Woman accused of stealing and dumping neighbour's barking dog

A Hemet woman is under arrest, accused of stealing her neighbour's noisy dog and abandoning it 15 miles away. Riverside County Animal Services officers say Diane M. Brown, 42, had filed multiple complaints about her neighbour's dog, saying "Spike" was too noisy.

But, a Riverside County judge found that the barking dog claims were unfounded.

On Monday, the fluffy, white Maltese disappeared. The dog's owner, Lora Young, said she received a call from a veterinarian saying they had Spike.



Brown was spotted in Beaumont taking Spike out of the truck of her car, and leaving it by the Cherry Valley Water District building on Magnolia Avenue before driving away, according to Animal Services Sgt. Lesley Huennekens.

Hemet police arrested Brown, a corrections officer, on suspicion of felony possession of stolen property, according to Hemet police Sgt. Kevin Caskey. A surveillance camera caught Brown when she returned to the scene to remove the dog's collar.

Spike was unharmed and was taken to a veterinarian by two water district employees. The veterinarian used a tracking chip embedded under the dog's skin to find its owner. Brown was booked on Thursday, but released on $5,000 bail.