NORWICH – New York State Supreme Court Justice Kevin M. Dowd lifted the temporary stay on a ruling in the Town of Oxford Court which ordered the forfeiture of 77 dogs previously owned by Steven W. Fong to the Chenango County SPCA if a $65,465 cash security was not posted by Nov. 5.

Without the stay and in the absence of payment, ownership of the 76 Pomeranians and one pit bull seized by Sheriff’s deputies from Fong in October will now transfer to the SPCA.

Dowd’s decision stated that “after review of the submissions and consideration of the oral arguments, the court finds that it does not have jurisdiction in the instant case. ...The temporary restraining order issued by this Court on November 5, 2008 is vacated immediately and the case is dismissed.”

Dowd handed down his ruling Friday after hearing oral arguments from both attorney Scott Clippinger, representing Steven Fong, and attorney Michael Ferrarese of Lee, Emerson and Ferrarese, who is representing the SPCA on a pro bono basis in the civil proceedings.

Clippinger filed the motion to show cause and requested the restraining order in the higher court on Nov. 5. He began his arguments by describing his client’s attachment to the dogs, which he had moved from his primary home in Brooklyn to a double -wide trailer in the Town of Oxford. He described Fong’s relationship with the dogs like “family.”

He criticized the accusation that the dogs were not being properly cared for and alleged the health of the animals was “ideal.” He expressed his frustration with the civil hearing in Oxford and claimed he was kept from cross-examining the SPCA’s director Carol Hedlund during the proceedings.

Clippinger also claimed the SPCA’s charges were not “reasonable” and expressed his belief that the criminal case against Fong would be dismissed. It would be more than unfair to his client, he said, if the dogs were permanently lost because he could not pay the $65,465 and then he was found innocent of those criminal charges.

In his closing statements during the hearing, Clippinger expressed his belief that the damage done by adopting out the dogs would be irreparable.

In his response, Ferrarese first addressed the jurisdictional issues of the petition filed by Clippinger on Nov. 5. and accused the opposing counsel of violating “the spirit of the uniform rule” by not providing proper notice of the filing.

“This order should be vacated immediately,” said Ferrarese.

The SPCA’s attorney also took issue with Clippinger’s repeated use of the word “euthanization” in his filing.

“When you first read it, it shocks the conscience,” said Ferrarese. “I want to be very clear to the court, that we are a last-resort euthanization organization.”

Ferrarese also asked the judge to quash a subpoena issued by Clippinger demanding SPCA Executive Director Carol Hedlund appear at his Smyrna offices. The subpoena was served shortly before 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, commanding Hedlund to appear on the morning of Monday, Oct. 17. The SPCA’s attorney asserted that Clippinger was not entitled to discovery at this phase of the proceeding.

“I think you’re absolutely right,” Dowd agreed.

“I’m not going to substitute my judgment for Judge Weidman’s,” said Dowd, explaining his role as making sure that proper procedure was observed in the original hearing not to render a new verdict.

Counsel on both sides received word of the judge’s decision by early afternoon.