Paint’s Blog

This shelter:

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/PA259.html

and the people who work there are being threatened by a group of locals. The shelter has been flooded by them and was broken into on June 20th. Shelter workers have been driven off the road and rear ended.

The animals need to be moved ASAP into temporary or permanant homes.

SPCA of Texas Responses to 20/20 Story

Following are general information and specific responses from the SPCA of Texas concerning statements cited in the ABC’s 20/20 segment titled “Cruelty to Owners?”

Case No. 1 Dog Investigation – Wilson County, Texas

The SPCA of Texas neither investigated the matter nor participated in the seizure of the animals depicted.

Case No. 2 Horse Seizure – New Jersey SPCA

The SPCA of Texas neither investigated the matter nor participated in the seizure of the animals depicted.

Case No. 3 Renee Moore

The Story: “Garcia used photos…to convince reporters and justices of the peace that Renee had abused her animals.”

The Truth: While photographs are part of most investigations, the SPCA of Texas was not significantly involved in the investigation of Renee Moore. At the hearing in front of a Justice of the Peace, Randall and Renee Moore were represented by counsel. The Moores had been under investigation since early Spring of 2003 and had ignored numerous warnings by law enforcement officials to improve their animals’ living conditions.

See photos of Ms. Moore’s facility and animals at the time of their rescue

Case No. 4. Lynda Williams

The Story: “Williams…runs a shelter rescuing old and sick dogs…The SPCA warned her to clean up her shelter or they would charge her with animal neglect…Garcia took all of her animals and charged her $6,000 for vet and boarding fees.”

The Truth: First, Ms. Williams holds no license to operate a shelter, nor is she associated with The Association of Animal Sanctuaries. Second, the SPCA of Texas was not involved in any investigation of Ms. Williams and any warning was issued by a law enforcement agency, not the SPCA of Texas. Third, the SPCA of Texas cannot nor has it ever charged any animal owner of any crime. Fourth, the SPCA of Texas neither charged nor collected any money from Ms. Williams.

See photos of Ms. Williams’ facility and animals at the time of their rescue

Case No. 5 Pam Chennault

The Story: “Garcia gets the warrant he [Garcia] needs to raid a dog kennel…”
“Pam Chennault hired a lawyer and tried to get her animals back, but the court gave him only two hours to prepare [her defense].”

The Truth: Again, the SPCA of Texas nor its employees, including Mr. Garcia, can obtain warrants. In addition, Ms. Chennault and her attorney had five days to prepare a defense to the charges, and 20/20’s video shows the deputy handing Ms. Chennault a warrant specifying notice of the hearing date five days later. Faced with the evidence relating to the state’s charge of cruel treatment, and under the advice of her attorney, Ms. Chennault agreed to surrender her animals to the SPCA of Texas.

See photos of Ms. Chennault’s facility and animals

Specific Untruths and Misimpressions in the 20/20 segment

The Story: “Televised raids bring in money…people make big donations…six million dollars last year.”

The Truth: In 2004, the SPCA received approximately $165,000 in donations for its rescue and investigations department, which represents less than two-thirds of the department’s actual budget.

The Story: “Courts usually side with the SPCA of Texas.”

The Truth: The state brings charges, not the SPCA of Texas.

The Story: “Dave Garcia…heads the Dallas SPCA”

The Truth: Dave Garcia does not head the Dallas SPCA. He is Vice President of Operations/Rescue & Investigations of the SPCA of Texas.

The Story: “Under Garcia’s leadership, the Dallas SPCA has seen financial penalties against owners quadruple.”

The Truth: The SPCA has never received a single dollar in penalties from any seizure case.

Other Misimpressions in the 20/20 segment

The Story: Animal owners are claiming that self-righteous amateurs are confiscating their animals for money.

The Truth: Not once in the broadcast were Dave Garcia’s credentials addressed. Mr. Garcia has more than 20 years’ experience in investigative work. He has been an instructor with the National Cruelty Investigator’s School at the University of Missouri-Columbia and the National Horse Abuse Investigator’s School in conjunction with the American Humane Association in Colorado. He’s also been an instructor at the Houston and Dallas police departments as well as numerous sheriffs’departments statewide and nationwide. Mr. Garcia has done undercover work on the trafficking of stolen animals for use in research facilities and his work helped spearhead improvements in the Federal Animal Welfare Act. Mr. Garcia is considered a national expert in the field of animal cruelty investigations.

The Story: “…SPCAs have acted like petty tyrants…who use their police powers to steal people’s animals.

The Truth: The SPCA of Texas has no police powers nor does it conduct or condone the “stealing” of people’s pets.

The Truth: The SPCA of Texas has never collected any money from any individual depicted in the 20/20 broadcast.

The Truth: ABC’s video segments of SPCA of Texas animals were taken following the animals’ seizure, not when the investigations took place. Images from various humane groups were co-mingled to purposely create confusion.

The Truth: Dr. Gaylon TeSlaa, who posed as a photographer for 20/20, is not a veterinarian licensed in Texas nor was he present during any of the SPCA of Texas’ investigations. He based his statements on seeing less than one-third of the animals that were the subject of Pam Chenault’s investigation.

