Retired Hamilton Police Officer Kidnaps Dogs
Topic: COMMUNITY INTEREST
By Tammy Duffy
photo by Regina Zimmer
It's summertime and most Americans dream of taking a relaxing vacation. The families with pets must find a safe environment for their pets to stay if they cannot take them on vacation with them. You want your pets and home safe while you are away.
Recently the Zimmer family in Hamilton, N.J., (Mercer County), lived through a vacation nightmare due to a dog sitting service they hired while they were away on vacation.
All five of of the Zimmer's dogs (seen in photo above) were stolen by another Hamilton resident, David Bannister. It was shared with DCC that Bannister is a retired Hamilton police officer. The irony of this is George Zimmer, who is the dog's furdaddy, we were also told , is also a retired Hamilton police officer.
The dog sitters boyfriend (David Bannister of Hamilton NJ) stole the keys to the home and kidnapped all the dogs. When the owners and others realized what was going on, they called the police. Upon calling the police, Bannister, returned 4 of the 5 dogs, but kept one. It was believed that he either lost the one dog or was playing games. He would not return Sprocket, an 11 year old grey Italian greyhound.
Sprocket during happier times
The owners of these beautiful dogs were disgusted, heartbroken and terrified of what this retired Hamilton police officer was doing to their dogs. When Sprocket was not returned they feared that he was dead. This is a nightmare that no pet owner should ever live through.
The dognapper, Bannister, did not have permission to enter the home. He broke in with the keys that he stole from his girlfirend. Evidently he had a fight with his girlfriend, Sher, (who has been watching the Zimmer's dogs for over a year) and this was his way of getting back with her, to steal the dogs.
The traumatized dogs have all since been returned to the Zimmers. These furbabies, owned by the Zimmer's will get lots of love and warmth, to make them feel safe and loved again.
There are lessons to be learned here for all pet owners.
As pet owners, we never want anything to happen to our pets while we are away. We have to trust people with them. The Zimmer's used this particular pet sitter for over a year, but one never knows what can happen. Many of these pet sitting services have no bonding, no insurance, no nothing. You may chose to use a neighbor, but still, there are no guranatees. Many of the services you can hire have no process to ensure that things like this cannot happen. The pet sitters never say,"We keep your keys in a safe so no one has access to them but me."
I highly recommend the following before you hire these types of pet sitting services or have a neighbor watch your furbabies. Do not take anything for granted. These are your kids, part of the family.
1. Insist on visiting the dog sitters home. See how they live.
2. See where and how they will keep your keys when you are away. If they are just thrown on a pile. Do not hire them.
If the prospective dog sitter will not do this. Do not hire them. Seeing their home will help you see how clean they are and whether or not they will keep your home clean and safe. Also look to see whether or not they have a lockbox for the keys. Ensure that they are actually using the lockbox.
3. Ask them questions about their personal life. Share this story about Sprocket and they when ask, "Why are you asking me this?" , ensure them you just do not want this to happen to you. If they do not have a stable homelife (I am rather confident this probably was not the first horrific thing Bannister has done) this could effect your pets.
4. Many of these businesses hire someone locally to be the actually sitter and its not the owner of the business doing the sitting. If they are sending someone else, get the background check (ask to see a copy of it)they did that person. If they do not have it, do not hire them.
5. Set up security cameras so you can watch them while you are away on your smart phone or mobile device. You can buy a camera, they are wireless,not too expensive,and very easy to set up. This will give you a piece of mind as well. The cameras can be set up to ping you with a sound on your mobile device when there is something going on.
Remember these are your kids, part of your family. Do not cut corners and remember we live in a very different world these days.
Those of you who know me, know that I am very picky when it comes to my furry kids. They are my world. I recently rescued 3 dogs from horrific situations.
For more than twenty five years I have used Windy Hill Kennels in Allentown, NJ. I have never had an issue, ever. EVER!!
My fur babies are kept safe, comfortable, fed, warm or cool (depending on the season), played with, get their meds, and just plain loved. I have a piece of mind that when I have to leave them, they are always safe and loved. My one gal, Ginger used to have to get lots of medicine every day before she crossed the rainbow bridge. I knew that the team at Windy Hill would never fail me and take wonderful care of my baby Ginger when I had to travel.
I highly recommend using Windy Hill. Their prices are reasonable and they have a wonderful groomer as well on staff. They can coiff up your kids upon your return from your trip. Here is a link to their site below. Make sure your pets are all up to date with their shots and bordetella and you are on your way to a safe and pleasurable vacation, with a piece of mind your kids are safe.
http://www.windyhillnj.com/
One can only hope that the Zimmer's are not influenced or convinced by anyone to not file charges against this dognapper. The tempation is there, a cop always supports another cop. If the town leadership and police departments allow for this kind of behavior to flourish, this is a town that is set to surpass the crime levels of Camden, NJ. If anyone comes into your home, unwanted and steals your pets, there should be no question, but to send that person to jail for a long time. They should be considered a danger to society. What would stop him from using this same "logic" towards a person. People who abuse animals are found in many cases to be dangers to society. We hope the Zimmer's do the right thing and file a complaint and have this man arrested. Doing anything else would just be submitting to peer pressure from the police department and the towns leadership.
Posted by tammyduffy
at 8:09 AM EDT
Updated: Saturday, 8 August 2015 6:55 PM EDT