Barry Myrick barks angrily.
The pest repeller has a falling out with his former employer, M&M Environmental in Queens, over his loyal partner – a bedbug-sniffing pit bull mix named Roxy.
“She’s my best friend,” said Myrick, who even has a tattoo of Roxy on his leg. “I devoted her a long time ago, and nothing will come between me and her.”
Myrick, 37, had worked with Roxy for four years inspecting commercial and residential properties before being fired from the company in March.
Although the dog was provided by M&M, which covered her food and veterinary bills, she has lived with Myrick and his wife, Joana, since he picked up Roxy from dog training in Florida. (M&M paid for her education.)
The pair have been inseparable ever since – enjoying hiking to Bear Mountain and vacations in Woodstock. ‘She is part of our family. This is the closest we will have children, ”said Myrick, who has no intention of having children.
But things changed then, not long after the pandemic started, he chose to be fired instead of turning and working for M&M as a COVID cleaner without Roxy. He returned his company car, credit cards, and equipment, but not his pup partner – and explained that a manager had said to him, “You’re going to keep Roxy, aren’t you?”
On June 25, M&M sent a letter to Myrick calling the dog “corporate property” and demanding that she be returned immediately. When Myrick refused, M&M pursued legal action, reporting that Roxy had been stolen and leading the Queens District Attorney’s Office to hit Myrick with charges of grand theft.
Myrick still refused to give up Roxy and surrendered to the NYPD in August. “I was in prison for 15 hours. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy, ”said Myrick, who shared a cell with about 20 others. The stories I heard were unreal – someone hit his stepfather with a baseball bat. I couldn’t tell anyone I was there for a puppy. “
M&M told The Post in a statement that the company had always planned to re-hire Myrick and that managers expected him to return to work by June.
But Myrick had moved from Brooklyn to Philadelphia in May and says he wouldn’t have left town if he thought he would get his job back.
He admitted to The Post that he signed a contract in 2016 that “said if I was terminated or if I stopped working there, I would have to send Roxy back.” But he claimed that M&M forfeited his claim to her when the company fired him and did not ask for her back.
When they left the dog with him in March, [M&M] didn’t make an appointment … to get the dog or pay for it in the meantime, ”said Myrick’s attorney, William J. Kurtz.
For now, a Queens judge – citing previous custody of divorce cases – has Myrick Roxy detained until the case is settled. However, M&M said Roxy is a working dog and this is a matter of ownership, not guardianship.
M&M attorney Gary Port said that, under the 2016 contract, the company owns Roxy and noted that training a dog like her can cost $ 15,000. “My client did not gift this man $ 15,000.”
Port added that allowing Myrick to keep Roxy would set a dangerous precedent: “Maybe he’s attached to Roxy – maybe he wants to start his own business.”
“That’s the last thing on my mind,” replied Myrick, who is currently collecting unemployment, adding that he understood the company’s concerns. ‘My only concern is not to be separated from her. I will not start a competitive business in a pandemic without money. “
Myrick insists that Roxy, who came from a difficult background, would not bond with another trainer. “She’s not a golden retriever who will be happy with everyone,” he said. “She has no eye for anyone else.”
Loved ones have tried to convince him to run away. “My family said, ‘Give the dog back, you’ll get another,’” recalls a defiant Myrick. ‘But I emptied my bank account and spent time in prison. . . what else can they throw at me? I will fight this to the end. “
