Couple Charged With Animal Cruelty After Neglected Dog Found Abandoned

“WTF…another pair of cruel, cold hearted bxxxxxd’s; who just couldn’t be bothered anymore with their dog! It’s so cruel to leave an animal suffering, but to then toss them out like rubbish, to fend for themselves; is an unbelievably cruel & callous act! This pair both deserve jail, banned from owning animals for life & have to pay all vets fee’s incurred, whilst trying to save poor Lilly…R.I.P sweet girl, you were taken too soon, but now you can run forever, free from pain or harm & in peace; just over Rainbow’s Bridge XXX

OLD TOWN, Maine — A former Hudson couple was summoned Wednesday in connection with what Old Town police Officer Deborah Holmes called perhaps the worst case of neglect she has encountered in her 26 years in law enforcement.

Charged with animal cruelty were Jerry Thomas, 53, and his 55-year-old wife, Kathy Thomas, Holmes said.

Lily, a 5-year-old German shepherd, was found Saturday on Bennoch Road in Old Town, where her owners allegedly abandoned her. The dog was euthanized on Wednesday, after staff members of Eastern Maine Emergency Veterinary Clinic in Brewer, who had been providing medical care for her, discovered she was full of cancer. Her owners have been charged with animal cruelty. R.I.P sweet girl x

“She was in really rough shape,” Holmes said about Lily, the 5-year-old German shepherd the couple allegedly abandoned early Saturday morning in the pouring rain off a turnaround along Bennoch Road.

“She had little to no hair on her back and legs and she was covered in bugs. Her skin was leathery,” Holmes said Wednesday. The officer said that the dog also was thin and had infected ears. Ticks were embedded around its neck and nails, which were so long they were curled under.

Holmes said Lily was “very skittish.” Holmes said she had a witness stay with the dog while she went to a nearby convenience store to get a breakfast sandwich that she then tried to use to coax Lily into her vehicle.

“She wasn’t having any of that,” said Holmes. The dog, however, eventually developed the confidence to go with Holmes after Holmes put her on a lead. She took Lily to Eastern Maine Emergency Veterinary Clinic in Brewer, where the staff bathed her, groomed her and gave her medication.

The witness was able to provide the license plate number of the dark-colored truck seen near where the dog was found and Holmes used it to trace the couple to their former home in Hudson, where their former landlord confirmed they had owned a German shepherd. Holmes eventually traced the couple to the Ranger Inn in Bangor where they had been staying.

Holmes contacted the pair and on Wednesday, they came to the Old Town Police Department, where both were charged with animal cruelty.

Jerry Thomas initially denied having left the dog, saying that he had pulled over along Bennoch Road to relieve himself. He then allegedly told the officer he accepted full responsibility for the incident, but Holmes said she decided to charge both of the Thomases because Lily’s condition appeared to be the result of long-term neglect and “there is no way [Kathy Thomas] could have come home every night and not seen it.”

Holmes said that the couple eventually told her they no longer were able to care for the dog.

On Wednesday, staff at the veterinary clinic found cancer throughout Lily’s body and euthanized her, Holmes said.

“I was really hoping for a different outcome,” Holmes said, adding that several people who had learned of Lily’s plight on the Old Town Police Department’s Facebook page had offered to adopt her.

Holmes said the couple is scheduled to appear at the Penobscot Judicial Center on July 18 to respond to the charges.

News Link:-http://bangordailynews.com/2013/06/12/news/bangor/couple-charged-with-animal-cruelty-after-neglected-dog-found-abandoned-in-old-town/

Video: Bad To Chase Bunnies At The Rodeo?

One bunny had a broken jaw and was missing its tail. Three more wound up at the home of a Cottage Grove employee after a co-worker said her kids couldn’t keep them. “Video at end of this post”!

Heather Crippen of Red Barn Rabbit Rescue says that those were a few of the results of a previous “animal scramble” at the Cottage Grove Rodeo.

Bunny at recent animal scramble. Photo Scott Becstead/HSUS

Crippen started Red Barn with her daughter and runs the small rescue out of her farm in Creswell. She says with 50 rabbits already and a waiting list of 20 more, she wants to avoid more hurt and homeless bunnies. She has been asking the rodeo, which will take place July 12-13, to sponsor a different event for children.

Rabbits are fragile and the event stresses, sickens and even kills them, she says. In the animal scramble last year, and at a recent one at Myrtle Creek in Douglas County, rabbits were tossed out of trailers or pickup trucks and into an arena where hordes of children were unleashed to chase and catch them.

