A San Juan Bautista woman was left stunned after receiving her
mail this week when she opened a letter from the district attorney.
The letter warned the woman, Tonya Talavera, that criminal charges
had been filed against her and she is required to book herself into
custody – because of her barking toy poodle. Full article
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A San Juan Bautista woman was left stunned after receiving her mail this week when she opened a letter from the district attorney. The letter warned the woman, Tonya Talavera, that criminal charges had been filed against her and she is required to book herself into custody – because of her barking toy poodle.
The notice started a weeklong scramble for Talavera, who tried to avoid booking herself into jail – until Monday when the case was dismissed.
The dismissal came after new evidence came to light, said Peter Leroe-Munoz, San Benito County deputy district attorney and Gilroy City Councilman.
“We got some new information and spoke with some people, and decided to dismiss the case,” he said.
A neighbor filed his complaint five months ago with the sheriff’s office, but the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office filed its related complaint for the first time a week ago. She was issued a notice to turn herself in and go to court April 19 – much to the surprise of Talavera and the neighbor who issued the original complaint, Sal Galvan.
Galvan admitted he was surprised Talavera was required to turn herself in.
“In her mind and in my mine it was taken care of,” Galvan said.
“Nobody ever told me she would need to go to court,” he said.
Talavera has been equally confused, going from neighboring home to home to see if anyone hears her dog.
“I went around asking if they heard my dog, and they all said ‘no,'” Talavera said. “It’s just, there is one guy that lives 200 feet from me.”
Under file in the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office is one complaint stemming from an incident in November of last year, Lt. Roy Iler said. The report doesn’t go on to say how many complaints were called on the dog.
Galvan said it’s somewhere between five to eight.
Talavera lives in a house in the first block of Church Street. It is adjacent to two apartment complexes and a trailer park that run along Third Street in San Juan Bautista. Galvan lives in one of the apartment buildings.
Talavera said the rest of her neighbors support her – including Galvan’s own landlord.
“They are all writing letters for me,” she said.
The complaints started in early June, just a month after Talavera moved into the San Juan home. And since that time, she has received a steady number of sheriff’s deputies knocking on her door at all times of the night and day, she said.
To help quell the complaints, Talavera has reached out to the neighbor, installed a dog door and now keeps the poodle in a cage while at work.
“I have to keep the dog in a cage so it doesn’t bark,” Talavera said. “She is in there 10 hours now when I’m at work.”
The dog rarely goes outside because a complaint quickly comes.
“I yelled at my parents – who I never see – when they let her out one day,” she said.
Galvan, who works at night, complained that he couldn’t get sleep. When he finally settled into his bed around 4 a.m. – constant barking would start hours later.
“I was getting sick at work,” he said. “It took a toll on me.”
But since November the barking has stopped.
“It stopped, so I thought this was all done with,” he said.
Talavera, who has two kids, said she never experienced an issue like this before and wonders why the district attorney would file charges.
“I don’t get it – don’t they have other things to worry about?” she said.
The charge is considered a misdemeanor and is taken from the city’s municipal code.
Talavera hopes to avoid having to go to court, and Galvan hopes so as well.
“Back then when I first complained, yeah I thought she should (go to court),” he said. “But now, no.”
