Featured Writer Blog

Posted 7/02/2008.   Blackmail seems to come in all forms these days.  In fact, it seems people are blackmailing each other over cats and dogs and little else.  It’s not all about the money where pet lovers come in. A woman in South Florida named Linda Urioste, has recently been charged with theft and extortion. Her black Labrador was picked up by animal control a few weeks ago. The dog was later adopted by another couple, Jutta Holar, and her husband. Animal control officers will often pick up animals that are running the streets without a caller or without a leash on. They are then held at the local animal shelter for certain period of time or until the owner can be found. Usually this length of time varies but it’s around a couple of weeks, if no owner can be found and the dog is of good temperament and healthy, they will be placed up for adoption. The couple learned a few weeks later that the dog had originally been owned by Linda Urioste and she still wanted her pet. Holar claims she had considered returning the black Labrador until she met Urioste, who yelled and threatened to sue her. Get this, a few days later, Jutta realized her cat was missing. Police looked into it and stated that Urioste left a message with Holar and her husband saying that she had their cat and was willing to trade it for the dog. Talk about black mail. A woman goes to the animal shelter to adopt a new dog and ends up losing both the dog and her cat! Plus, she has to deal with someone trying to extort a dog from her. Urioste was arrested and charged with extortion and theft by the police. However, she was released on $6,000.00 bail and is currently roaming the streets, perhaps still looking for her lost black Labrador.   Source: http://www.nbc6.net/news/16767575/detail.html?rss=ami&psp=news