Other Important Facts Not Covered in 20/20 Segment

* In 2004, the SPCA of Texas Rescue and Investigations department received 9,826 calls and e-mails regarding investigations. In compliance with local law enforcement officials, we relieved 1,098 animals from cruel living conditions as defined by section 821.021 of the Texas Health and Safety Statute or section 42.09 of the Texas Penal Code. SPCA of Texas investigators logged 51,241 miles through 11 counties. To date in 2005, SPCA of Texas investigators have received an average of 250 calls and e-mails per week, a 32 percent increase over last year.
* The SPCA of Texas conducted 2,308 investigations in 2004. Thirteen of these cases resulted in civil hearings and 11 cases resulted in criminal proceedings. Of the 11,507 animals seen during investigations, a total of 1,098 animals—or nine percent–were removed by court order.
* The SPCA of Texas’ requested reimbursement for the costs of boarding animals seized in a rescue and investigations case is $10 per day per animal, about half the average cost to board a pet in the Dallas area. This requested reimbursement does not include any of the costs incurred solely by the SPCA of Texas for investigation, assisting law enforcement for actual seizure of the animals, animal transport or testimony at the hearing.
* Rescue costs and adoption fees also do not include pre-adoption services the SPCA provides, such as initial vaccinations (FVRCP cats/DHLPP dogs), de-worming, spay or neuter, health/behavior exam, nail trim, microchip, canine bordatella vaccine, Rabies vaccine, heartworm test-dogs, FeLV/FIV test-cats, food, supplies (cat litter, paper towels, cleaning supplies), and daily care from staff and volunteers. Nor do they cover post-adoption benefits, which include an informational CD for pet owners, pet health insurance for 30 days, free vet exam within 10 days of adoption, antibiotics within 10 days if necessary, a bag of food, and a cat carrier or temporary dog leash. All told, these services cost the SPCA of Texas between $339 and $585 per animal depending on age, size and species, and would be much higher if a pet owner were to use private clinic.
* The SPCA of Texas employs trained veterinary technicians to perform basic evaluations and procedures – including vaccinations, fecals and blood work – on more than 30,000 incoming animals each year. Veterinarians routinely check shelter animals, including rescued animals, and the SPCA of Texas employs veterinarians licensed to practice in Texas who spay and neuter all animals prior to adoption. The SPCA of Texas clarified this fact in an email to “20/20″.

Read Open Letter from James Bias, SPCA of Texas President
Read SPCA of Texas statement re: ABC’s “20/20″ Report
See images from Renee Moore case featured on “20/20″
See images from Lynda Williams case featured on “20/20″
See images from Pam Chennault case featured on “20/20″
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Puppy Mills & Hoarders Have A New Friend

Special Report: All But Correct- on SPCA’s

June 7, 2005 : 4:35 PM ET

A lot of people were shocked and confused by a story that appeared on the ABC show 20/20 last Friday. It was an all-out attack on the SPCA of Texas and their cruelty and abuse investigations. And a completely unfounded one.
Hosted by John “Gimme-a-Break” Stossel, it argued that the Dallas humane group, under the guise of conducting cruelty and neglect situations, is really stealing dogs from “helpless” breeders, and then selling these animals for profit.

It was, for sure, one of the more bizarre “investigations” one could ever dream up, and one of the most irresponsible pieces of “reporting” I’ve ever seen.

ABC apparently contacted the SPCA of Texas last year, saying they wanted to do a story about animal abuse at puppy mills — which, as we all know, are simply in it for the money. But in the finished version, it’s the poor puppy mill breeders that are being exploited, and the SPCA that’s in it for the money.

Talk about turning reality on its head!

It’s not simply that the piece is biased. It’s loaded with jaw-dropping misrepresentations from start to finish. How something like this got on the air is impossible to understand. (Makes you wonder about everything else you see on TV “news”.)

The SPCA has published its own rebuttal. But the story of how this TV piece came to be, and what happened behind the scenes, is quite amazing. And it wasn’t just the SPCA of Texas. All SPCAs everywhere are brought under suspicion.

We’ll be telling the story in installments on the website this week, as we piece the various parts of it together. The first part should be up later today, Tuesday. And we’ll follow up with more as we talk to more people in the days to come.

http://news.bestfriends.org/index.c…57B7EC331E0C045

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Liers muderers and backstabbing tabloid artists .
BOYCOT DISNEY< ALL DISNEY SUBSIDARIES>

history of my return trip thus far .

we left NY about 12ish on sunday.

we stopped to see my parents , and were mde to wait for dad . ok fine .

we said good byes although i was kinda anxious to see my aunt for the last time ,

she has been moved to the montgomery nursing home .

we visited for a while while matthew walked Distro our foster dog . then we were invited in with the dog.
So he got ot play tharapy pup . which was nice .

so

we headed out via I=84
untill we got near allen town PA around 7:30 ish last night and matthew car died .

so Claries is now daed we had to scrap her ..
poor baby ,

we found a home for my fish , at the service center . they were happy
i’llpost pics.. they had a 30-40 gal fishtank already and i gave then my 20gal they were going to set it up today .

we donated distros create to the lehigh CO humane socity . becuse it wouldn’t fit in my car .

but ther happy we weren’t dropping the dog..

so we got on the road and now we are at a MD rest stop with free wifi ..

matts got acoke out of the pepsi machine .

and i accidenlt slamed Distros tail in door . i feel so horrable . but i don’t think anythings broken .

we’ll just have ot give him more loves tonight . he’s waging it so it should be ok ..