No evidence she was attacked by an "enemy"?
Time sheets altered?
"Wait 'till you see what her emails reveal."
Tonight at 10...
No evidence she was attacked by an "enemy"?
Time sheets altered?
"Wait 'till you see what her emails reveal."
Tonight at 10...
For $19.00 a month, you too can help HSUS hire more lawyers to promote killing animals...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XTrhQd9GHlE
HSUS: PETA in suits with deodorant.
Linda Geffin, often referred to here as Attila the Prosecutor. I find myself struggling to find compassion for her since I never saw one iota of that FROM her for the animal owners she persecuted and thieved animals from. When Harris County was largely done persecuting animal owners, Geffin moved to torturing those alleged to have committed "nuisances" with the exceedingly heavy hand of government and a bent to take or threaten to take their property...
The article blathers on about "human trafficking" but that is just the latest mostly hate and fear mongering name the government has given to justify seizure and forfeiture of property. Perhaps Geffin pissed off a really, truly "bad" person. Unfortunately, I think it may be even more likely that she sent some decent human being completely off the deep end with one of her persecutions, err..., prosecutions. Well, like many abusers, Geffin likes to portray herself as the victim...
While she, with the backing of the county's budget and the support of an entire office staff AND the resources of the Houston SPCA at her disposal, went after a small family business, that of the Gracia family who raised some birds on the side, and brought full forces to bear; on the Gracia side of the table, were 3 volunteer lawyers and piddly blogger me. Geffin portrayed herself as "besieged by a community of bloggers and electronic message board participants that she said have cast her and the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals as villains".
Geffin is NO victim at the courthouse. Like all too many prosecutors, she tortures and torments with no regard to the law or truth or justice. Still, no one deserves to be assaulted and abused in their own home... Still, Geffin has certainly participated in doing just that to untold numbers of people in Harris County Texas. So I struggle to find some compassion for her and can find little. Karma's a bitch and I can only think it jumped up and bit her.
And perhaps our government which is increasingly out of control and bent on treating us all like less than citizens of the Crown we turned away from more than 200 years ago would do well to consider the consequences of continuing to escalate violence against us all. Whether they are taking our animals or shooting our dogs in the street or forfeiting the money we have in our pockets while on the way to an auction or shooting innocents while executing warrants at the wrong location... It's all symptomatic of the same disease; a government wildly out of control and a growing population of those hiding behind government credentials who think they can do as they please with impunity.
Eventually, the oppressed and persecuted begin to strike back. Maybe Geffin was attacked by a truly bad actor, perhaps it was just another random crime, or maybe she got back some of what she dished. If the government wants the citizenry to behave in a civilized manner, it would do well to set that example. If the government wants escalation to war in the streets, it need only continue escalating and we will eventually get there.
The animal rights activists are growing fond or promoting violence to get their way and so it seems is government generally. Keep it up and you will turn many to violence in response. The populace will endure a lot but eventually...
As a youth, I remember a detestable person who died and the community literally inventing a person in memory that bore no resemblance at all to this dead person in life. While my mother explained the phenomenon, she also pointed out that one need not comply with this custom. If a person is detestable in life, they do not become less so simply for having died or suffered some tragedy of their own. Linda Geffin, Attila the Prosecutor, become a victim? Perhaps. Surely she will be portrayed that way even if it turns out her own wrongful actions lead to her assault. My opinion of her has not changed simply because of these events, especially given that the article uses it as a promo for the government to continue its and perhaps escalate its "human trafficking" efforts.
Ms. Jennifer Gaut was one of the three attorneys who represented the Gracias in their civil forfeiture cases in Harris County and is representing them on appeal from the second judgment. Their animals are gone but the fight goes on and, as she and I have often discussed, we know the public does not understand what goes on behind the scenes in these cases. She wrote me a very kind email in response to my last blog entry which includes an explanation of some of those issues and has consented to publication.
