ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND (ALDF) LAUNCHES A GREAT CAMPAIGN!

ALDF today launched an effort to help states establish public registries of anyone convicted of animal abuse…

The Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) today launched an effort to help states establish public registries of anyone convicted of animal abuse. According to ALDF, such registries would protect animals, pet guardians and communities by preventing repeat offenses from anyone with a known history of abusing animals. This could include violence (torture, mutilation, intentional killings, etc.), sexual abuse, and animal fighting as well as neglect (such as hoarding). Through its new campaign, www.ExposeAnimalAbusers.org, the animal protection organization is promoting model legislation that could be enacted in state legislatures. Such bills have been introduced in the past by elected officials in Rhode Island, Colorado, and Tennessee. Today, the first-ever bill for a statewide registry in California was announced by its sponsor, State Senator Dean Florez. “We operate shelters in the hopes of giving abandoned pets a second chance at a loving home, not subjecting them to lives of continued abuse and neglect,” Florez said. “A registry of abusers would help ensure animals are not being adopted out to convicted abusers, end the cycle of abuse and increase the likelihood of finding these pets the forever home they deserve.” Through ExposeAnimalAbusers.org, ALDF allows the public to urge their state lawmakers to propose legislation for state registries. Visitors to the website can also watch a short video explaining why an animal abuser registry is the best solution to preventing new cases of animal abuse and to create safer communities. At 10:30 a.m. Pacific on Monday, February 22, Sen. Florez will live stream his press conference from the “press room” of the website, where it will also be available for viewing following the event. I hope that you will help bring attention to this much-needed legislation. I have included relevant links and background information below. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you are interested in speaking with a representative from Animal Legal Defense Fund. Thank you, Megan Megan Backus Media Relations Associate Animal Legal Defense Fund www.aldf.org ( 707.795.2533, ext. 1010 F 707.795.7280 * mbackus@aldf.org WAYS YOU CAN HELP: – Post this information and your opinion on an animal abuser registry on your blog. – Embed the Expose Animal Abusers video on your blog (link and code below) – Tweet the link and spread the call to sign the petition. Here is a sample Tweet: “@ALDFAnimalLaw asks you to Expose Animal Abusers now! SIGN THE PETITION: http://bit.ly/animalabusers” LINKS: Expose Animal Abusers Petition: http://www.exposeanimalabusers.org Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnVnlQC-OF0 SAMPLE CASES: ALDF points to the following examples for why a registry is needed to help animal guardians, law enforcement and shelters protect their animals: · Robert Rydzewski: In 2004, the then 29-year-old upstate New Yorker shot his neighbor’s dog in the face twice. Two months later, he killed another neighbor’s Welsh Corgi with an ax. Rydzewski was convicted of “torturing or injuring” an animal, and he has since been arrested for assaulting people and resisting arrest. His whereabouts are unknown. http://www.exposeanimalabusers.org/article.php?id=1227 · Shon Rahrig: While living in Ohio in 1999, Rahrig allegedly adopted several cats and a puppy from local shelters and tortured them sadistically. He poked out the eyes of a cat named Misty, broke her legs and jaw, cut off her paws, and left her bleeding in a laundry basket .His girlfriend turned him in, and he took a plea bargain that admitted abuse of only one animal. Rahrig was forbidden to own an animal for five years, but he was subsequently seen at an adoption event in California. http://www.exposeanimalabusers.org/article.php?id=1224 · Vikki Kittles: Since 1982, Kittles has been run out of four states for hoarding animals. Time and again, she has been caught housing dozens of sick, neglected animals in squalid conditions. Oregon prosecutors convicted Kittles in 1993 after finding 115 sick and dying dogs crammed into a school bus, but she has gone on to hoard animals again in Oregon and other states several times since. http://www.exposeanimalabusers.org/article.php?id=1214 About the Animal Legal Defense Fund ALDF was founded in 1979 with the unique mission of protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system. Visit www.aldf.org.

