In August 2012, PETA was contacted by a whistleblower who had been volunteering for several months as an animal care assistant for a licensed wildlife rehabilitator operating out of her Florida home. Cruelty Investigations Department staffers urged the whistleblower to document her report that ill, injured, and orphaned wild animals taken into the home were living in utter squalor and that the rehabilitator left animals to languish without food or water.

Wretched 'Rehab'

The shocking conditions depicted in footage taken by the whistleblower over the course of three weeks included the following:

• A hairless baby raccoon was lying on top of a scale, inside a cluttered office without heat or bedding. Two days later, the same animal, then near death, was in the same place.
• Numerous baby squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons were stashed inside boxes or on top of the boxes with no obvious heat source. Later, the animals were in the same spots, badly dehydrated and dying—or dead.
• A live juvenile squirrel was wrapped inside a plastic bag and stashed behind several boxes.
• The rehabber's refrigerator contained, at times, 30 or more unwrapped bodies of juvenile rabbits, squirrels, and raccoons inside the door and in tubs.
• A barred owl was stranded in a bathtub, surrounded by her own waste.
• Turtles were kept for days inside boxes that didn't appear to have been opened, with no sign that the animals were provided with food or water.
• A river otter was housed in a small pen with only a little kid's pool as a source of water for drinking and swimming.
• About a dozen deer were penned inside a debris-strewn yard amid trash, animal crates, construction materials, and a boat.

Demanding Justice

PETA alerted state and federal wildlife officials, sparking an investigation whose findings corroborated the whistleblower's reports and led to the confiscation of numerous suffering turtles, tortoises, and birds.

With PETA pushing for action, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission filed 23 charges against the rehabber for animal neglect, improper animal housing, and unsanitary conditions. The state attorney's office also charged her with one count of maintaining wildlife in unsanitary conditions.

Following a plea bargain, the woman ceased the pretense of rehabilitating animals, and the survivors were removed from her care for release back into the wild or transfer to other facilities better equipped to meet their needs.

What You Can Do

Even well-meaning animal rescuers can become overwhelmed. Worse, many out-of-control hoarders use rescue as a pretext, causing massive suffering for the animals who fall into their hands. If you become aware of animals suffering in a supposed rescue or rehab facility, please document conditions with a camera or camera phone and report the perpetrators to local authorities. 

Update: Brent Justice and Ashley Richards have been indicted by a federal grand jury for creating and distributing animal crush videos. They have been transferred into federal custody, where they will remain until they stand trial. Justice and Richards each face up to 45 years in federal prison and up to $1.75 million in fines. This is the first federal indictment of a crush video case in the United States.

Originally posted on August 21:

After PETA was alerted to violent fetish videos sold online showing puppies, kittens, rabbits, mice, and other animals who were tortured in ways that would make even a hardened person sick, our Cruelty Investigations Department staffers worked around the clock to find the perpetrators. Thanks to skillful sleuthing and with the help of the Animal Beta Project, PETA determined that the alleged producers of the videos lived in Houston, Texas, and rushed the evidence to local authorities. Two days later, the Houston Police Department (HPD) arrested Brent Justice and Ashley Richards, two suspects believed to be involved in an international video sales scheme, on felony warrants and charged them with animal torture.

Photo: Houston Police Department/Houston Chronicle

Photo: Houston Police Department/Houston Chronicle

The Real 'Torture Porn'

PETA applauds the HPD and the Harris County District Attorney's Office for their swift action. We will be pushing for federal charges as well, as making crush videos is a violation of federal law. Such videos feature animals, including mice, puppies, kittens, and rabbits, slowly tortured to death for the sexual gratification of fetishists.

Charges for both suspects result from a video that PETA gave to the HPD, in which a woman prosecutors say is Richards is shown cutting the leg and slashing the neck and throat of a puppy before beheading the struggling animal with a meat cleaver. Richards also faces charges related to the torture and killing of a cat in a 2010 video. As the Houston Chronicle reports, a "judge halted the reading of the court documents during a hearing last week because the details were too graphic." Richards has reportedly admitted to killing hundreds of animals over the years. The investigation is continuing.

What You Can Do

As this case shows, for animals in danger, one phone call or e-mail can the make the difference between life and (perhaps a horrible) death. Please, if you witness or hear about cruelty to animals, never be silent.

As we've mentioned recently, PETA is working overtime—literally—to restrict or outlaw the chaining of dogs in the cities that make up its Hampton Roads home turf in Virginia. One of those cities that still hasn't passed an anti-chaining ordinance is Newport News—and that has to change.