Thank you PJ for posting this [AlphaTex need YOU]. People truly have no idea how huge this
victory is. More importantly, they have no idea how much blood, sweat
and tears have gone into this victory. For the most part, it started
back in July 2010 with the Gracias. We ultimately lost but we fought
the good fight, made the county attorney's office work harder than
they've had to work on one of these cases, and managed to scare the
HSPCA just a bit.
What Paul and Jessica have done is amazing but people should
understand, their victory didn't happen overnight. They've had two
trials in less than 3 months....Most civil cases never even make it to
trial but when they do, it's after at least a year or two of languishing
around with discovery, motions, mediation, etc. In addition to the two
trials, Paul & Jessica had numerous hearings where they challenged
everything from jurisdiction, venue, the lawfulness of the seizure, the
judge, and even Feare. For there to be hearing, a motion has to be
filed. After the motion is filed, the other side responds, then you
respond to their response (sometimes with less than a day until the
hearing). The ruling on the motion usually results in more motions
being filed. Motions require arguments which require case law which
requires research. Just preparing for one hearing (which
includes drafting the motion and a response) can take hours. Preparing
for a trial takes days and weeks. And it also takes money....lots and
lots of money.
An attorney of Paul's caliber can easily charge $250 to $300 an hour (or more, he is certainly worth it). When an attorney bills for a civil case, he (or SHE!) can and does bill for everything ....
every phone call, every email, every typed word, every minute of
research, every minute spent in court, every minute drafting a motion,
every minute reading a motion, every minute conferencing with opposing
counsel, every minute spent with a witness, every minute spent with the
client, every minute spent investigating, and every minute his / her
associate, his receptionist, and his / her paralegal works on the case
(this includes time spent making copies, making phone calls, faxing
documents, dealing with exhibits, etc)....EVERY SINGLE MINUTE (in fact, every 10th of a minute!) CAN AND DOES GET BILLED.
In a case like this, a win does not bring attorney fees (unlike a
win in a personal injury case or something like that). This means the
attorney has to bill the client. But in these type of cases, billing
the client isn't feasible. For instance, in the Gracia case, I got
retained on Sunday July 18th, I worked almost nonstop on the case Mon -
Thurs (while also trying to deal with my other cases), and then we
started trial on Friday July 23rd. Luckily Martin and Leira joined me
in trial. To have 3 attorneys in trial, at what should have been $500
an hour ($125 an hour for me, $125 an hour for Leira, $250 [at least] an
hour for Martin) for 5 FULL Days (approximate 40 hours) would have
been $20,000....and that would have just been for the JP trial! It
doesn't include all the hours put in on the case the 4 days before
trial, every night after trial, and the two weekends during the trial. Conservatively, we are talking another $20,000. (so $40K just for the JP portion of their case).
As you remember, after the JP proceedings, we had multiple hearings
etc and then TWO FULL WEEKS OF TRIAL in October. After the trial, there
were several post-judgment hearings (3 hearings on the issue of
damages, two hearings on the motion for new trial, and two hearings on
the indigent issue for the appellate transcript). A defense for this kind of case can quickly cost at least $150,000 to $200,000. And
people forget that we still have expenses that must be paid. We still
have to pay our receptionist, our law clerk, our office overhead
(monthly rent, phone, internet, copies, etc), as well as all fees
directly associated with a case. For instance, every time I want someone
served with a subpoena, I have to pay a process server anywhere from
$75.00 to $100.00 (per subpoena). Every time I go to court in Harris
County, I have to pay for parking (while in trial, I always had to park
in the garage @ $8.00 / day because we had to lug boxes back and forth
AND you can only park 2 to 4 hours at a meter - so for the 3 of us @
$8.00 / day for the 12 days of trial was $288.00 - plus we all had to
buy food at the courthouse every day since we were there at 8:30 a.m.
and usually left somewhere around 6:00 p.m.). Every time I file a motion
in court, I have to either use gas and time to drive to the court house
to file it OR I have to pay a $16.00 electronic filing fee. I have to
pay for every copy I make, every long-distance fax, every document sent
to opposing counsel by CMRRR, every bit of supplies, etc, etc, etc. In
our case, we had to hire a translator for Bertha when she
testified.....that bill was close to a $1000.00.
