Charles Pet Owners Seek Justice

Emotions Intensify in Cases Before County's Animal Matters Hearing Board

Cassandra Burch returned to her home in Waldorf one Sunday in April to find her rabbit Sammy slain in the grass, his fence bashed in and the neighbor's American pit bull fleeing the yard.

Two months later, after passing through phases of grief and guilt, she was ready for justice.

So Burch filed an animal complaint against neighbor Stephen Pettko and brought him before Charles County's Animal Matters Hearing Board, a forum where strict legal protocol trumps the laws of nature.

The hearing board can try cases involving all types of animals -- dogs, cats, rabbits, cows, horses and ducks -- but it is most assuredly not a kangaroo court.

"You can sit in District Court and hear murder, rape and divorce cases, and they are not as emotional as these cases," said board Vice Chairman Jerome M. Butkiewicz, who has been on the board about 14 years. "Pets are part of the family, which is why it becomes so emotional."

In many jurisdictions, animal cases go to District Court, but Charles County established the Animal Matters Hearing Board to lighten the court's docket. Sentences can be appealed to Circuit Court.

Animal hearing boards with varying degrees of authority also exist in Montgomery, Howard, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties.

On the first Tuesday of each month, the Charles board hears arguments in cases in which animal control officers issued citations against citizens; on the third Tuesday, it hears complaints between neighbors. The latter sessions can get extremely emotional.

Burch and Pettko didn't know what to expect when they came to animal court.

Burch always has been a rabbit person and said you can train them with better results than dogs and sometimes even better than children. "People think it's just a rabbit; it's not," she told the board.

For Burch, Sammy was "like a family member." She entered into evidence 15 photographs showing the rabbit kissing the family's cat, playing under a Christmas tree and splashing in a bathtub. Other photos showed the destruction done to his pen's fence.

A month after the trial, Burch said she still feels guilty that the pen didn't allow Sammy more places to hide.