Chaining Hurts

Here's why: Just weeks after PETA discussed the possible adoption of a tethering ban with representatives from the city of Newport News—who declined to take up any chaining regulations at this time—a PETA fieldworker looking for animals in need in Newport News found this dog, Weezy, chained in someone's backyard:

Dogs aren't objects that can be dumped outside, chained, and forgotten about—they're sensitive, social beings who require good care and consideration. Like those of many lonely and vulnerable chained dogs whose owners can't be bothered to spare more than minimal attention or care, Weezy's collar was so tight that it had become embedded in his neck, resulting in a deep, painful, and infected wound.

Weezy was seized by law-enforcement authorities and treated by a veterinarian, and the cruel man responsible for Weezy's suffering has been charged with cruelty to animals. But there is a way to prevent other dogs from experiencing this same type of pain: by passing a restriction or an all-out ban on chaining. PETA's out in front on this issue because its cruelty caseworkers have witnessed time and again how dogs suffer at the end of chains. Chained dogs are psychologically and physically neglected. They often suffer from exposure, dehydration, starvation, untreated injuries, maddening flea and tick infestations, flystrike, heartworm disease, and more. It's not uncommon for chained dogs to hang to death after becoming entangled in their tether or to accidentally hang themselves on objects around them. Chaining also puts the public at risk since chained dogs often unleash their frustration on other people, including children.

What You Can Do

Please join PETA in politely urging the Newport News mayor and City Council members to join neighboring Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Portsmouth, and Smithfield in passing an anti-tethering ordinance before another animal suffers like Weezy. And if your community lacks a chaining ban, please encourage local authorities to take up legislation immediately.

The story is a common one but still heartrending: Deuce's owners bought him as a puppy, but when he got big—although still full of energy and enthusiasm—instead of giving him gentle guidance and abundant exercise, they kicked him out of the house and chained him to a tree.

A Chain Is Not a Home

Fortunately for Deuce, one kind soul saw that he was tied up in the mud without shelter on a rainy day and took pity on him. After other rescue organizations refused to help Deuce, PETA was contacted and immediately arranged to have the pup picked up—the uninterested family surrendered him to the rescuer—and taken to a reputable animal shelter.

That would be enough of a tail-wagger for many animals who are facing a similar plight, but Deuce's good fortune continued: Shortly after arriving at the animal shelter, he was adopted by a loving family, and now he spends every day indoors as a cherished member of the household.

What You Can Do

Both dogs and cats are happier and safer indoors. Please, if you spot an animal left outside, be ready to help—and don't take "no" for an answer!

When PETA learned that a Florida man was trapping (and perhaps killing) squirrels directly under a bird feeder, a PETA cruelty caseworker jumped into action. While the trapping was legal under state law—which meant that Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials couldn't help—the squirrels suffered for hours from the intense Florida heat and from anxiety, especially since squirrels prefer to burrow and minimize their exposure to humans and other potential dangers.

In addition to asking Fish and Wildlife to confront the man trapping the squirrels, the caseworker called and e-mailed the man and encouraged one of the man's neighbors to speak to the trapper, who ultimately agreed to stop capturing the squirrels. The neighbor was also urged to stop feeding squirrels, which attracted more of them to the area.

What You Can Do

There's no need to resort to drastic measures: Learn how to live in harmony with our wild-animal neighbors. Even if you enjoy wildlife, please think carefully before feeding them, as doing so can expose them to predators and other dangers.

They spent their days relegated to a carport, cast aside like old exercise equipment. The two dogs were locked inside crates from early in the morning until dusk without a chance to relieve themselves and no way to escape from the blistering Southern summer heat. The Labrador mix did not even have room to stand up.

A neighbor who had to watch the dogs suffer had tried calling animal control for help. And although officers went to the home and issued a warning, they refused to confiscate the dogs because the animals did not appear to be in immediate danger of dying from dehydration or heatstroke. Frustrated, the neighbor called PETA for help.

We called animal control every few days to file an animal welfare complaint against the owner. Each time animal control paid a visit to the house, officers issued the owner another warning. Realizing that he would either have to allow his dogs indoors or continually deal with animal control, the owner surrendered both dogs to the local shelter.

It took a lot of persistence, but now both dogs have a chance to find a new home with a guardian who understands that dogs belong indoors with the rest of the family.

PETA has a wealth of information on how crating is detrimental to dogs, which you can share with anyone you know who is considering using these cruel cages (for even a short length of time).

A former PETA staffer in Seattle was on her way to work when she spotted a pigeon whose leg appeared to be broken. When the pigeon didn't try to fly away and let her gently wrap him up in a sweatshirt, she knew he also likely had other injuries or hadn't been able to forage for food and was weak from hunger or illness.

The former staffer called PETA, and we put her in touch with a local wildlife rehabilitator, to whom she rushed the injured bird.