In addition to the time he spent on this case, which is invaluable, I
know Paul spent an enormous amount of money on this case (not
necessarily because he wanted to but because he had to....winning ain't
easy OR cheap). Just filing the Federal lawsuit cost several hundred
dollars in filing fees (and does not include the cost to serve the
opposing parties). And what no one seems to think about or remember is
this: Paul is solo practitioner. This means he is not collecting
a paycheck every two weeks like the goons at the county attorney's
office. The Attorneys at the county attorney's office get a paycheck no
matter what happens in the case AND they don't have to personally foot
the bill for anything (in fact, their parking is reimbursed, their
lunches during trial are reimbursed, etc)....Guess who foots the bills
for the county attorney's office to fight these cases? The citizens of
that county. But when we (Paul, Jessica, me, Leira, Martin, etc) handle
one of these cases, we aren't getting a paycheck from anyone and
generally, we aren't getting paid by our clients (for the reasons
mentioned above, not because the clients don't want to). So our
expenses skyrocket while our income plummets. It took me and Martin
several months after the Gracia trial to recover financially.....Because
of all the work we had to put into the case and all the time spent in
court in trial, our practice basically came to a screeching halt;
afterwards we were exhausted, swamped with back-logged work, and broke.
I hope that people take what you posted to heart and DONATE. As a
person who's been through this (and still going through it [but on a
smaller scale] since I'm appealing the Gracia case), I know the
financial and emotional toll this kind of case takes on an attorney. I
know people think we (attorneys) are made out of money but we aren't.
And many of us, especially those that choose to practice criminal
defense like myself and Paul, don't do it because we think we are going
to get rich. Rather, we do it because we are believers in the
constitution, and we want to fight for those who often can't fight for
themselves. I did not take the Gracia case b/c I am a lover of birds
(in fact, you know I knew very little about birds), and Paul didn't take
the Smith's case b/c he's a lover of dogs (although I know he is). We
did it because we were incensed at the injustice and blatant violation
of people's constitutional rights. There are very few attorneys who
will even take one of these cases, fewer who know how to handle this
type of case, and even fewer who will actually fight it the way it must
be fought.
Paul is a rare breed (no pun intended), so I hope and pray people
will support him by donating money to the cause.... People never know
when they might end up on the other side of the fence and will need
someone like Paul to step in and defend their constitutional rights. I
know people are struggling financially but every little bit matters,
every little bit counts, and every little bit is appreciated. You know
I'm broke, but I'm going to put in my few dollars so he can continue to
fight the good fight......Every victory matters, and his win today is a
win for all of us.
Take care,
Jen
Jennifer R. Gaut
PJ's footnote: There is no ACLU for animal owners to turn to. All those who have worked on the AlphaTex and Gracia cases are that rare breed who cared enough about property rights, about constitutional rights and protections, to step up but they cannot do this alone. For them, this is a profession, how they feed their families. Ms. Gaut isn't joking about being broke. She's a young, new lawyer who has contributed her own time and reached into her own pocket to fund the Gracia case and is now helping fund the AlphaTex case. WE own the animals and it is grossly unfair to expect these professionals to fund these cases. It's time for us to do our part or resign ourselves to summary loss of our rights and property.
Were all of the AlphaTex animals cruelly treated? NO. Were ANY of the AlphaTex animals cruelly treated? NO. So says a unanimous jury. Today, in west Texas, a team won a huge victory for all of us, human and animal. But this fight is far from over and YOUR help is now needed.
The Smiths and their attorneys, Paul Holloway and Jessica Casenave-Skinner, have done an absolutely incredible job in defending their (and all of our) constitutional rights to own and keep animals without a summary taking by the government being allowed to impinge those rights. The rest of us are at less risk every time an owner wins the right to make the decisions for their animals without the type of draconian interference that was imposed on the Smiths at their AlphaTex Kennels. The Smiths have their civil judgment for return of their animals but NOW those who took the animals simply MUST be held accountable.
