Written by Michelle Sherrow
Update: Good news! Officer J.N. Snoddy has been charged with cruelty to animals for allegedly beating the cat and has been placed on administrative leave. We'll keep you posted as the case unfolds.
The original post ran on December 15, 2011:
When Harrisonburg, Virginia, police officer J.N. Snoddy was dispatched to render emergency aid to a cat who had been hit by a car and was partially paralyzed, he apparently decided that, instead of promptly and speedily driving the injured animal to the nearest emergency veterinary hospital (just 30 minutes away), he would instead beat the animal to death with his police-issued baton.
Good Samaritan and eyewitness Wayne Meadows, who originally called to get help for the injured cat, was so horrified by the officer's alleged conduct that he vowed to publicize what had happened and make sure that no animal would ever be beaten and killed like that again.
Meadows called news outlets and contacted PETA to share what he witnessed. Thanks to his actions, which prompted a letter from PETA to officials and enormous public outcry, the Virginia State Police have launched a criminal investigation into Snoddy's alleged conduct.
This case shows the power of one individual to bring about justice for animals. With an investigation now underway, PETA is hopeful that the Harrisonburg Police Department (HPD) will take us up on our offer to provide free training to all field staff in the humane and legal handling of animal emergencies. HPD is also being pressured to establish standard operating procedures for officers who evidently can't always be trusted to use good judgment in animal-related cases.
If you ever witness cruelty to animals, and authorities don’t do their job, don't hesitate to contact PETA for help.
The Delaware County, New York, District Attorney's Office has filed charges of cruelty to animals as well as a drug-related charge against Susan Marino, the woman responsible for the horrific suffering of hundreds of animals at Angel's Gate, Inc., which she founded, operates, and dares to call "a hospice and rehabilitation center." PETA's investigation of this hellhole exposed the daily neglect and terrible suffering of disabled, elderly, and ailing animals, many of whom had been shipped to Marino by well-meaning but severely uninformed individuals and agencies, including the New York Center for Animal Care and Control (NYCACC), which doomed Malcolm the Chihuahua and hundreds of other animals to die slowly at Angel's Gate through its "New Hope" program.
PETA had provided the District Attorney with the evidence that our investigator gathered while volunteering at Angel's Gate. Our investigator saw Marino allow animals to suffer, sometimes for weeks, from treatable conditions as well as terminal illnesses without providing veterinary care, medication, or pain relief. Paralyzed animals dragged themselves until they developed bloody ulcers. Animals developed urine scald after being left in soaked diapers for up to two days. Dehydrated animals were denied water, and others were forced to stay outside in freezing temperatures. The bodies of dead animals were left among those of the living for days. While Marino has been charged, the nightmare is not over for the animals at Angel's Gate, as they have not yet been seized. Please help us ensure their welfare and the safety of future victims by joining us in urging the New York State Attorney General to revoke Angel's Gate's nonprofit status and ensure that the animals are removed from Marino's custody. Please click here to send a letter to the Attorney General, and please, when your animal companions become elderly or ill, let them live out their final days with dignity in the comfort of their own homes, surrounded by their families, not at the mercy of a conniving stranger.
A frantic PETA supporter contacted us after she witnessed an underweight horse collapse and thrash around on the ground. It was clear to our caller that this poor animal was in agony and likely suffering from colic.
Law enforcement was contacted immediately, but according to our caller, when the officers arrived, "they just stood around her, watching her suffer." A PETA staffer worked on getting a veterinarian out to the horse, while the caller tried to track down the horse's owner. Within an hour of the call to PETA, the horse was gently released from her suffering.
At our urging, detectives are now investigating the cause of the horse's illness as well as the condition of the other horses on the owner's property.
If you encounter an animal in imminent danger and local officials won't help, call PETA to receive immediate assistance.
In a rare case of legal protection for a rat, a Denver woman has pleaded guilty to a cruelty-to-animals charge for torturing and killing a rat. Tashaya Abbott and Alison Milke bought a rat from a pet store to feed live to a snake, but the snake did not eat the animal for four days—during which time the terrified rodent was confined to a tank with the snake. So the young women reportedly electroshocked, shot with blow darts multiple times, and finally crushed the rat to death. Evidently thinking that this animal's horrific suffering and death were something to laugh about, Milke posted a photo of the rat to her Facebook page and boasted about the crime that they had committed.
A PETA supporter alerted us, and we immediately notified law enforcement and pushed for the women to be prosecuted.
The judge ordered Abbott to pay a $125 fine and complete 50 hours of community service and banned her from owning any animals for a year. There is still an outstanding warrant for Milke, who is believed to be in Florida now, and PETA is pushing hard for her prosecution as well.
If you spot any evidence of potential animal abuse on social-networking sites, contact PETA right away, and we will work to have the offenders prosecuted.
You may remember the real life story: As Hurricane Irene pummeled the East Coast, one Newport News, Virginia, man left 12 dogs and puppies alone in his yard to fend for themselves, some tied up with no way to escape the rising water. Newport News Animal Services and a PETA fieldworker drove through the rising water and increasing winds to rescue the dogs, and cruelty-to-animals charges were filed against the person who left them behind when he packed his bags and evacuated.
The case went to court last week. The dogs' owner pleaded guilty to six counts of cruelty to animals and received a suspended sentence of 60 days in jail for each count, which he must serve if he has even one more run-in with the law in the next two years. He was also sentenced to 120 hours of community service and a $455 fine for the costs that animal control incurred in housing and caring for the seized dogs, and most importantly—the punishment that we always press for the hardest—he was prohibited from owning companion animals indefinitely!
