Cat Carer Julie Newnham Spared Jail After Being Convicted Of Letting Animals Suffer

“When are Judges going to man up, grow a pair & start kicking some ass? Suspended sentence for 12 months, why the hell do they bother mentioning prison if the culprit isn’t going? The RSPCA has lost cost of over £4,000, the culprit should be made to pay the full vet fees & any hospitalization for animals in a mess under the culprits care. Oh, lets not forget the terrible sentence of having to do some unpaid work, boo hoo! No cats for 10 years, well that’s not too long, she can have dogs or rabbits until then! 

“Seriously, what is the point of taking these cases to court if the person doesn’t have to pay for their crime. There is little wonder charity’s like the RSPCA don’t take all cases to court…they can’t bloody afford to. Jail should mean Jail, unpaid work should be back-breaking work, shovelling shit at a rescue farm, & no animals, well that should be for life! These people let animals suffer & die…with the judicial system as it is, there is no wonder there are so many at it, the punishment is no deterrent at all!!”

“I am so bloody sick of hearing excuses like “got into problems, couldn’t afford to feed them, got ill…so fxxxxxg what!!! I’m retired, due to being disabled & have to get by with disability benefits. Most days I’m bed bound, yet my 3 dogs & 2 horses still get the best of care, just because I’m ill is no excuse to not feed or care for them, you get help from family or friends. But if you’re in that situation in the first place, animals are the last thing you need, they are expensive to keep. If I couldn’t afford to care for mine, then, as much as it would break my heart, if  friends couldn’t take them, I would contact the RSPCA to help me, before they started to become sick & skinny.. .that’s what you do when you really love animals…you put their health & care first!!!

A jobless mum who took in more than 30 cats has been banned from keeping them for 10 years after being found guilty of animal cruelty.

Julie Newnham, 38, advertised her home on the internet as being a haven for unwanted animals.

Scores of people who could no longer care for their pets took them to her thinking they would lead a healthy and safe life.

Why does she look like she is wearing a cat?

However, Newnham – pictured right – has now been found guilty of a string of animal cruelty charges – but spared an immediate jail sentence.

When RSPCA inspectors went to her home, in Homeside, Borrows Lane, Middle Stoke, on the Isle of Grain, after a tip-off they found four cats in very poor condition.They were emaciated, flee-ridden and had sores and ulcers. One cat – called Ruby – was so ill, she had to be put down.

There were said to be 33 cats at Newnham’s home as well as two dogs owned by her husband.

The cats were also suffering from diarrhoea. Some had sores, had suffered hair loss and were covered in faeces.

Newnhan allowed the cats to be taken by the RSPCA inspectors. They were all taken to a vet and given emergency treatment and pain relief. Unfortunately, Ruby did not recover and had to be put down.

RUBY – Julie Newnham’s cat ruby was so emaciated she had to be put down

Newnham was charged with four counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and two counts of failing in her duty of care as she was responsible for ensuring the animal’s welfare.

She was found guilty in her absence after not turning up for a court hearing in September. A warrant was issued for her arrest and she was brought back before the courts a few days later.

Her case was adjourned to allow pre-sentencing reports to be completed and she was sentenced before magistrates in Medway.

Andrew Wiles, prosecuting for the RSPCA said: “The cats were extremely thin and sneezing and suffering hair loss and diarrhoea. Some were covered in faeces and had large flee burdens.

“One cat had discharged coming out of his eyes and was very thin, and had a ulcer in the right eye, it was at risk of losing it if the ulcer had burst.”

Mr Wiles said the total cost of the treatment for the cats and the subsequent investigation to the charity was more than £5,200 – and asked magistrates to consider awarding costs.

Jeremy Betts, defending, told the court Newnham had good intentions when she took in the cats, but did not have the means or finances to deal with them if they became ill.

He told magistrates she had overstretched herself and that she no longer advertises her services on-line  He said the cats’ ill treatment was not a deliberate act and that his client just could not cope.

Magistrates jailed Newnham for 12 weeks – but suspended the sentence for 12 months – and banned her from keeping cats for 10 years. She was also ordered to carry out 240 hours’ unpaid work and pay a contribution of £1,202.80 towards the charity’s costs.

