Dave the Dog Man Bites Back

We recounted the recent altercation at the Pooch Park in a previous post and invited submission of anything that would keep the controversy going.

Dave the Dog Man (David Null) responded. We didn't make the connection at first between David Null and Dave the Dog Man, but Dave is what you might call a "familiar figure" around town. We don't use the appellation "Dave the Dog Man" pejoratively; Dave uses it himself. It's more for identification.

Anyway, in the letter below he elaborates a bit on his two previous letters (to the Courier, here and here) but does not seem to us to be greatly at variance with them. The noteworthy thing is how different is his account of the incident from that of Mr. Leonardo Reyes published in the Courier, here--though no less fantastic in some ways.

Read the letters; they don't even agree on whether the bulldog had been fixed or not-- a fact, it seems to us, susceptible to expert inquiry, examination, and opinion.

click on box, upper right, to enlarge

What strikes us is the fecklessness of the Claremont Police in this matter. Now we are not privy to what happened, and we understand that the cops run into putative assaults all the time. But both correspondents appear to be alleging assault and most likely battery. Isn't that against some law? Is there some "on-going investigation" that we are not hearing about?

The ever-helpful Bernard Karmatz, M.S., LFMT/PI, opined in paragraph four of his letter that the police or the DA would have to sort this out. And maybe they will, but we wouldn't bet on it. Too much bad press for the Fifth Best City if an actual criminal complaint ensues over the unsupervised dog park.

Still, a claim against the City, followed by the inevitable lawsuit* naming the City of Claremont and a list of "Does" known and unknown, complaints, cross-complaints, depositions, et cetera and so on, wouldn't be such a good thing either.

We don't want to take sides at this point, but from the tenor of the last couple of letters we have a pretty good idea who would be the more sympathetic witness. It could just be that Dave the Dog Man would have the opportunity to move from Pomona into a nice house in Claremont, above Baseline, with a little extra cash coming in every month to take care of the maintenance.

from Zillow

It could also be that Dave the Dog Man would be held to a pretty high standard when it comes to canine behavior. And there's always "assumption of risk"...but not against criminal or tortious acts. So it could take a veritable Blackstone to figure things out.

Well Mr. Reyes, it would appear that the ball is in your court (or the Kong is in your cage, or whatever they say in the dog world).

* * * * * * * *

*It is the World's screwiest, most opaque, and dishonest process, but a lawsuit or credible threat of one is the ONLY way to prevail against a public agency and especially the City of Claremont in any claim, no matter how just.

New Village Banners Are Up

While we're discussing people who've got a bone to pick with the Pooch Park, it's time to mention that the new Claremont banners are up!

To help support public art, the city holds a banner contest every year with the theme "Enjoy Claremont." The banners are roughly 2 feet wide and 4 feet long canvas rectangles and hang from the lamp posts in the Village for the first two weeks of April.


The city picks 14 new designs each year and pays $250 to the artists to add their work to the growing collection. If you walk through the village right now, you'll be able to see several years' worth of work. As you notice certain themes in each year's banners (the 4th of July, diversity, coffee, shopping, the colleges), it's almost like seeing the geological layers of the city!


The new 2009 banners are mostly located on Indian Hill.



Enjoy them while they're up! Maybe you'll think of a possible theme for next year's contest (Claremont blogs? Spelling Bee? Girl Scout Cookies? Surely Big George deserves his own banner!)

Ban Uncastrated Owners and Irresponsible Dogs from the Dog Park

If you see the Claremont Courier, you know what the reader below is talking about (and we try to provide some context in what follows):

Utter ridiculousness at the dog park
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 11:14 AM
From:
To:"Claremont Insider"

Hey Buzz,

Have you been following the tempest-in-a-dogpark unfolding on the letters page of the Courier? It's so ridiculous. Two men's dogs got into a fight, the owners got into a fight, and now the Courier is publishing all the mudslinging. Is this really newsworthy? Kinda feels like the Courier is feeding into the whole thing. I mean, get a load of this:

"But here's the truth, Davey Null got his law degree from La Verne, and he hasn't held a valid Bar card since 1989. Additionally, he signs his name as a resident of Claremont. The truth is that records show Davey lives in a 958 sq. ft. house in Pomona. It is what it is, and there is nothing wrong with that. No one likes a pompous, self-righteous "wanna be," Davey."

Although it is funny that someone is lying about where he lives and where he went to school, does anyone in Claremont really need to know the square footage of his house?

For this reason, I love the Courier letters page....

DN

* * * * *

What the 958 square foot reference really means is that somebody has access to Zillow and Zabasearch and can do their internet research. We know where you live.

We had been watching this and wondered if it ever was going to end.

It seems to have started not even three weeks ago with this letter wherein Mr. Null reports an altercation first between his dog, Blitzen, recovering from dog knee surgery, and a bulldog, then between the owner of the bulldog and himself:

David Null Letter

We were left wonder, were the cops called on this? There are many loose ends here, not the least of which is part about being "bitten badly on the left hand". Don't they check the offending dog for rabies when that happens?

And then this one from a Gina Ortiz throwing in against intact dogs at the dog park and also opining that residents of Ontario and Pomona are not lowlifes.

Gina Ortiz Letter

And then this one from the wife of the bulldog owner, alleging racism on David Null's part. She is not on script with the later story of her husband (see below) that Mr. Null sucker-punched the husband. Also, and we are not the ones to figure it out, this appears to be the beginning of the bulldog morphing into a pit bull. Aren't they different animals?

Laura Encinas Letter

Probably the gem of the whole sequence of letters thus far is this one from Bernard Karmatz (later referred to more familiarly as "Bernie" by Mr. Reyes.) Although we agree with some of what he says, who wouldn't? His letter goes on and on and on for 14 paragraphs touching almost every point of dispute, contention, or public policy related to The Incident.

Bernard Karmatz letter

Sensing that this discussion has run it's course, the Courier precedes these last two letters (below), which appeared on Saturday, March 26, with this editorial dictum: "The following letters are written by the two parties involved in the conflict at Pooch Park recently. The COURIER would like to alert readers that this will be the last series of letters printed on the incident. Letters relating to the conditions and care of Pooch Park are welcomed."

In the first, David Null tries rather lamely to tamp things down by stating, "I live in west Pomona on a street where I live in harmony with my mostly Latino and African-American neighbors, none of whom are low-lifes." Thanks for the clarification.

David Null Letter

And finally, the last word, and an effort that really can't be improved. In this letter Mr. Reyes brings on the whole gang and homeboy vibe, referring to "mooching turf" and his adversary "dropping" law school and Oxford like some elitist. It is in this letter that he claims that Mr. Null sucker-punched him, a seemingly relevant fact unmentioned earlier (above, Laura Encinas letter, by his wife when she recounts Null's violent acts). He doesn't like it that the aforementioned Bernard Karmatz "fire[d] a letter out of your bottom, and not your mouth" We suspect, here, that "bottom" is a euphemism, but aren't sure. We love his ending, where, after referring to David Null as "Davey" and Bernard Karmatz as "Bernie" in a way that we don't read as very respectful, he says, "I like to think of myself as a family man who is respectful to others..."

Leonardo Reyes Letter

Unlike the sensible Courier, we think that so long as these people are writing trash, they at least aren't tossing punches or shooting up neighborhoods. Bring it on in the Interwebs. Send us your comments, and if they are coherent, we will keep throwing gasoline on the fire here. (We should note that Courier reporter Tony Krickl addressed this issue on his Citybeat Blog last Friday. And he does have a comment section, as yet unused.)