Canine Angels Dogs Still Threatened

Cross-posting and other distribution, especially to the media, will be much appreciated.

Dear Fellow Animal-lovers,

You may have read or heard that on May 30, I adopted the 154 dogs formerly owned by Canine Angels (CA) in Dewy Rose, GA, the animal rescue and shelter that is under assualt by the Georgia Dept. of Agriculture which has ordered them to be shut down effective June 3 and any dog not already transferred by then to be confiscated by the DoA. They have extended that confiscation to June 7.

We have it in writing from the DoA legal services officer that CA is authorized to transfer ownership of the dogs to other rescues and shelters. The transfer of ownership was made by legal document and I legally gave power of attorney to two people there to represent my interests on behalf of my dogs, who are now my legal property. Within hours of the transfer of ownership DoA commissioner Tommy Irvin issued a press release that his office had contacted 70 rescues and shelters throughout GA about coming to get the dogs and that any individual was welcome to show up at CA and take a dog free of charge. I reacted by issuing my own press release announcing that I am the owner of the dogs and they will be placed under accepted adoption criteria with an adoption contract and those of us experienced in animal welfare and rescue know the usual outcome for animals advertised as "free to good home."

As the local news has been reporting, my ownership of the dogs has thrown a speedbump in the path of the DoA and they have reacted by increasing the level of harrassment and vindictiveness against the co-founders of Canine Angels and their volunteers and supporters. Pure and simple, they have been upsetting my dogs and their very presence there has impeded the adoption of some dogs. The first priority of the good folks at Canine Angels is animal care and placing animals, and the constant harrassment by the State and the very necessary presence of the media means they are literally going without sleep in order to care for the animals, and one of the co-founders, Sue Wells, suffers from multiple sclerosis.

For background of the story and current updates, see the DogBlog at:
http://dogblog.dogster.com/
especially the June 2 entry with the link to the full story by Best Friends Animal Organization "Standoff with State brews at Georgia animal sanctuary as rescuer tries to step in to save dogs."

Other animal protection groups are participating by issuing their own news reports. More media reports will be forthcoming.

On Friday, when DoA officials showed up at Canine Angels accompanied by the Elbert County sheriff, they found the gates locked and access to the property blocked by vehicles by my order. Property owner Sue Wells denied them access to the property. At least two of the DoA officials would not get out of their vehicles, but we know who they are; some covered their faces; their legal services officer at first refused to identify himself, and at least one TV reporter said they refused to speak with her on camera. They then left for the courthouse where they obtained a warrant for inspection granted for 14 days. Meanwhile a heated argument was seen to occur between three DoA staff people and we are guessing perhaps one or more did not want to participate in this continued campaign of harrassment.

The DoA people and sheriff's deputies returned to the property with 12 marked and unmarked law-enforcement vehicles (how many tax dollars did that waste?) and inspected Canine Angels yet again. Two of their inspectors had been there for many hours on May 26 to conduct a surprise inspection and their written report that day showed NO violations. Two days before that inspection an independent inspection of CA was conducted by a former animal control officer and former director of a sanctuary Don Hill of Augusta, and he also conducted an audit of CA's records. CA passed with flying colors and I gave his written inspection report to the media.
The report of the inspection of this past Friday by the DoA was not delivered to Sue Wells until 8:15 p.m. that evening and consisted of seven pages of violations. This is after a superior effort by volunteers and supporters throughout the week to make sure that the DoA could find no violation. Not only is their last report not worth the paper it is printed on, how stupid do they think taxpayers, voters, courts, and animal lovers are? It is an insult to all of our intelligence. Our attorneys are reviewing that and other documents and evidence, and we are pursuing legal options.

Even though DoA officials have repeatedly told the media that they planned on no-kills solutions for the former dogs of Canine Angels, and that they had contacted 70 rescue groups/shelters in GA to assist with that, they have refused to provide us with the list of those agencies (because we still need the help of every no-kill group that can help!), and on Friday they showed up with a van from one animal facility - a kill shelter! The van was turned away.

The DoA wanted the CA files - the paper trail and records for my dogs. They were told they could have copies of them. So far, they haven't pursued that and I ordered all the records removed from the premises and placed in a secure location.

We have given and are giving sworn affidavits, eye-witness accounts, video tapes, audio recordings, and photographs to the media and to some officials and candidates for public office, both related directly to the CA situation, to the animal control situation and actors in Elbert County, and about the actions of some State employees. If laws are upheld and if those charged with the public trust act responsibly, we believe there should be dismissals of some employees and perhaps some charges of animal cruelty and neglect.

The on-line petition in support of Canine Angels currently has close to 1,700 signatures and a copy of it was delivered to the GA Governor on Thursday with, at that time, over 1,400 signatures. Everyone is still encouraged to sign it and add comments:
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?neGAngel&1

The animal advocate and author Randy Grim wrote a personal letter last week to the DoA commissioner Irvin and asked him to support our efforts, not hinder them. Numerous others have written and called the Governor's office and the DoA commissioner's office to protest this treatment of Canine Angels and their supporters.