The rescue was a blessing for one of the police officers who joined us on the call: He found his new best friend among the rescued pups and adopted him soon afterward.
If you ever see an animal in trouble, please contact the authorities immediately. If they are unresponsive, call PETA for help.
Written by PETA
Fewer exotic animals such as hedgehogs, macaws, and lizards will spend their lives locked in cages as "pets," and it all started with a kind woman who wouldn't give up until she got help for a sick, dying ferret in an Arkansas pet store. The woman repeatedly asked the store manager to let her take the ferret home for rehabilitation, but the manager refused. Finally, she called PETA for help. We pushed animal control to check on the ferret, and the store's owner quickly surrendered the ill animal.
PETA's caseworker explained to the store's owner that animals suffer in mass-breeding facilities and animal dealers' warehouses before they end up in pet stores. The owner agreed to watch PETA's undercover video footage from the now-defunct exotic-animal warehouse U.S. Global Exotics, Inc., and the massive ferret factory Triple F Farms, Inc. He was so moved by the plight of wild-born exotic animals—who are often abducted from their families and stuffed into luggage to be smuggled into the U.S.—that he agreed never to buy or sell these animals again.
This victory is an encouragement to us all always to report cruelty and never to miss an opportunity to educate others about how animals suffer in the pet trade and other cruel industries. You never know whose mind you might change!
Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post
Ducks and geese in North America are a bit safer, now that "celebrity" hunter Jeff Foiles has been banned from hunting for three years in Canada and two in the U.S. following convictions for cruelty to animals.
Foiles, who sells videos of his hunts online, was reportedly seen in one of his taped hunts holding up a wounded duck, wrenching the duck's neck, and opening the bird's mouth while making quacking sounds. According to a news report, "In another hunt videotaped the next day, Foiles manipulates a wounded duck for four minutes, whacking it on the head with a duck call, covering its head with an empty shell box and playing peek-a-boo. He later places his fingers over the bird's nostrils and holds its beak closed while asking 'Is this how you want to die?'"
schrodingersduck | cc by 2.0
Reportedly, a wildlife expert testified during Foiles' hearing that the birds he abused were "conscious, alive and suffering extreme pain and stress."
Considering that people who find it fun to torture and kill animals often take their issues out on human victims as well, we should all be thankful that Foiles is spending 13 months behind bars.
After buying a dog over the Internet sight unseen for a staggering $7,500, a Long Island man added insult to injury by sending the dog on a terrifying 3,000-mile journey back to the breeder in Washington state less than a week later. The dog, who was likely confused and disoriented after the initial cross-country flight, had failed to adjust immediately to her strange new environment, so the man essentially returned her like a sweater he'd ordered from L.L.Bean, despite the fact that the breeder refused to take the dog back and reportedly said that he would not pick her up at the airport. (The breeder did eventually claim the dog but only after she'd been forced to spend the night at an airport boarding facility.)
The dog buyer could have saved himself a lot of trouble—and the dog a lot of trauma—if he had just taken his family to the local animal shelter, where they could have chosen from among a plethora of great dogs. But considering that he was dumb enough to hand over an exorbitant amount of money to a breeding operation that exacerbates the animal homelessness crisis, allowed the dog only six days to settle into her new home, and was inconsiderate enough to ship her off to an unknown fate in an airplane's dangerous cargo hold after tiring of her, any responsible shelter worker would now lock the doors to this man.
But for those of us who don't view animals as disposable accessories, animal shelters are the perfect place to make a permanent love connection.
As part of its new sculpture park, the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG) at the University of Rochester is planning to install a piece by Tom Otterness, who notoriously purchased a dog from an animal shelter, tied him to a fence, and shot him to death as part of a 1977 "art" film. Although he has since apologized, he reportedly has yet to make any meaningful gesture of regret, such as donating time or money to a reputable animal shelter.
Public outcry has led to the cancellation or postponement of other Otterness sculptures, including a planned New York Public Library sculpture that was canceled after PETA protested. So far, MAG has ignored the most recent protests and plans to proceed with Otterness' commission.
PETA is urging people to avoid visiting MAG so that the gallery will get the message that killing animals is always cruel and that animal abusers should be held accountable. Instead, we encourage people to check out artists such as Miru Kim and Nafe Nanfeng as well as art collective Neozoon, all of whom use their work to help stop cruelty to animals.
Written by Heather Faraid Drennan
A horrific hoarding case in Chicago is a reminder of why, despite any ill-founded "good" intentions, hoarding never results in a happy home—for anyone. It's absolutely vital to report all known or suspected cases of animal neglect or hoarding to authorities immediately.
Police reportedly found a mentally disabled 14-year-old boy dead in a backyard, wearing only a T-shirt. Inside the house, they allegedly found more than 200 animals—and three more sick children—living in filth and feces. Reportedly, all 109 cats in the house were suffering from feline AIDS and leukemia and had to be euthanized, and many other animals were starving and diseased, including a cockatiel whose spine was visible on his nearly featherless back. The children reportedly had never been to school or a doctor and slept on the floor, and their bare feet were caked with feces and dirt. The children's mother has been charged with child abuse and cruelty to animals, among other crimes.
Hoarders exist in virtually every community, so it's crucial to be alert to the signs of hoarding:
If you notice red flags of animal hoarding, please don't hesitate—call the police. Hundreds of lives—both animals' and humans'—may be at stake.
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If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.