It took only a few minutes out of her day to get help for the bird, and she saved him from suffering for days or even weeks from his injuries and possibly starving, being killed by a predator, or being hit by a car.

Her actions serve as a reminder to all of us that we are never "too busy" to help an animal who is in need.

Although Philbert was a full-grown tortoise in her 30s, she was being kept in a tiny enclosure at an elementary school in New Jersey and was serving as the "school pet."

While even tiny turtles deserve better than a tank, Philbert's life was just a shell of the one she ought to have had. A substitute teacher got wind of the fact that the school was looking for a new home for the tortoise, and she called PETA to ask if we could help. 

A wonderful sanctuary, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in San Antonio, was happy to accept the ravishing reptile. And as luck would have it, a reliable activist in Philbert's area was already going to be making the drive to San Antonio and agreed to a reptilian road trip.

Now, in place of her tank, Philbert has woods, grassland, and a pond to traverse and explore. And in place of hundreds of children handling her, she has the companionship of a male tortoise who has taken quite a shine to her. Tortoises are natural plant lovers, and for Philbert, everything is coming up roses.

When someone in New Jersey noticed that kids were pestering a goose who was sitting in the grass outside the woman's apartment—and that the goose didn't fly away or fight back—it became clear that the bird was injured. Her wing was drooping badly, and she was weak and lethargic. With a friend's assistance, the goose was moved to a laundry area to protect her from harassment and predators, but lacking a car, the rescuer couldn't transport her to a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (since Canada geese are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act), as advised by authorities.

What's Good for the Goose

Fortunately for the goose, her protector called PETA. Although there were no agencies in the area able to retrieve an injured wild animal and transport her to a licensed rehabilitation facility (this isn't uncommon since wildlife rehab centers are usually volunteer-run, without staff to rescue or transport animals), PETA's caseworker located a rehabilitator who was willing to accept the bird—but that had already closed for the day. With the rehabber's permission, the caller held the goose overnight. (Bless her kind heart!)

In the morning, PETA was able to find an animal advocate to transport the bird to the rehabilitator, which required driving for nearly three hours in all. (Bless his kind heart, too!)

The bird's injury was old, which explains why she was so easy to catch. A wing was broken, and the surrounding tissue was badly infected and necrotic. The bird was slowly dying from the infection and had gotten to the point at which she had no energy to fight. The goose had probably also lost her mate, which would cause depression in the long-term. It was determined that the kindest course of action was to end her suffering through properly administered euthanasia.

Are You Ready for an Animal Emergency?

This case shows how one person can make a difference for an animal in distress. If these compassionate people hadn't helped this goose, she might still be lingering in agony—or dead after a violent attack by predators (or simply cruel humans). Please never ignore animals who need help. Even if the best-case scenario entails euthanasia, that's far kinder than leaving an animal to endure prolonged suffering.

Canada's most wanted man, Luka Rocco Magnotta, has been captured after allegedly posting a gruesome snuff video of the murder and dismemberment of an acquaintance, Lin Jun, online and mailing some of the victim's body parts to government offices. It turns out that this probably isn't the self-described porn star's first videotaped killing. 

Serial Kitten Killer

Animal protectionists have been tracking Magnotta for more than two years, ever since a video titled "1 boy 2 kittens" was posted online in 2010. The video showed a man who is believed to be Magnotta placing two kittens inside a bag and suffocating them by vacuuming out the air. One year later, a second video surfaced in which the same man allowed a kitten to be attacked and eaten by a python. Days later, a third video appeared in which a cat was duct-taped to a broomstick and drowned in a bathtub filled with water.

"He might end up killing human beings one day," read an eerily prophetic post on the animal protection group Animal Beta Project's (ABP) Facebook page in 2011. "He might just not stop with animals."

Activists Step In

After the second video surfaced, PETA U.K. offered a reward for information leading to the perpetrator's arrest, and PETA U.S., together with ABP, documented Magnotta's online profiles, blogs, websites, known associates, relatives, and whereabouts. PETA and ABP passed the information along to the Ontario SPCA and the Toronto Police Service, which unsuccessfully sought warrants for Magnotta's arrest.

When Magnotta made the news earlier this week, PETA got in touch with the Montréal police and provided it with the information on the kitten-killing videos, in hopes of reviving the cruelty-to-animals charges and bolstering the police's case against Magnotta. A member of the Montréal police department's cyber team will be analyzing the information.

If Magnotta is indeed responsible for these heinous crimes, could he have been prevented from graduating to murder if he'd been caught and punished after killing kittens? We may never know, but this tragedy is a prime example of why it is vital always to take acts of violence against animals seriously and to prosecute the offenders vigorously. If you ever witness cruelty, even by children, please report it to the authorities immediately. You will be protecting the community as a whole, as well as animals.

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