Red Barn’s video of the 2012 scramble shows bunnies getting stepped on and, Crippen says, paralyzed with fear. If the kids catch a rabbit at the event, they keep it. An attendee at the Myrtle Creek scramble was reported to have said to his child, “You going to catch us a rabbit? Going to help dad butcher it?”

Crippen has offered to donate money to the Cottage Grove Riding Club (CGRC) for a different, animal-friendly event, such as one that hides money and prizes inside plastic eggs. The rodeo and scramble are a fundraiser for the riding club. At press time, the rescue’s offer has not been accepted.

CGRC president Kelli Fisher says the event benefits the community and it gives children “the opportunity to experience raising their own animal.”

Red Barn has discovered that the scramble is subject to USDA regulations. “They have to get licensed and inspected,” Crippen says. “Many of the regulations are for the protection and safety of the rabbits.” And she says she was told the rodeo only recently applied for the license, so she’s not sure how they will get approved in time.

Crippen emailed the club in May, asking that this year’s event be removed, saying she has heard from PETA and other groups that want to protest the scramble. Crippen wrote that Red Barn has tried to discourage protest and “we prefer a professional approach to this disagreement.”

The riding club responded with a letter from attorney Milton E. Gifford, who alleges that Crippen’s email “threatened that there would be protests and picketing.” He tells her that she does “not have the right to videotape any portion of the rodeo” and calls her email “veiled threats” and says she will “be held personally liable for intentional interference with business relations.” Fisher says, “I and our board consider Red Barn and its members to be cruel, hurtful and a threat to our families.”

Scott Beckstead, Oregon director for the Humane Society of the United States, has been supporting Crippen’s efforts to end the scramble. He says…

“It is our position that this event is inherently cruel to the rabbits, and promotes unhealthy attitudes about pet ownership by awarding live animals as ‘prizes.’ Rabbits are delicate, sensitive little creatures, and turning them loose in a rodeo arena to be chased by a throng of children subjects them to an unreasonable risk of terror, shock and injury.”

Beckstead says that rabbits are the third most common animal at shelters and humane societies, and events such as the scramble strain those resources. Crippen and Beckstead have met with Faye Stewart, the Lane County commissioner from Cottage Grove, and Crippen spoke to the County Commission on June 4 about her concerns over the animal scramble. Fisher says CGRC is working with the local Humane Society chapter to improve the event.

Rabbit Scramble Event – South Douglas Rodeo

Published on 9 Jun 2013

**Filmed by a volunteer

South Douglas Rodeo’s “traditional” rabbit scramble is a youth event for children under the age of six years old. The children as lined up on the fence while rabbits are dumped into the arena from the bed of a truck. On go, the children sprint and chase down their prey, a living “prize” that will come with a small baggy of food and a sticker with care instructions.

Share your thoughts about the “Rabbit Scramble” and send your opinion to the South Douglas Rodeo.

Send letters to:
South Douglas Rodeo 
1170 North Myrtle Road
Myrtle Creek, OR 97457

Please consider supporting Red Barn Rabbit Rescue and making a donation.
www.redbarnrabbitrescue.org

News Link:-http://www.eugeneweekly.com/20130613/news-briefs/bad-chase-bunnies-rodeo

DiPietro Proposes Animal Abuse Registry

Assemblyman David DiPietro, R-East Aurora, has introduced legislation that would create an animal abuse registry and prevent those convicted of animal abuses from possessing, adopting, owning, purchasing or exercising control over any animal.

DiPietro introduced Assembly Bill 7363 to correspond with annual Animal Advocacy Day, which was observed Tuesday.

 ”On Animal Advocacy Day, we must ask ourselves; is there anything we can do for animals better than preventing further abuse?” DiPietro said. “If you are convicted of doing harm to an animal, you should be stripped of the opportunity to own animals. The abuse of animals is something we should strive to eliminate from our society, and I believe the best way to limit the cases is to prevent repeat offenders. I hope my colleagues in the Assembly will join me in protecting innocent animals.”

Aside from the creation of a registry, the bill would require animal shelters and pet dealers consult the registry before surrendering an animal to anyone. In order for a convicted animal abuser to regain the ability to own an animal, a court must decide on whether or not it is safe for the animal to be in the person’s possession.

New York State Animal Advocacy Day is a bipartisan event sponsored by Assemblyman Jim Tedisco and state Sen. Greg Ball in which members of the Assembly and Senate are brought together to protect animals from abuse.

Assembly Bill 7363 has been referred to the Assembly Agriculture Committee.

News Link:-http://thedailynewsonline.com/news/article_ba044b50-d427-5a1d-9738-171f6e74b3b7.html

Cruelty Tipster Program In T.O. Canada

Organization grows to the big smoke. Winnipeg‘s Paw Tipsters has gone national.