Magistrate John Weir said: “Any right thinking person would have realised that these cats needed help.”

News Link:–http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2012/october/12/julie_newnham.aspx

Pit Bull Euthanized After Fatal Mauling Of Infant

 

Detroit Police officers remove a pit bull after it killed a 3-week old baby girl on Thursday, October 4, 2012 in Detroit. / JARRAD HENDERSON/Detroit Free Press

The pit bull that fatally mauled an infant Thursday in Detroit was euthanized today by a veterinarian at the Michigan Humane Society, a spokesman for the Humane Society said.

Officials at Detroit’s animal control unit asked the Humane Society to euthanize the pit bull this morning because “they did not have a vet available,” spokesman Kevin Hatman said. After the dog was euthanized, its remains were returned to the city’s animal control centre to be checked for rabies, as required by state law, Hatman said.

Detroit police seized the dog from the home on the city’s west side shortly after 5:45 p.m. Thursday, when it attacked the three-week-old girl as she lay strapped into her car seat on the floor of a home that her mother was visiting, police said.

No decision was reached today by the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on whether the girl’s mother or the dog’s owner will face charges in the death, police spokeswoman Sgt. Eren Stephens said tonight.

Contact BILL LAITNER: 313-223-4485 orblaitner@freepress.com

News Link:-http://www.freep.com/article/20121005/NEWS01/121005079/pit-bull-euthanized-after-mauling-of-infant?odyssey=nav%7Chead

“Firstly, may I just say the last few posts all being about pit bulls has been purely coincidence, it’s just how they came in!!”

“This is so very tragic, my deepest sympathies to the mother & the family of the baby girl. But why oh why, did the mother put the baby down on the floor, why didn’t the owner warn her of the dog? So many questions…any breed of dog could have done the same if that way inclined”

“However, read the following which goes into more detail about the incident & the general problems with pit bulls in Detroit; see it from another perspective! Below is a snippet, but read the full article!”

Detroit police said the dog was not vicious toward the officers as it was being taken away. The family also claimed the dog was not vicious and that there are other children in the house.

The dog owners believe the Pit Bull smelled the baby formula on the infant’s clothes, according to reports. The dog mauled the infant’s face.

The owners stated that the dog, who was just fed scraps out the back door, somehow got into the house and attacked the baby while her mother had her back turned, according to the report.

News Link:-http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/animal-rights/pit-bull-kills-baby-detroit-it-owner-s-fault-or-dogs

 

‘Grown ups killed my kitty’: Boy, 8, writes heartrending letter to newspaper after his cat was euthanized by mistake

 

An 8-year-old Utah boy wrote a letter to his local newspaper after an animal shelter worker failed to write a note to save his cat from being euthanized. 

‘Yesterday grown-ups killed my kitty, my best friend, when they weren’t supposed to,’ Rayden Sazama wrote, with his grandfather’s help, in his letter published in The Herald Journal, of Logan, on Thursday.

By Friday, it had received the fourth-most comments on the newspaper’s website – behind three letters about Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Heartbroken: Brothers Rayden, 8, and Devin, 5, were left heartbroken when their black cat named Toothless didn’t return home, but Rayden says he was especially hurt to learn his neighbours had lied about its capture

‘I just wanted to tell people about Toothless – that I loved him,’ he told The Associated Press through his father, Jason Sazama, on Friday. ‘And that people shouldn’t lie.’

Some berated the shelter for failing to keep the cat safe. Others criticized the family for letting the cat outside, failing to have it on a leash or not looking for the cat at the shelter sooner. Still others faulted the neighbours who had trapped the cat and denied having seen it when asked.

The cat roamed the cow pasture next door and often brought home ‘presents’ of field mice, but on Sept 28 he slipped out his kitty door and didn’t return home. By Sunday, Rayden and his five-year-old brother, Devin, were going door to door, asking neighbors if they had seen the cat.

Everyone said they hadn’t seen Toothless.

Jason Sazama checked the Cache Humane Society’s website but didn’t see any photos resembling Toothless. After two busy days on the road for work, he decided to swing by the organization’s shelter Tuesday to see if Toothless had turned up.

