A dog busted while driving – canine had no license!
Narrated from: Funny Dog StoriesMany people want to treat dogs as equals – well, it turns out that back in the 80s a dog was put on trial because he was caught driving without a driver’s license!
Well, actually the dog was never called to the witness stand – but while on trial for driving drunk, his owner claimed that he was innocent since the dog was the one who actually did the driving.
The Accident
In 1984, a car was stopped in Louisville by the police since for a while it had been weaving and changing lanes erratically. In the front seat they found 34-year-old William Bowen, who was apparently drunk… but what was really baffling was the fact that Bill Bowen was also legally blind, and had only faint peripheral vision.
The Defense
However, when Bill Bowen was taken to court, he came up with a brilliant defense. The man explained to the astonished judge that he hadn’t actually been the one driving – as he was blind, he had entrusted his guide dog with this task! Bill Bowen said that the dog had been driving, and doing a fine job of it, but couldn’t see the white lines on the road – hence all the problems.
The Defendant
But could the dog really drive a car? Well, the dog certainly was the right size for it, since it was a fully grown Alaskan Mamalute. He also had the pedigree, as he came from a long and pure line of Malamutes – hence the rather spectacular name of Sir Anheuser Busch II (though everyone called him Bud).
However, the court was quick to dismiss the claim that the dog was driving.
Never give up
Bill Bowen broke down and admitted that he was lying, and accusing his loyal canine unjustly. He admitted that he had been the one driving after he had a quarrel with his girlfriend and she left him behind in a bar, with the car being his only means of transportation.
However, the blind man claimed that he was driving with the assistance of Bud, since the dog was signaling him when the traffic light was red and when it was green!
''He would bark twice for green and once for red,” the defendant claimed.
What the?...
The court was once again baffled – could a guide dog really do that? They were delving into matters of canine intelligence, and this was a tricky area, since dogs can always surprise us.
Still, the judge refused to believe that a guide dog could be trained so, since everyone knew that dogs were colorblind! How could they tell what was red and what was green?
However, nowadays we know that dogs are, in fact, not colorblind – they can see the shades of different colors, even though they fail to see as many colors as a human. However, a dog would be hard pressed to tell the difference between red and green – red and blue would do much better! Furthermore, while dogs are able to spot movement from afar, they are not so good at grasping details.
The verdict
Of course, Bowen was found guilty of driving drunk – however, since he had already spent 30 days in jail during the trial, the judge decided to be lenient on the blind man, and finally released him. Outside, Bill Bowen was reunited with his faithful guide dog Bud, who, in the meantime, had to endure a trial of his own in the local animal shelter.
After all, if Bud was innocent on all charges, it was only natural to release Bill Bowen – for a dog there is no greater punishment than taking away his human compatriot!
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