Earlier this month, authorities charged Dr. Beth Vesco-Mock with violating a county ordinance after she allegedly refused to release a dog's microchip information to an animal control officer, according to criminal complaint filed March 5 by Curtis Childress, animal cruelty coordinator for the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office.
Vesco-Mock was not arrested, but she was charged with resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, which is "full misdemeanor" and carries a sentence of up to 364 days in jail, according to Vesco-Mock's attorney, Margaret Strickland.
Violation of the county ordinance, formally called "Pet Licensure and Owner Identification," is punishable by up to 90 days in jail, Strickland said.
"Dr. Vesco-Mock is wrongfully accused," Strickland told the Sun-News via email. "We look forward to her exoneration."
After Vesco-Mock entered a not-guilty plea before Judge Samantha Madrid, Strickland requested a date for jury selection, which was scheduled for April 6. Strickland said a jury trial will take place at a later date.
On Friday, county spokesman Jess Williams declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the case, and Vesco-Mock referred questions to Strickland. Childress also wasn't immediately authorized to speak about the case.
According to court documents, the case involves two dogs accused of attacking and killing several livestock animals on March 1 at a home in the 900 block of Harper Road.
In the court documents, the dogs were described as "a black in color lab" and "a brown and white in color pit bull cross type dog," which was outfitted with a microchip.
When authorities arrived at the scene, a county animal control officer found the dogs inside a pen and reported they "killed 3 chickens, one rooster, one turkey, 3 sheep and one adult sheep. They also injured 3 juvenile sheep and 3 adult sheep," according to the documents.
The dogs were then transported to the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley. But when the officer went to the center to obtain information from the dog's microchip, she was denied that information and was told to file a records request, the documents state.
According to Childress' complaint, he spoke with owner of the black lab on March 3. The owner told Childress that she went to the animal center on March 1 to reclaim her dog. At the same time, according to documents, she also inquired about adopting the other dog involved the livestock attack.
Yeah, that's brilliant. She already has a killer dog and she wants to adopt the other killer dog!
But the owner was told the dog had a microchip and that it would have to remain at the center until its owner was notified, the documents state.
According to the complaint, Childress tried to contact Vesco-Mock after learning about the county ordinance, which states, "The ASCMV shall maintain public records of the Pet License application and Pet Licenses issued and shall make such records immediately available to Law Enforcement, Animal Control Officers or Codes Enforcement Officer upon request."
In the complaint, Childress argues he needs the information on the dog's microchip to complete the investigation on the livestock attack and to "keep the dogs from being allowed to engage in the same activity if allowed to return home."
(LC Sun News - March 20, 2015)
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