The shelter had already closed for the evening, but a worker allowed Mr Sazama inside, where Toothless sat in a cage. There was just one problem: Mr Sazama still needed to pay the impound fee at a government building that was also closed.

The worker assured Mr Sazama the cat would be fine, and he returned home, crowing: ‘I found Toothless! We’ll get him tomorrow.’

Adult’s mistake: Raden’s father, seen with him and his two younger siblings, said he went to the animal shelter to collect Toothless but was told the cat had mistakenly been killed

The worker assured Mr Sazama the cat would be fine, and he returned home, crowing: ‘I found Toothless! We’ll get him tomorrow.

But when Mr Sazama returned the next day, the receipt for his impound payment in hand, he discovered that Toothless had already been euthanized. The worker had forgotten to put a note on the cage.

The Cache Humane Society did not return a telephone message Friday from the AP. When reached by The Herald Journal, Director Brenda Smith confirmed Rayden’s story, saying the boy’s father had visited the shelter after business hours, when the worker was busy training another employee.

‘She let him in to look for the cat, but unfortunately, in training someone she forgot to leave a note on the cat’s cage,’ Smith told the newspaper. ‘I’ve just been sick about it, and so has she.’

Mr Sazama said he has no ill will toward the shelter.

‘I had to explain to my son that several adults made mistakes here,‘ he said. ‘The worker made a mistake, and I should have gone to the shelter sooner.’

Mr Sazama said he even understood why the neighbours trapped the cat; he hadn’t known that Toothless had been visiting the neighbours’ sandbox and leaving different kinds of presents there.

‘When Devin and I knocked on their door and asked if they had seen Toothless they told us no, and that was a lie,’ Rayden said in his letter. ‘My dad and mom tell me and Devin not to lie and that is right.’

‘Now I don’t know what to do,‘ the letter concludes. ‘My cat Toothless is dead; the people that killed him didn’t even give him to my dad so we could bury him. What do I do now?’

News Link:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213683/Rayden-Sazama-Boy-8-writes-heartrending-letter-newspaper-cat-euthanized-mistake.html

 

Deadly mistake: Wrong dog killed at Hernando Animal Services, again

 

Hernando County Animal Services has been plagued with problems over excessive euthanasia. On Friday it was discovered that yet another dog fell victim to their mistakes and paid for it with his life.

Poor recordkeeping and confusion resulted in killing the wrong dog
Credits: Maryann Tobin

Poor record-keeping and confusion in cage placement resulted in switching a yellow Labrador mix with another dog.

When it was time to euthanize the dog, Animal Services worker Michael Steele, did not verify the identity of the dog, and instead used the cage number, unaware of the fact that the dogs had been switched. Then the wrong dog was killed.

Hernando County Animal Services has a long history of being more eager to kill than to adopt.

In July 2010 on a visit to the shelter I reported that… “Kennel Worker, Dave Krusko appeared angry and frustrated as he walked past me. Then I heard him comment that he had been “euthanizing all day”, and complained that the people in the front office should not be “letting people back here (to the adoption area) when I’m busy euthanizing.”

In March 2012, the county agency was in the spotlight again after an 8-month-old dog, Zeus, was killed just 15 minutes after arriving at the shelter.

Local residents and shelter volunteers have been suggesting staff and policy changes to remedy the problems at HCAS.

While some changes have been made in recent weeks, deadly problems and bad publicity persist.

The solution may only be found in cleaning out the entire agency from the top, down to the last kennel worker, since partial efforts for improvements appear to continue to fail.

Brooksville’s Pet Luv Clinic director Richard Silvani, who donates veterinary services to Hernando County Animal Services, expressed his concerns and frustration in an email in April, calling the situation at HCAS a “crisis… from failure to vaccinate on intake, to poor record-keeping, to euthanizing at will rather than going through a real evaluation procedure.”

Silvani added, “Things are at a breaking point, and we will either have a house-cleaning and a great leap forward or the whole effort will end.”

With yet another wrongful death of an undeserving dog, it appears that the “breaking point” has passed. Hernando County Animal Services is simply not doing the job taxpayers are paying for.

