The Villages has very little power when it comes to reining in dogs in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
The issues surrounding canines were a hot topic of discussion this past week by the Community Development District 2 Board of Supervisors.
A dog owner and resident, Debra Odom of the Village of Santo Domingo, wrote to board members and alleged “bullying” by fellow Villagers.
“I have had residents/owners/seasonal come yell at me to not ‘let’ my dogs poop on ‘their yard’ and some of them have dogs themselves. I was told I would be arrested if I let my dog walk on his yard,” Odom wrote.
She pointed out the asphalt, particularly in the summer, can be dangerously hot for a pet’s tender paws.
“One day I said to my most frequent bully to take off his shoes and walk on this asphalt and I could see the reaction on his face that he was wrong to ask me to force my dogs to walk off the grass,” Odom said.
She said she has consulted law enforcement and even the Architectural Review Committee.
“I was educated that the police will not arrest me as long as I pick up the poop right away, but they could arrest the homeowner for bullying on the third harassment as long as I call them and record the first two. I was educated at the ARC board that the CDD owns 13 feet of the front lawn in my area, so I am not on private lawn any way,” Odom said.
District Counsel Valerie Fuchs said the District has no authority over dogs and suggested residents with issues would best be served by calling the county’s animal control officer or even law enforcement.
There have been several cases in which Villagers have been jailed over clashes involving dogs.
• Earlier this year, a 61-year-old Village of Pennecamp woman was sentenced to one year of probation following her arrest this past Nov. 19 on charges of battery and resisting arrest. Sumter County sheriff’s deputies had been called to Horizon Run after Lori Jo Matthews began barking at her neighbor’s dogs who had been let outside to relieve themselves, according to an arrest report. Matthews then entered the dog owner’s property and began yelling at her about the dogs, the report indicated. Matthews allegedly slapped the woman after she was told to leave the property. Matthews, who appeared to have been drinking, denied involvement in the incident.
• Last year, a Village of Liberty Park man was arrested after allegedly threatening a dog walker with a gun. Robert Emmett Heup was arrested March 7, 2017 on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following an incident at his home on Eagle Ridge Drive. A woman told a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy that she and her friends had been walking dogs on the back side of the property near the golf course when they were confronted by Heup, holding what appeared to be a firearm. The woman said that Heup pointed the gun at her and asked, “Should I shoot you or your dog first?” Heup’s attorney convinced a judge to allow Heup to enter a pre-trial diversion program and the charge was ultimately dismissed.
• A Villager was sentenced to anger management in 2017 after an altercation with a fellow Villager over dog excrement in the Village of Liberty Park. John William Marcus had been arrested after he “chest bumped” and punched the other Villager. He also broke the man’s bifocals in the skirmish, according to an arrest report. Marcus later told a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy, “I just snapped.”
• In 2016, a Village of Springdale man’s 44-year-old son was arrested after an alleged attack on a dog walker at a then-popular dog-walking spot near the First Baptist Church on County Road 42 in The Villages.
A retired sheriff had been walking his Standard Poodle when it started barking at Brian Keith Caban’s dog. Caban attempted to leave the parking lot with his dog in a golf cart when the Villager’s poodle continued to bark and followed the golf cart. The retired sheriff attempted to stop his dog, when Caban allegedly yelled, “I will come back here and kill you.” Twenty minutes later, Caban returned with a baseball bat. In the meantime, another man and his dog had joined the retired sheriff and were walking their dogs together on the church property. Caban began swinging the bat at the retired sheriff and it came so close, the retired law enforcement officer could reportedly, “smell the bat,” the report indicated. The church no longer welcomes dogs on the property.
• Also in 2016, a Villager was arrested after a dog dispute near the Whitney Villas. A woman had arrived home and her enthusiastic dog got loose. Joan Claire Farwell yelled at the woman to retrieve her dog, according to an arrest report. When the woman bent down to pick up her dog, Farwell reportedly shoved her and the woman fell to the ground, fracturing her wrist and pubic ramus. She was treated for her injuries at The Villages Regional Hospital. Three neighbors were witnesses and backed up the victim’s version of events. The charge against Farwell was later dropped.