Pet Press Article about a ‘Chihuahua’ Rescue Group

‘BEWARE OF ANIMAL RESCUE-HOARDERS: ‘RESCUING’ CHIHUAHUAS TO A LIFE OF CAGED MISERY…by Julie Feiner

Beware of Animal Rescue-Hoarders: “Rescuing” Chihuahuas to a Life of Caged Misery February 01, 2010. By Julie Feiner My mother refused to spay or neuter her pets and allowed her 9 year-old Chihuahua to get pregnant. Her poor, sweet dog died after giving birth. A friend and I took the puppies and bottle-fed them around the clock, while searching for a lactating female dog to nurse and nurture them. I searched the internet for ‘Chihuahua rescue in Los Angeles’ and immediately came across a group that had been in business for years. They had an impressive, eye-catching website with links to Animal Planet, Inside Edition, People Magazine, and a woman promoting a book about her dog. I left a message on their “hotline”, and they called me back and said they had a lactating dog with only two puppies, and they could help me. I offered them $200 for my puppies to nurse from their mother dog, and be returned to me after weaning. They agreed. They insisted I meet them in a store parking lot, claiming the lactating dog was being fostered in a private home and we couldn’t intrude, but promised to send photos and videos of the puppies with the mother dog in this home environment. I agreed, met them, and handed over the puppies. I called often and was told the puppies were doing great with the mother dog, but week after week they kept “forgetting” to send me photos because they were so busy with their rescue work. When the puppies should have been weaned, they stopped returning my calls. I was upset, and suspected they had reneged on our agreement and adopted out the puppies to get money. I then started doing research on them, and what I was to discover made me horrified for the fate of my puppies. The Chihuahua rescue group that I had assumed was reputable, was actually on L.A. County Animal Shelter’s DNA List (Do Not Adopt Out To). They’d been cited for numerous instances of animal neglect, abuse, were involved in various lawsuits, and kicked out of the city five years earlier as part of a plea bargain to drop the abuse charges. The website I thought was so wonderful- with dozens of dogs available to adopt and “special needs” dogs needing lifetime sponsors, hadn’t been updated in years! Instead of handing my two precious puppies over to be nurtured by a mother dog, I had actually placed them directly into the hands of suspected Animal Hoarders! What is an Animal Hoarder? According to a Tufts University ground-breaking study, Animal Hoarding “involves a compulsive need to obtain and control animals, coupled with a failure to recognize their suffering… (Rescue-Hoarders) obtain animals through actively seeking unwanted pets… from animal shelters or via the Internet… misrepresenting (themselves) as a legitimate rescue, shelter, or pet hospice… One of the most perplexing facets of animal hoarding is that in the face of professed love and desire to care for animals, there can be tremendous animal neglect and suffering…. (Hoarders will) deny adverse events as obvious as starvation, severe illness and death… a desire to continue accumulation despite deteriorating conditions, is almost universal..” They have a “…resistance to adopt out animals they have “saved”… (and) the true reality of the animals’ situation… boredom, fear, starvation, illness, and death…(is) met with denial or defensiveness.” Hoarder’s dogs generally live a life of misery, often confined in stacked cages, enclosures, or runs, 24/7, no exercise, human affection, and often living in filthy conditions. Rescue-Hoarders may claim that their dogs have problems that prevent them from being adopted out, and solicit donations for the lifetime care of these “un-adoptable” dogs in their “sanctuary”. Countless wonderful families attempting to adopt dogs from this Chihuahua rescue group were deceived. Potential adopters would fall in love with a dog at an adoption event or online, go through the application process, and either never hear back, or were told they’d been approved. Then they’d wait, week after week, for their dog to be delivered. The excuses for not delivering their dog as promised ranged from it suddenly getting sick, to them being too busy to do the home visit, etc., until the family finally gave up in frustration and searched for a dog elsewhere. The fate of my puppies is still uncertain. The police say it’s a civil matter: I didn’t have a signed contract and they have possession of the puppies. The “Rescue” admits they are my puppies, yet, typical of hoarding behavior, refuses to give them back to me, insisting they’re better off with them (living in a cage, amongst hundreds of other dogs). I’ve filed a lawsuit and could spend tens of thousands of dollars attempting to get my puppies returned. My naiveté and lapse in judgment has cost them dearly: a wretched puppy-hood, and, I’m praying, not an entire life of caged misery. Before giving a pet or donating money to a Rescue, remember: Don’t be deceived by the number of years they’ve been in business or a fancy, extensively-linked website. Never meet in a parking lot or let them come get the pet from you- you must see where the animal will live. A legitimate sanctuary/rescue is open to the public and has nothing to hide. Google their name and add “review” after it. Research their name at www.petabuse.com. If someone is eager to take any dog or cat, promising to find a loving home or offer sanctuary, they may be a hoarder। Pet Press is available thru most pet retailers and vet offices: here Julie Feiner works as a Dialogue/ADR Editor in the film business. Her career has spanned over twenty-five years and she’s proud to have worked on films such as Memoirs of a Geisha, Pirates of the Caribbean, 500 Days of Summer, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich, among many others. She encourages everyone to spay and neuter their pets, to adopt from a reputable rescue group or shelter, and to spread the word about Animal Rescue-Hoarders!

‘Rescuer’ Kim Maggio who works with ‘rescuer’ Kimi Peck was arrested today for Animal Cruelty

‘Rescuer’ Kim Maggio who works with Chihuahua Rescue and Kimi Peck, was arrested for animal cruelty. It also appears that Susan Marlowe has had relations with Kim Maggio. Are we surprised? Absolutely NOT! Here’s the story:

Dog Found In Freezer During Eviction Search, 1 Arrested 7 Dogs, 12 Cats, 1 Rat Also Found Living In Home POSTED: 1:18 pm PST February 8, 2010 UPDATED: 4:37 pm PST February 8, 2010 FRAZIER PARK, Calif. — A woman was arrested on 20 counts of felony animal cruelty charges after deputies said they found dogs, cats and a rat in the foreclosed home she was living in. They also said they found a dead dog in a freezer. On Monday around 9:45 a.m., the Sheriff’s Civil Section served an eviction in the 600 block of Elm Trail in Frazier Park. The eviction was the result of a bank foreclosure. The sheriff’s office had prior knowledge that the resident had a large number of animals in the residence. As a result, Animal Control and Code Compliance were asked to assist. Deputies said they completed the eviction by escorting the resident, Kimberly Maggio, 49, off of the property. While securing the residence, deputies said they noticed several animals living in deplorable conditions. Animal Control began an investigation into the living conditions of the animals. Animal Control found seven dogs, 12 cats, and one rat living in the home, not including one small deceased dog in the freezer, according to deputies. Deputies said the animals had no fresh water. Some of the animals had their legs covered in feces, according to the KCSD. Deputies said the house smelled of urine and feces to the point that it burned the eyes and throat. Maggio was arrested by Animal Control officers on 20 counts of felony animal cruelty. The animals were all seized by Animal Control. Report a typo or inaccuracy