News Link:http://www.examiner.com/article/deadly-mistake-wrong-dog-killed-at-hernando-animal-services-again

 

Zoo Head Found Guilty in Wallaby Death

Judge rules Meghan Mogensen acted inhumanely euthanizing an injured animal last winter.

Reston Zoo Director Meghan Mogensen – accused of inhumanely euthanizing an injured wallaby – was found guilty by a Fairfax County General District judge Friday on counts of animal cruelty and possession of a controlled substance.

After a one-day bench trial, Judge Ian O’Flaherty sentenced Mogensen, 26, to a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail on the animal cruelty charge and a $250 fine and suspension of her driver’s license for six months on the drug count. Both of the charges are misdemeanors.

Meghan Mogensen

“This was a cruel method of killing an animal,” O’Flaherty said.

Mogensen, who lives in Silver Spring, did not speak in her own defense nor did she comment when the judge asked if she had anything to say upon sentencing. Her attorney, Caleb Kershner, said they will appeal, which means there will likely be an additional, new trial in Fairfax County Circuit Court.

The charges stemmed from a Jan. 26 incident at the zoo. Ashley Rood, then the zoo’s general curator, noticed that Parmesan, an adult male Parma wallaby, had a severe injury to his left eye.  Rood and another employee put Parmesan in a plastic crate to bring him inside for an examination, but the animal injured himself further by hopping inside the crate, Rood said on the stand.

The wallaby’s eye was then bleeding profusely and leaking fluid, and the eye appeared ruptured and bulging out of its socket, she said.

“I didn’t think the eye could be salvaged, but it could be removed by a vet,” said Rood. “I told [Mogensen] other than that, he appears perfectly fine.”

Rood testified that Mogensen conferred by phone with her father- Eric Mogensen, the zoo’s owner – who said the animal should be euthanized. Rood told the director she wanted no part of that. Rood said Mogensen then sent her on an errand and said she would “take care of it.”

Rood, holding back tears, said she returned to find a bucket about one-quarter full of water and no wallaby. She said she jumped into the dumpster and found his dead body soaking wet and wrapped in a trash bag.

“I told Meghan ‘I think you and your father are sick, sadistic people and I am not going to be a part of it anymore,” said Rood. “It is one thing to euthanize them. It is another thing to drown them.”

Rood said she did not support other methods of euthanasia she had seen at the zoo. She said some animals were shot with guns (for which the zoo also did not have a permit), while rabbits were hit on the head and injured chickens fed to snakes.

Rood quit on the spot and called Fairfax County Animal Control.  Twenty Animal Control officers showed up at the zoo on Feb. 16 to search the premises. Several of them testified Friday. Master Animal Control Offer Jennifer Millburn said Mogensen told her she had euthanized the animal by humane injection with Beauthanasia.

It was later discovered the zoo had no DEA permit for using euthanasia drugs. The zoo’s contract vet, Justin Saboda – who is based near Frederick, MD and said it can take him as much as 90 minutes to get to the Reston Zoo when he is called –  said Friday he was not contacted on Jan. 26.

He also said he has never euthanized an animal there, has never trained anyone there in euthanasia and would “never risk my license” by giving the zoo drugs.

The wallaby was taken away by Animal Control for a necropsy and toxicology tests. The necropsy showed no signs of a needle stick (consistent with a lethal injection). It did show ruptured blood vessels in the lungs and plant matter and bacteria in the lungs that would be consistent with drowning, said Jaime Weisman, veterinary diagnostician with the Virginia Department of Agriculture.

Weisman said, however, the necropsy “could not give an obvious cause of death.” The toxicology report showed no evidence of drugs.

Meanwhile, a USDA representative said she cited the zoo on Feb. 1 for not having vet care in place for euthanasia.

Also on the stand for the prosecution – computer forensic experts, who found a Word document euthanasia report that had been altered by Mogensen or her father. One expert also found Google and Bing searches checking Virginia criminal code on animal cruelty and drowning.

