Barry Myrick is a 37-year-old pest controler who is on trial with his former employer M&M Environmental in Queens, US. The man chose to go to jail rather than return his beloved dog named Roxy.
Roxy was handed over to Barry four years ago as an assistant to inspect commercial and residential properties, as the pit bull is a specialist in detecting bed bugs and the company was responsible for the expense and training of the pitbull. During this time, Roxy lived with the man and his wife, and became part of the family.
According to the Daily Mail, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Barry was fired from his job. The man returned the company vehicle, credit cards and equipment given to him for his job, but decided to keep Roxy and not return her.
Man chooses jail over returning his beloved dog to his former employer
Barry confesses that when he received Roxy, he signed a document stating that he would have to return her to his former employer if his contract was broken or if he left the company. But the man claims the company lost the rights to the pit bull when they fired him.
Barry and Roxy have become inseparable and spend all their time together; they like excursions and pleasant walks.
The man says:
“She is part of our family. It is as close as possible to the children. “
In June last year, the M&M Company sent Barry a letter calling the dog “company property” demanding his immediate return. When the man refused, the company took legal action, reporting that Roxy had been robbed, leading to the Queens District Attorney’s Office being charged with grand theft looking for Barry.
M&M attorney Gary Port claims the company owns Roxy, noting that training a dog like Roxy can cost up to $15,000.
Barry showed up in August of the previous year with the police and spent 15 hours in custody.
Referring to this difficult experience, Barry says:
“I spent 15 hours in prison. I don’t wish that on my worst enemy. The stories I heard were unreal: someone hit his stepfather with a baseball bat. I couldn’t tell anyone I was there for a dog.”
M&M told the New York Post in a statement that the company had always intended to rehire Barry, and everyone expected him to return to work in June last year. Around this time, Barry had moved from Brooklyn to Philadelphia, saying he wouldn’t have left town if he had a chance to get his job back.
For now. A Queens judge, based on previous custody decisions in divorce cases, allowed the man to stay with Roxy until the matter with his former employer is resolved. For its part, M&M alleges that Roxy is a working dog and that this is a case of ownership and not legal custody of the animal.
Gary Port, M&M’s attorney, counters that allowing Barry to stay with Roxy during the legal process is a dangerous precedent.
The lawyer explains:
“Maybe he’s attached to Roxy, maybe he wants to start his own business.”
Barry assures that Port’s accusations and assumptions are far from reality, and that what binds him to Roxy is totally different.
He adds :
“My only concern is not to separate myself from her. I don’t start a competitive business in a pandemic with no money.”
Barry’s wife, Joana, has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help defray the costs of the legal battle against her former employer to keep Roxy by his side. So far they have raised $15,635. On the page, they explain in detail that the legal process to keep Roxy is quite expensive.
While Barry is unemployed, the dispute has left a huge hole in legal costs.
In the description of the fundraising page, they wrote:
“Thanks to our amazing friends and the Instagram community of dog lovers, we were able to raise half of what we spent, using our savings to top it all off. But our fight is far from over! And the longer the case drags on, the more it costs, so help us #FightForRoxy! »
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