It’s a dog-gone shame.
A hard-nosed court official has refused to toss out the “failure to vaccinate” tickets issued to an Upper East Side woman — declining even to look at the receipts, vet records and dog tags that prove her four little pooches are all up to date on their shots.
The refusal has left the beautiful black-haired dog owner barking mad — and vowing to take the case to trial and risk a $500 fine.
“Oh my God! Are they serious?” Jin Won, 35, said after her Manhattan summons court appearance today.
“I’m stunned,” said the art collector’s assistant, who’d been ticketed while dog-walking along East 99th St., on Nov. 20.
Two cops had seen that all four dogs wore rabies vaccination tags dated 2009, but nothing Won told them that night could convince them that rabies shots are good for three years, she says, and they ticketed her for a health code violation.
“I thought I’d show the judge these papers today, and he would toss the tickets,” Won said after her appearance before Judicial Hearing Officer Richard Ross.
“Now, I’m going to fight this,” she said, after Ross offered her the choice of paying a $100 fine — $25 per dog — or pleading not guilty and going to trial.
Won pleaded not guilty, and left court fuming.
“I’ll go to trial if I have to,” she said. “This isn’t fair. This is ridiculous.”
In court today, Won told the hearing officer that she had the paperwork — including a $400 vet bill — to prove that Betty, Mini, Trouble and Lauren — four little white fluff balls — were all current in the vaccinations. She’d even carried to court a set of dog tags.
But Ross pronounced the matter “a trial issue,” and declined to look at any of her paperwork.
Now the matter will be tried in Manhattan Criminal Court on Feb. 8, costing Won, and court officials, more time and money.
The judicial hearing officer’s actions left summons court veterans scratching their heads.
“This would normally be dismissed,” said defense lawyer Dru Carey. “Especially with proof that she had done what the law asked her to a year and a half ago, and that the dogs were never the rabies threat that the law protects against.”