“The way Meghan Mogensen went about killing this animal was inhumane,” said Michelle Welch, Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia, who was called in by Fairfax County to prosecute the case. “Ashley Rood was not disputing their right to euthanize – it was the way they euthanized.  Over and over again, we have [Mogensen] trying to cover up an act that was inhumane. … This was not a proper way to dispose of this animal.”

News Link:-http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/articles/zoo-head-found-guilty-in-wallaby-death

Related

• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/reston-zoo-director-meghan-mogensen-charged-with-animal-cruelty/
• https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/zoo-director-charged-with-animal-cruelty/

Man charged after shooting three horses, all three died

 

 

“This POS better get the maximum punishment for this, he purposefully & intentionally shot those horses…I believe out of jealousy because the horses belong to Darnell Kurney.  They say Kurney is the ex-boyfriend of Kincy’s ex-wife. (A lot is copyright so can’t just post, see the link below) WTF…God I am so angry right now, I feel like throwing this laptop across the room…but that would be silly because then I wouldn’t be able to retrieve it, to say Kincy is a $*^(% {‘#£r F=-#~|r.  I will try to keep you updated on this, that’s if I have a keyboard left! 

HUBERT, NC (WCTI) — Deputies say a man shot three horses, killing one of them. The other two were later euthanized.

Keith Kincy has been arrested and now faces gun and animal cruelty charges.

 

Investigators say the three horses were shot about four o’clock Friday morning at a home located on Hubert Blvd in Onslow County. One of those horses died at the scene, according to deputies.

A veterinarian checked the injuries of the two horses that had initially survived the shooting, but just before 10 a.m. Friday, recommended that they be euthanized.

 

“It just kills me, because I love animals,” said Amber Carter, who works near the home and has seen the horses on many occasions.

“Animals deserve a lot of respect, just like people. They need to be treated right. They don’t need to be hurt. They don’t need to be shot.”

 

Click here to read more at WCTI12.com

News Link With Video:–http://www.wcti12.com/news/Man-charged-after-shooting-three-horses-all-three-died/-/13530444/16687020/-/h0avlc/-/index.html

 

 

 

R.I.P Cody, the collie dog who was set on fire, is put to sleep

Cody, a collie dog who was set on fire in County Antrim, two weeks ago, has died.

The three-year-old suffered serious injuries after it was doused with flammable liquid and set alight in Maghaberry.

She was put to sleep on Saturday night.

Still suffering: Cody looks in pain at the vets today, three days after the brutal attack

Her owners posted on the Justice for Cody the dog Facebook page on Sunday that she had been getting worse from Fridayand the vets had tried everything they could.

“We are all gutted, but we know she was suffering and was only going to get even worse,” the statement added.

Two people, arrested in connection with the attack, have been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

A police investigation is continuing.

Cody Set On Fire

PSNI Lisburn described the news as “tragic” on their Facebook page and said: “We would like to remind everyone that police are dealing with the matter, and two people have already been arrested.

“All evidence takes an amount of time to process, and when the investigation is complete the matter will be forwarded to the PPS.

“We would appeal for calm.”

News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19535636

Related Link:–https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/09/04/dog-set-on-fire-man-arrested-over-animal-cruelty-attack-in-maghaberry/

Video link of News:-http://www.u.tv/utvplayer/video/146816/120420

Justice for Cody Face Book:–https://www.facebook.com/justiceforcodythedog

HM Government Petition:–http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/34522

PLEASE SIGN THE ABOVE PETITION – ZERO TOLERANCE FOR ANIMAL ABUSE

“R.I.P Cody…God Bless”

“May You Forever Run Free”

“Over Rainbow’s Bridge”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Two arrests as live exports lorry stopped at Ramsgate port

Two lorry drivers have been arrested in Kent after their vehicle carrying four tiers of more than 500 live sheep was declared unfit to cross the Channel.

The lorry, which was found to have faults, was stopped at the Port of Ramsgate and the animals were moved to a temporary holding pen.

The RSPCA said two sheep were put down, two died in an accident and 30 may have to be destroyed

Two sheep, one with a broken leg, were put down. Another 41 severely lame sheep will be shot, the RSPCA said.

Two drowned after the sheep were loaded into an area where the floor collapsed.

