September 2008
Please be aware of several things on how to get people to stop abusing their animals if you are a witness to
that abuse or neglect. Many states only have misdomeanor offenses for animal neglect or cruelty cases such as the sensational
Micheal Vick dog fighting ring this last winter. His was a felony so he received jail time and fines because there was
too much abuse to ignore.
Many states have gotten a wake up call though from that nasty abuse case and are adding or will toughen their
animal control and cruelty laws. But even if found out then someone in this country is finally guilty and convicted
many folks only face fines and usually no jail time. Most times it is not a felony to abuse or neglect animals unless
we work to toughen the animall abuse laws on a state level.
But please do not stop reporting a neighbor or someone you know who is cruel or neglecting their animals.
It took three YEARS of reporting this fake horse rescue, Sleepy Hollow Horse Rescue, even in two different Washington
state counties after they moved. It took a lot of people to close them down from about 10 different past employees,
volunteers and folks like myself who witnessed the cruelty and abuse first hand. Please continue to care about what
happens to animals and please do not give up reporting them to the right authorities.
You can also report them on chat rooms if they are a business and get people to stop frequenting them as a business.
Also, report them to the Better Business Bureau too although they have very little power to do anything except report them
as abusers. Individuals and word of mouth means more in the long run by telling everyone you know to NEVER do any business
with them.
How do you know who is the right authorities for reporting? Most counties with less money do have ANY animal
control. If there is an official animal control then they usually only have jurisdiction over dogs, cats and some pockets
pets and almost always not over livestock like horses and cows.
If no animal control where you live then the United States Department of Agriculture has jurisdiction but they
have no police powers. PETA just writes press releases so they are not help AT ALL except to alert the media
and they will send out your evidence but do not ask them for any more help then that.
I usually have to call the Sheriff's departments when I find puppy mills in this area while rescuing dogs, but
they have small, strained budgets like everyone else so they will deal with what they can when they can do it.
If there is an animal control authority in your county then you will find them in the phone book. They
will want pictures or videos of the abuse or neglect such as starving horse cases. Please gather some evidence yourself
and then send it to them or have it in hand when speaking to them in person. And call them daily several times a day
if you have time. And the more people reporting the abuse such as dog beating in public or trying a dog in the weather
without food, water or shelter or obvious starving horses then they will have to listen.
Most animal contral agencies get their money from the country and in our state that means county commissioners
are in charge of the person running animal control. If you have called the animal control officers numerous times and
they have ignored you or not responded or saw the tiniest amount of food and water sitting there and left, but you are watching
the abusers daily then YOU need to take action. If you do not see them caring for their animals properly then I highly
suggest you go straight to the people who fund the animal control folks. Show them your evidence and give them the name
and address and phone numbers of the abusers. Keep your original evidence and make them copies only
please. This can't hurt if their boss's boss gets in touch and makes them inspect and investigate.
If that does not work then make an appointment with law enforcement and/or call them a LOT. Be aware that
animals are considered property and that critter(s) has to be in very dire shape before they will step in. Law officers
have to worry about people crimes first and property crimes second. Hence when there is one burglerly they file a report.
If there is a rash of burgerlies in the same area ONLY then will they step in. So do not count of law enforcement to
care of even be trained enough to know the difference between a starved horse and unstarved horse for example. Most
were/are city folks and they do not have the time or training.
If the local sheriff or police department does not help then contact your local District Attorney's office and
let them know you will be going to the media on the nonresponsiveness you have received even after showing evidence of dead
or dying animals to everyone else. Granted the critters have to get in very dire straights again for someone else in
any official capacity to care what happens to animals.
Contact the local media too by finding the local TV news and show them your evidence. The newspapers are
usually looking for stories as well. There is nothing like siccing an outraged animal-loving reporter on the story.
But it all starts with evidence you have of photos and videos and more then one person complaining LOUDLY,
Be relentless. It will take hundreds of calls sometimes to get someone to care so NEVER, EVER GIVE UP. Keep calling
and screaming. The "squeaky wheel will get the grease."
If it is shown that you are harassing your neighbors by filing false reports of animal abuse or neglect then
YOU will get a visit byt the correct authorities too. But if there is an investigation and it is proven to the correct
folks that the animals are in danger it is up to someone to ask for help of all the area folks who witness the day-to-day
abuse to get it to stop.
Only them can the animals can be pulled and saved at some point so you are doing this to help the animals
so please keep reporting and get your friends to witness and report as well.
It would be quicker if someone approaches them and asks to take the animals off their hands if you can do that
or find someone who can do that and get them out of the situation quickly before the abusers change their mind. Do not
forget to have them sign a bill of sale for $1 so that you are the legal owner of the animals, get their registration papers
and past medical reocrds while you are there. They will not give the paperwork up later on I guarantee it.
Otherwise you are not the legal owner and at some point they can come take that animal back so make them sign a receipt
to you with a date in case your neighbors report you as having starved animals where you are too.
If you do take on an abuse case or starved horse or something people can see from the road then call your animal
control first, tell them you rescued the animal and that you are feeding it back to health. Give them the name, address
and phone of where you took the animal from so you can cover your rear end too.
If you have questions email me and I will see if I can help walk you through this process of reporting and then
moving up the bereaucratic food chain until you find someone who will help and care enough to help stop the abuse. I
have helped close down my share of puppy mills in the area so I can probably answer questions and point you in the right direction.
Sincerely,
Margo Mossburg
This web site's programmer who refuses to take the site down because once a convicted animal abuser THEN always
a convicted animal abuser.
dragoonfr @ hotmail.com (remove spaces before emailing)
PS I am extremely hard to reach by phone but you can leave a message: 509-796-2140