The non-profit organization, which started in July 2012 to combat animal abuse in partnership with Winnipeg Crime Stoppers, announced today its expansion to Toronto.

Paw Tipsters operates with the same anonymity as Crime Stoppers, where people call the hotline to report information of animal abuse. Tips are investigated and if evidence of abuse is uncovered, there is a cash reward.

“Since we started it, I always thought it would be something that would be good to have right across Canada because animal cruelty doesn’t just take place here,” said Winnipeg Paw Tipsters president Yvonne Russell. “I thought Toronto would be a great starting point and we already have a working relationship here with Crime Stoppers so it was easy for Toronto Crime Stoppers to jump on board.”

Russell is in Toronto today for the official announcement.

“I’m excited to see us grown in this way, Toronto is a huge city. I’m just really proud of what Paw Tipsters is doing

Paw Tipsters’ Yvonne Russell at home with her pooches Mike (left) and Garry.

and what we are becoming. Hopefully it’s going to spread like wildfire out there and people are going to be phoning in animal-cruelty tips in Toronto as well.”

She said further expansion is planned as Paw Tipsters prepares to approach another large city.

To report incidents of animal cruelty, people are asked to call the Crime Stoppers line at 204-786-TIPS (8477) or toll-free at 1-800-222-8477.

Paw Tipsters also forwards any information it receives directly to Crime Stoppers, which links with local law enforcement organizations to handle the investigation and, if necessary, the Winnipeg Humane Society or provincial veterinarian office. It will work the same way in Toronto.

Russell said each tip is investigated and serious tips can pay $2,000 to the tipster.

“We will pay more for the larger-scale tips,” she said. “We would like to get to the bottom of puppy mills and dog-fighting so tips like that would pay in the neighborhood of $2,000.”

“We’re starting to make a bigger difference, the more people know about us,” Russell said. “I always thought that if we saved even one animal, it was worth it to me. The big thing is just saving them from the situation that they are in. Calls come in all the time and several animals have been removed from very bad situations due to the tips through Paw Tipsters so to me, it’s already so worthwhile.”

Paw Tipsters is a registered charity that relies on donations to pay for tips so anyone wanting to help is asked to email pawtipsters@hotmail.ca.

Call Winnipeg Crime Stoppers at 786-TIPS (8477) or toll-free at 1-800-222-8477. You can also submit a tip online at www.winnipegcrimestoppers.org. Callers never have to reveal their identity. If your tip is helpful, you could receive up to $2,000.

News Link:-http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/cruelty-tipster-program-in-to-211782491.html

Tom Price: Wick Horse Trader Convicted Of Animal Cruelty

“Please watch the video that accompanies this news; at the link below”

“I don’t know how many of you know, but I rescued a gypsy cob colt at auction 3 years ago, because he was being whipped to death; a baby that wouldn’t load, because he should have been with his mum.  I couldn’t bear to walk away knowing he would be beaten, over & over again. There were so many who looked ill; if I had the money & land I would have taken them all. The best I could do was to take him & report the owner to WHW; which I did!!”

“These cob colts are 2 a penny, because some just breed to sell to make money; making decent gypsies look bad! They don’t care where they graze as long as they have free grass…just up the road from me there are many gypsy cobs with colts at foot, grazing on council property. When I was mobile there was many a time I would have to stop the traffic on the busy road, so as I could catch them; not the horses fault, they were just looking for food & water. Every time I came home from seeing to my horse, I would drive past the council land where all the gypsy cobs were tethered & fill their water buckets & spread a bale of hay between them all, because I couldn’t bear to see them go without!”

“It doesn’t take long for them to eat everything in site within their radius; hence they get hungry & get loose! Horses need more than just grass & anyone with an ounce of horse knowledge knows that, gypsies know a great deal about horses, but there will always be those few who just breed to make money, sod the poor horses; they are there to make money, so can survive on council grass alone. It cost me over £1000 to get my little colt back to good shape; I knew I couldn’t keep him due to my poor health. So I got him back to good health etc. inc. a microchip. He is now with my friends daughter who loves him unconditionally; I didn’t’ sell him, I gave him to her because I knew he would have a permanent home with someone to love him. (You can see video of him on my Youtube account)”

“I have nothing against gypsies whatsoever, some of the cobs around where I live are magnificent, they really take care of them. It’s the minority, as usual, that give them a bad name…those that breed just to make a bit of money, leaves so many of these colts in undesirable hands, like the one I rescued. They are dragged from sale to sale until somebody takes ownership; cost of a colt at present anything from £20 out back, if the owners desperate to get rid! It cost me £50 out back (not in sale ring) for 2 colts back then, my friend took one, I took the other. All this means these poor babies often fall into bad hands or killer buyers.”