Six sheep fell into water and four were rescued by RSPCA officers.

‘Appalling trade’

RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant has called for an immediate suspension of the live animal exports from Ramsgate.

He and Laura Sandys, Thanet South MP, will meet government ministers over the issue on Thursday.

Mr Grant said: “We told the port authorities right from the start that they did not have the facilities to handle live exports safely.

The sheep were unloaded into a holding pen while the hauliers looked for another vehicle

“The RSPCA has been warning that a significant welfare incident like this could lead to tragedy for the animals and now it has.”

He said the charity had fought against this trade for well over 100 years.

“If meat needs to go to the continent then it should be on the hook, not on the hoof, and today cruelly illustrates that this appalling trade needs to cease immediately,” he added.

Second incident

Ms Sandys said she was appalled at the “disgusting” treatment of the sheep.

She said: “This is totally unacceptable and I have taken this up with the minister and secured a meeting with him for tomorrow.”

She added: “I will bring up our grave concerns about this trade in general but our great shock at this particular event.

“This is the second time a transportation from Northamptonshire has been investigated.”

In a separate incident, 600 sheep were forced to spend 24 hours on a transporter after its tyre burst and the animals had to be driven back to Northampton because there were no facilities in Kent for them to be removed, fed and watered.

That incident led Thanet council to write to the Environment Secretary with calls to suspend shipments because of a lack of facilities.

Council leader Clive Hart made five requests including establishing formal resting pens as a matter of urgency, allowing RSPCA officers to inspect lorries transporting live animals, and authorising the RSPCA to check ventilation and water systems.

According to the RSPCA, Ramsgate is the only British port currently being used for shipping animals abroad for further fattening and slaughter.

News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-19573763

240 starving cows killed on farm, New Zealand

 

Animal welfare officers have euthanised 180 cows and calves found starving and near death on a West Coast farm.

The Ministry of Primary Industries is considering laying charges under the Animal Welfare Act over alleged neglect at a leasehold farm in the Lake Brunnerarea.

Not related. Ref. only

An investigator who inspected the farm on August 28 found several cows dead and the rest of the 940-strong herd in “various stages of starvation”.

Local veterinarians, a farm consultant and additional animal welfare officers assessed the cows.

They were found to be in such an emaciated state that they were unlikely to survive more than a few days.

An MPI veterinarian supervised the euthanisation of 150 cows and 30 calves. A further 60 cows were transported to the local freezing works.

There were concerns over the welfare of the 700 cows remaining at the farm, the MPI said.

It said alleged breaches of the Animal Welfare Act 1999 had been carried out at the farm, though no charges had yet been laid.

Federated Farmers West Coast president Katie Milne said the organisation was assisting the MPI investigation.

She implicated financial problems in the failings at the Lake Brunner farm.

“The critical message we need to get out is whatever happens financially you are a farmer first. This is not the 1960′s so be open to your family, your friends and your bank. Above all, be honest to yourself.

“Failing at a business does not mean you have failed as a farmer but failing your stock does.”

The affected farmer should have reached out to Federated Farmers for support, Ms Milne said.

“You will find we all want to help so no one needs to be an island.

“I also need to make it clear that there is no way anyone can condone the maltreatment of livestock. Aside from an obvious and significant destruction of commercial value, it is ethically unacceptable.”

News Link:- http://beforeitsnews.com/mass-animal-death/2012/09/240-starving-cows-killed-on-farm-new-zealand-2430310.html

 

Kittens killed in arson attack on house in Wigan

 

Four feral kittens died after an arson attack at an empty house.

They were killed along with their mother at the property on Larkhill Avenue, Wigan, at around 9.30pm last night.

Police are investigating reports that two men were seen to break in before the fire started in the living room.

The kittens, who were just days old, were taken by an RSPCA officer to Greater Manchester Animal Hospital, but their condition deteriorated and they were put to sleep.

A joint police and fire service probe is under-way.

“If anyone knows who did this, please contact the police, killing animals is a crime & those who commit such an act must be punished before they turn their evil ways towards children or adults!”

News Link:–http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1587730_kittens-killed-in-arson-attack-on-house-in-wigan