We have a signed and notarized statement from one of the veterinarians who has treated Canine Angels animals since 2002, Gloria B. Andrews, DVM, Colbert Animal Hospital, which states in part:
"Of all the animals they have brought in, none have been underweight. If anything, many were obese.
They have routinely purchased products for heartworm prevention, flea and tick control as well as de wormers for their animals. Both Sue Wells and Lynette Rowe have had extensive experience regarding healthcare for dogs and cats. For patients who required hospitalization, they were always willing to do this. If any animal was sick and the treatments were such that they could perform the nursing care at home we would give instructions and dispense the proper medications for them to care for the patient. When questions would arise, they would call for information as to what to do. If the animal needed to be seen again, they would bring it in."

I and a growing number of supporters, adopters, and visitors to Canine Angels are asking the GA State government and people with common sense everywhere, does that sound like a facility that should be shut down for animal neglect and cruelty? We are asking for the written opinions of other veterinarians who have regularly visited Canine Angels.

There are other positive developments under discussion and one I can talk about today. Dr. Michael Good, DVM of Homeless Pets Foundation, http://homelesspets.com/ has offered to come from Marietta, GA to examine all of the animals and provide any booster vaccinations needed, and he is doing this free of charge. (All the animals are current on rabies vaccination, spayed & neutered, but since we want to send them off to adoptive homes and other responsible no-kill efforts, this is an additional assurance about their healthy condition.)

Perhaps one signer of the on-line petition said it best: "If the State of Georgia spent as much time, money and manpower in helping Canine Angels Rescue save lives, instead of prosecuting them, the State would better off and its residents appreciative! It's only common sense!"

Before I get to the critical end of this about what I, Friends of Canine Angels, and my dogs need, let me say that this fight has boiled down to two camps: A) Two women with a private relationship who have exhausted themselves for over six years trying to fill an animal welfare need in their community and placing over 1,200 animals, their loyal volunteer supporters, and hundreds of thrown away dogs who were given safe haven and now can look forward to a better life as companion animals VERSUS B) People paid by taxdollars on county and state payrolls, some of whom are allegedly in need of investigation, who are behaving as if they are conducting a campaign of harrassment and personal vendetta and willing to do anything just to get rid of my dogs, even if it means killing them in some of Georgia's gas chambers.
Camp A has devoted countless hours, nerves, and dollars to keep these animals healthy and alive until we can get them to permanent homes and other safe havens. Does Camp B ever stop and think about what our motivation could be if it's not love of animals?
People keep telling me that this is an example of "good ole' boy mentality." Well, if it is, and if that's the playing field they want to conduct this on, then my answer to them is "Don't be messin' with a boy and his dogs."

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We’re asking everybody, starting Monday, June 5, to call Gov. Perdue' office – 404-656-1776 – Dept. of Ag. Commissioner Tommy Irvin at 404-656-3600 or 800-282-5852, the Animal Protection Division at 404-656-4914, and the Elbert County Commissioners at 706-283-2000 and tell them to leave my dogs alone and my dogs' friends alone. We also want a complete review of the situation, we want Canine Angels' license reinstated and we want the $15,000 in fines (so far) dropped against Sue Wells & Lynette Rowe.
And please sign the on-line petition [see above].

Here's what we need, and we will try to put updates and more alternate contact info on the Canine Angels website. There have been offers of help, calls from potential adopters, and the CA folks and volunteers are trying to keep up with that. We all apologize if anyone did not get a call back yet. Their phones have been ringing off the hook, they have media to talk to, our attorneys to talk to, of course all the animals to care for. I myself am receiving several thousand e-mail messages per day and have my own responsibilities to take care of. Both of the CA computers have died and my requests that someone donate a laptop computer to them have so far not been responded to.

For now, any legitimate no-kill groups who can help a quantity of dogs, if you can't get through to Canine Angels people, you may e-mail me and I'll have someone get in touch with you: tiergartenjim@yahoo.com (I appreciate all the individual messages of support but can rarely reply to them). Other Friends of Canine Angels will work with adopters of individual animals.

We are building a coalition of attorneys. If you are an attorney licensed in GA who has experience in these matters and would like to offer your services, you may contact me and I will have one of our attorneys get in touch with you.

Anyone wishing to make a donation for the dogs' care and the related costs, there is a PayPal link on the Canine Angels website. Not a single dollar of that money comes to me and it will all be used for the dogs and those expenditures will be monitored by the attorneys. Canine Angels is a registerd 501(c)(3).

Any local person who can volunteer to do anything - cleaning, grooming, feeding, watering, grass mowing, talking to prospective adopters, running errands, so that we can free up Sue & Lynette to talk to the media and our legal counsel and get a few hours of sleep, all help will be appreciated.

Thank you all for your prayers, your support, for loving animals, and for your help in saving my dogs. Once again, it is my privilege to watch love in action.

Jim Willis
http://www.crean.com/jimwillis

For more information contact: Sue Wells and Lynette Rowe CANINE ANGELS 2179 Pulliam Mill Rd Dewy Rose, GA, 30634 706-213-9001 706-296-4488 adopt@negacanineangels.com Visit Canine Angel's website: http://www.negacanineangels.com/ See the animals available for adoption whose lives have been threatened by the State's actions: http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2106143777&code=22215757&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite