By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

MIDDLETOWN - Michael Cunningham didn't know if anyone would pay attention when he decided to fight a traffic citation.

But the 55-year-old Middletown man became the focus of widespread attention because of the ticket for driving with an obstructed view.

Police said the distraction was caused by Cunningham's two Yorkshire terriers, who were riding in the cab of his truck after he left a park here.

Maj. Mark Hoffman, patrol division commander for the Middletown Police Department, said he has received phone calls from residents on both sides of the issue.

"I don't think it was fair," said Bonnie Slaton, a Middletown resident who often travels with her miniature dachshund, "as long as he maintained his vehicle in an orderly fashion."

Police don't plan any crackdown, but do want pet-owning motorists to take precautions.

To comply with the ordinance, Hoffman said, well behaved animals should be placed on the passenger side or in the back seat of a vehicle, but the safest way to transport a pet is in a secure carrier or crate.

He said he doesn't know if any other tickets will be written but, "I could easily see another officer stopping somebody and telling them a better way to (transport) their pet."

Officials maintain Cunningham's ticket was written because of the position of the dogs in the vehicle.

Monroe resident Serenity Salome has four dogs - a St. Bernard, Labrador retriever and two beagle mixes.

She said she laughed about the ticket when she heard, but believes the officer wouldn't have written it if it wasn't necessary.

"I don't let my dogs get up in my lap. You can't see, especially if it's a 70-pound St. Bernard," Salome said.

Cunningham was found guilty last week in Middletown Municipal Court and ordered to pay $60 in court costs.

He doesn't plan to change the way he travels with his pets.

"These dogs are like my kids, and I'm not going to put them in danger," he said.