because Gardner's dog was registered in the name of his wife!

Is Councilman Gardner purposely trying to sabotage Orange County Animal Control?