"THE DOGWOOD INCIDENT"

NORTH CAROLINA

“THE DOGWOOD INCIDENT”

A RETIRED SCHOOLTEACHER IN ASHEVILLE IS IN A STANDOFF WITH HER HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION AFTER HER THREE DOGS DUG UP EVERY DOGWOOD SAPLING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S COMMON AREA AND ARRANGED THEM, ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, IN WHAT SHE IS CALLING “A GESTURE.”

BEVERLY PRUITT, 67, SAYS SHE WAS ATTEMPTING TO HONOR NORTH CAROLINA’S STATE FLOWER BY PLANTING TWELVE DOGWOOD SAPLINGS ALONG THE COMMON AREA FENCE LINE. HER DOGS — ALL THREE OF THEM PLOTT HOUNDS, NORTH CAROLINA’S OFFICIAL STATE DOG — HAD OTHER IDEAS.

WITHIN FORTY MINUTES OF PLANTING, THE DOGS HAD REMOVED ALL TWELVE SAPLINGS AND DEPOSITED THEM IN A NEAT PILE IN FRONT OF BEVERLY’S NEIGHBOR’S DOOR. THE NEIGHBOR, A MAN NAMED GERALD, HAS AN ONGOING DISPUTE WITH BEVERLY ABOUT LEAF BLOWERS.

BEVERLY SAYS THE DOGS ACTED INDEPENDENTLY. GERALD SAYS THIS IS NOT BELIEVABLE. THE HOA SAYS IT CANNOT DETERMINE INTENT.

BEVERLY’S ATTORNEY HAS POINTED OUT THAT THE PLOTT HOUND WAS BRED TO HUNT BEAR IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS, AND THAT REDIRECTING THAT INSTINCT TOWARD ORNAMENTAL LANDSCAPING IS, IN HIS WORDS, “FRANKLY IMPRESSIVE.”

THE SAPLINGS ARE BEING REPLANTED. THE DOGS ARE UNREPENTANT. GERALD HAS FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINT.

NORTH CAROLINA’S STATE FLOWER REMAINS THE DOGWOOD. NORTH CAROLINA’S STATE DOG REMAINS UNBOTHERED.