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Clock ticking for shelter

October 22, 2005|By By Mark R. Madler

DOWNTOWN BURBANK -- The Burbank Police are getting ready to play hardball with the operator of a dog shelter if the facility does not meet a court order to close down by Wednesday.

The Police Department will seek permission to seize the animals kept at Chihuahua Rescue if the facility's owner Kimi Peck has not complied with the court order, Burbank Police Lt. Bruce Speirs said.

"We will then place some of the dogs up for adoption or give to other groups the adoptable animals she does have," Speirs said.

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Some of the 190 Chihuahuas that Peck has are not considered adoptable because they are too aggressive or for medical reasons, Speirs said.

Attempts to reach Peck were not successful. She is scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday.

Her attorney Shannon Keith declined to comment except to state, "I'm sure Kimi will be in compliance with the court order."

In June, Peck pleaded no contest in Burbank Superior Court to a municipal code violation of insufficient record keeping for three of the more than 200 animals at her shelter and agreed to move the facility in the 400 block of Moss Street out of the city.

Other misdemeanor charges of not providing clean water and having unclean conditions for the animals were dropped.

Seizing the dogs is just one option Nyby has if Peck has not shut down her shelter, Assistant City Atty. Greg Caplan said.

Peck could also face a maximum six months in the Los Angeles County Jail or a $1,000 fine, Caplan said.

"I would expect that when we go to court we'll know what the status is," Caplan said. "We're definitely hoping that she is in compliance."

Joan Rudd, a member of Save the Chihuahuas, a group that has monitored Peck's facility, was concerned that if Peck has advance notice that the dogs will be seized she will hide them instead.

"If they do plan to seize all the dogs we'd like to see all of them seized and not just hidden and then returned to her," Rudd said.

Peck and Chihuahua Rescue gained national attention in August 2003 when they took legal action in a case of 175 feral Chihuahuas taken from a ranch in Acton.

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