“Yes, they are hardy animals but they still need everything that a horse costing £2000 would need; decent hard feed, hay, supplements, stable or some sort of cover, wormers, microchips, passports, rugs & someone to groom, keep mud fever & mites at bay; it takes a lot of time to keep a cobs feathers neat & in good health. Nobody could take care of thousands of cobs unless they were millionaires, with at least 800 acres of land with around 400 members of staff to care for the horses; don’t care what you say, which is why many are abandoned!. The rule of thumb is an acre per horse, depending on size etc. My guess is; this has been a long time coming for this guy…so thank God they have now got him!! “

“Please watch the video at the link below, it doesn’t contain any nasties, just gives you a better perception as the written news is very minimal!!”

A Vale of Glamorgan horse trader who has thousands of Gypsy Cob ponies has been found guilty of 57 animal welfare and cruelty charges.

Tom Price, 48, from Wick, was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to 18 horses by magistrates in Cardiff.

The animals were found at five different south Wales locations, including 12 “left to die” in a Bridgend barn.

He will be sentenced in July, following the RSPCA prosecution.

Video & News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22907992

Bridgeton Woman Charged With Animal Abuse

BRIDGETON, Mo. – A Bridgeton woman was charged with animal abuse, this week, after police spotted her dog being dragged behind her pickup truck on I-70.

St. Charles Police say 33-year-old Amy Taylor was travelling between 60-and-65 miles an hour while dragging a dog named Coco on May 22.

Taylor told police she had just picked up the dog at a veterinarian and placed him in a small kennel in the back of the truck. She says she didn’t know how the dog got out and wound-up being dragged along the interstate.

Police say Taylor did, however, admit that she knew there were no screws to hold the kennel together. “So just how did she expect the dog to remain in a kennel with nothing to hold it together? stupid bxxxh!!”

Taylor has been charged with a misdemeanour.

Police say Coco was severely injured at the time but is now in good condition, expecting to make a full recovery.

News Link:-http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2013/06/15/bridgeton-woman-charged-with-animal-abuse/

Sweden Bans Bestiality

Sweden on Thursday proposed legislation that would completely outlaw bestiality, tightening current rules that only prohibit sex with animals that causes mental or physical harm.

 ”The government is now toughening bestiality laws so that there is no doubt that it’s prohibited to abuse animals,” Rural Affairs Minister Eskil Erlandsson said in a statement.

“There should be no doubt whatsoever that bestiality is unacceptable.”

Until now, bestiality was illegal in Sweden only if it could be proven that the animal had been subjected to suffering.

Starting on January 1st, 2014, however, any sexual act with an animal will be punishable by a fine, a maximum prison sentence of two years, or both, even if the animal shows no sign of injury or suffering.

“I hope that this sort of act doesn’t take place in society at all. And now we’re putting that explicitly into law,” Erlandsson told the TT news agency.

In 2008, Erlandsson came in for criticism for using graphic language during a debate on the floor of parliament in an attempt to describe the difficulty of legislating against bestiality.

While he first expressed his “disgust” for anyone who has sex with animals, Erlandsson continued to offer a graphic example to demonstrate that “what counts as sexual abuse of animals” isn’t always easy to define, much to the surprise of fellow MPs.

“It was distasteful. It sunk to a horrendously low level. I don’t think one needs to discuss details like that in the Riksdag,” Social Democrat MP Monica Green told the Aftonbladet newspaper at the time.

“He mixed up people’s sexuality with animals’ sexuality. His example was also appalling.”

While it’s been nearly 18 months since the government first commissioned an inquiry into the bestiality ban, news that the law was finally on its way came as welcome news to Sweden’s veterinarians.

“It’s very good that the law will be changed,” a spokesman for the Swedish Federation of Veterinarians (Sveriges Veterinärförbund), Johan Beck-Friis, told AFP.

“It’s very important that society makes a clear statement that it is unacceptable to use animals that way,” he said.

The ban will bring Sweden in line with a European Union directive.

Germany introduced a ban in December, following in the footsteps of Britain, France, and Switzerland among others.

The Swedish parliament is expected to pass the bill into law soon, as there is broad political consensus on the issue.

According to Beck-Friis, under the current law veterinarians may suspect that an animal has been sexually abused but they are generally unable to prove it.

As a result, there are no statistics available on how common bestiality is in the country.

In 2006, the latest year for which statistics are available, about 100 cases of animals suffering injuries suspected of being related to bestiality were brought to the authorities’ attention, Beck-Friis said.

News Link:-http://www.thelocal.se/48484/20130613/