Hello! My Name Is Alexus!

ALEXUS BICKERSTAFF (Born August 5th, 2007)

To Whom This May Concern,

My name is Jeremy Bickerstaff and I am from Windsor, Ontario. Recently my family and I have been in a depressive state when our dog (A Pure bread Boxer), named Alexus, went missing from our backyard. On February 15th I had fallen asleep just after my son (2years old) had been picked up from my house which is located in the Walkerville area. I awoke to find that my puppy was not sleeping at my side like always, so I got up to take a look around the house. After looking around the house a bit I noticed she was nowhere to be found. I stepped into the backyard and while I was looking around I noticed my side gate was open. No one in the household remembers opening the gate and as time goes on I feel as though a third party was involved and my dog was taken from my yard. Of course my puppy was gone and at this time I had only thought that she had went for a walk as all puppies are curious. I printed and handed out flyers all throughout my neighborhood. I’ve put an ad in the Windsor Star for a lost Dog and I’ve also posted up an ad on every website I could find possible. Despite all of these efforts there still was no word on the location of my puppy. On Thursday April 17th, returning home from work, I received a phone call inquiring about our lost puppy. The person first asked me if the dog was still lost and I replied yes. Then they asked if the dog has a bump on her forehead and I also replied the same. The person on the other line said that she had seen my dog at 2437 George Ave. in Windsor, ON. I rushed over to the house right away and sure enough to find my puppy on a leash on the property. My son and I walked over to greet our long lost puppy. The lady who was the owner of the property just happened to be standing right there so I walked over and began to ask her a few questions about the dog. She said it had come from the Walkerville area and that she got it about the 1st of March (the same time I lost my puppy), so I began to tell her that this was my son’s puppy and we’ve been missing her for a few months and were glad to have found her. I also took a moment to look at the collar this lady had around the dog and just so happens that she names the dog Lexie-Lu and you’re going to tell me this is all a coincidence? Then the lady took the dog and put it in her house as if to say “yea right!” and never came back out. She was reluctant to give my dog back so I had to try calling the police. Well the police finally show up and tell me basically I should be glad this lady has my dog because she’s a good person. How do they know she’s a good person? From talking to her for five minutes? I was in an uproar. They told me that there was no way to get my dog back unless it was micro chipped or had a tattoo. I have pictures upon pictures, videos, vet bills, immunization records, bill of sale, as well as the original breeder who told me he would identify the dog himself if it came down to it. Windsor’s finest looked at all my information and told me to go home. The other party on the other hand has nothing. She has no bill of sale no receipts or anything and they say she does not have to show any proof because she has possession of the dog. They used the term possession is 9/10ths of the law, which I thought was a joke hearing it as a kid. So anyone in this city can take a dog out of a back yard, take the collar off it and call it their’s? I should release this to the public and we will have everyone in the city stealing whatever dog they want because it looks nice!! I don’t believe this situation was justified and I believe I’ve been short changed! Since when is it right to steal a dog? Since when is it right to steal anything in this city? I’m supposed to feel protected by these people? How come no one wants to get involved? There should be laws against this kind of thing!! I am completely pissed off and upset about the fact that the police are allowing another person to keep stolen property!!! My puppy is still at this home, I know it and I’m supposed to just live with that. Why don’t I just go over there and steal it back, take the collar off and say I got it off of some random person? Then I can keep it? How is any of this justice? I’m the victim here and I’m being treated like a criminal. Do they think I made this entire thing up? One police officer told me himself that he believes it is my dog and then he refers me back to the two other original policeman who originally made the call and they say the same thing but don’t do a thing. So now answer me this, if you believe that someone is driving around in my stolen car would you arrest them even if it wasn’t true?? I feel as though I am getting mistreated mainly because it is a dog and the police feel as though they are wasting their time. Well I’ve gotten something stolen from me and they know it but refuse to help. This is not the first mishap I’ve had where the police are not protecting the victim. Once again Windsor’s finest at their best!!




Sincerely,

Jeremy R.G. Bickerstaff
OPS Learn And Work Student
J.L. Forster Secondary School
 Jeremy.Bickerstaff2@ontario.ca
Business: (519) 948-0317
Cell: (519) 903-0573
 melanie@windsorhumane.org