Scruffy Before RFI Incident
 

A well known local  Dxer and club member, WD0SRI, has been charged with one count of  felony animal cruelty by the Johnson County District Attorney in connection with the death of a neighbor’s  Yorkshire Terrier named "Scruffy". The dog was killed while playing along the property line near WD0SRI’s yard. Police stated "Scruffy" was found by his concerned  owners in a charred mass of smoldering  fur.  WD0SRI was on the scene when police arrived  squirting "Scruffy" down  with his garden hose.
    WD0SRI was arraigned on April 24th at the Johnson County Courthouse. Elmer’s attorney has encouraged him to make no comment on the case. However, several local hams have spoken out and  come to the defense of WD0SRI.
    According to these sources, WD0SRI was legally  operating on 160 Meters on April 23 when the alleged felony occurred. They claim the whole situation  was just a sad case of accidental death and another example of the need for government control of manufacturing standards within the electronics industry. It has been learned that "Scruffy", who lived next door to WD0SRI was wearing one of the new dog collars that work with the invisible buried fences that are becoming very popular in suburban America.
     Apparently Elmer was tuning up his new Godzilla Linear Amplifier on 1.828 MHZ, when his XYL first heard little  "Scruffy" howling and whining in the backyard.  However, she said, "He howls all the time, so I didn’t pay it much attention."
    She told local newspaper reporters that "they certainly wished no harm on "Scruffy", but the little bugger sometimes howls all night."
     The ham friends who  defended WD0SRI said despite the fact that "Scruffy" was a nuisance in the neighborhood or not, no one would want him to suffer through the pain of being burned alive.
      WD0SRI’s attorney said it appeared to be just a bad cause of RFI. He stated that the mini-transmitter in the invisible fence system operated on a frequency just below the AM broadcast band. The dog collar has a small receiver on it that emits a shock to the dog if he tries to cross over the invisible fence line. The RFI must have been excessive to the point that it burned up the receiver on the dog collar and set "Scruffy’s " fur on fire!
      WD0SRI’s only public comment was "I had no way of knowing it would harm the little dog. I was just trying to work the A61 on 160 Meters."
     WD0SRI’s attorney, Sid Goldman, said " this entire matter didn’t fall under the Juris dictation of the local authorities. The FCC should be the governing body to deal with this. Federal law is clear on who has control over   RFI problems." Goldman  said he expects this case to be kicked out of state court as soon as he files the appropriate motions.
       Goldman also said that he planned on proving that the invisible fence manufacturing company was at fault for making a product that was susceptible to near frequency frontend overload.
     "Scruffy’s" owners have said that they plan on filing a suit against WD0SRI for personal pain and suffering for the loss for an amount of $10 million.
     So, it could be a long and  expensive ordeal for WD0SRI. A legal defense fund has been started by local hams to aid in the case. Local ham clubs have been contacted about making donations to aid WD0SRI in the case.
   However, the most important lesson to be learned from this situation is that hams must keep alert to changes by their neighbors and  watch for the various  invisible fence systems out there. Surely, you don’t want a charred mass of burnt fur  smoldering on your property line!
 
 

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