Matt Townshend goes to jail because he didn’t buy a dog license

There are a lot of unlikely offenses that can land a person in jail — like, for instance, referring to one of your college professors as “Junius Puke” online. But did you know that failing to buy a license for your dog could also win you a room in the Crossbar Hotel?

Matt Townshend didn’t — until he found himself in a holding cell.

CBS4 reports that Townshend, who lives in unincorporated Jefferson County, received a $50 fine after Wolfie, which he describes as a service dog for his autistic daughter, got loose and was discovered to be license-free.

Townshend didn’t bother paying this sum or getting Wolfie in good graces with the law — a fact that was discovered by authorities when deputies showed up at his place to repossess some furniture. At that point, they proceeded to repossess him, more or less, taking him into custody and holding him for seven hours before releasing him.

This stint in stir apparently didn’t scare Townshend into getting square with Jefferson County. He’s fighting the ticket, as well as another one given to his wife, April Mearsha — the second one for a hundred bucks.

At this point, Jefferson County doesn’t appear to be backing down. And while Jeffco sheriff’s office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley tells the station that deputies won’t be showing up at dog-license-scofflaws’ homes anytime soon, she notes that if they’re busted for something else, they could wind up in the same situation as Townshend — aka the county’s doghouse.

Watch the CBS4 report below.

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