The Smiths have already filed their federal lawsuit and each and every one of us needs to pitch in every penny we can to help that suit be successful. Lawsuits are EXPENSIVE. The Smiths do not have that kind of money, most of us don't. When lawyers like these are willing to front their TIME, the least the rest of us can do is help fund the actual costs which can easily run into the tens of thousands. Every time we help fight back lessens the chances of someone knocking on our doors and deciding they can let the media and a bunch of untrained volunteers trample through our homes on a mission of death and destruction of our lives and those of our animals.
Three of the Smiths dogs were summarily killed during the raid. "three dogs euthanized the day of the six-hour seizure. Smith said one of those, Comet, suffered from hair loss due to a thyroid problem, not mange as was speculated. Another euthanized dog, Morgan, had been kicked by a horse, while another, a black German shepherd puppy, had a hard time walking but was on the road to recovery and was to be adopted by former AlphaTex employee Rebekka Terrell." This was NOT "euthanasia" which is the killing of an animal to prevent suffering. This was blatant wanton killing of their dogs without consent, without any rational basis at all.
Time for each of you to step up and help; to make a commitment to give what you can now and commit to making a gift toward this case each and every month until it is won and these killers are held as fully accountable as possible. If you own animals, your rights are on the line too. No excuses, make your gift today and every month hereafter to protect us all. Go to Assisting AlphaTex Kennel Owners for updates, to make your gift, and PLEASE share this with everyone you know and encourage and cajole them to pitch in.
"First they came for.. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me." If you own animals, they are coming for YOU.
You need to speak with your voice and your dollars or there may be no one to speak for you.
---------
The info to pitch in contributions is at Assisting AlphaTex Kennel Owners
But a friend has asked me to add it here too:
Contributions to fund the case against
Floyd County, TX (and in support of all owners and their rights) can
be sent via mail to:
Jessica Casenave
207 E. 6th St,
Plainview, Texas 79072
Please note AlphaTex on your check!
or via Paypal to Jessica@caprocklawyer.com Please send contributions through Paypal as a "gift" and note AlphaTex on them.
I just attempted to post a link to a blog on this topic to Facebook only to be informed that the item has been flagged as "spam" which is most certainly is not. Please share through your email contacts as FB is blocking a fine blogger!
When you attempt to post this link on FB:
http://time4dogs.blogspot.com/2012/01/why-animals-dont-have-rights.html
You will probably get a warning box indicating it has been flagged as "spam". Please click the "let us know" that designation is error box at the bottom and identify the item as a blog entry, give the url, and let them know you are a regular reader or know the blogger, if you do.
Sadly, while Mark Zuckerberg (FB founder) is learning about slaughtering his own food, his staff is allowing animal rights activists to set the agenda on Facebook. They set up hate pages to flame and are permitted to hide behind them anonymously as a "cause" and they are permitted to gang up on everyone else by stomping on their "report" buttons. IF Facebook is to become what Zuckerberg wants, he should certainly remember that we ALL have the right to speak out and his staff needs to find a way to stop the bully behavior by Batshit Crazy Activists that are trolling Facebook!
Most animal seizure/forfeiture cases begin with Trespassing and end with Conversion. They start with activists who have recruited law enforcement to aid them in invading one's privacy and home, often dragging the media along and allowing them to also freely traipse into your home. This was the topic of my blog entry To Trespass or Not to Trespass a few weeks ago. The trespassing is followed by a media blitz by the activists to smear the animal owners publicly and attempt to shame them into silence. That is usually followed by summary judicial proceedings to rubber stamp thieving of the animals and other property by the government from the true owners. And THAT is often followed by criminal charges that the government swore it would bring if only the owner gave up their property without a fuss. The owner having done so, the government then proceeds with criminal charges ANYWAY. The whole bloody thing is an absolute abomination of "justice".
The case against the owners of AlphaTex Kennels in west Texas is no less of an abomination but they have refused to be shamed, give up their animals, and crawl off in silence. They have found some great lawyers to assist them too. Everyone in an animal seizure/forfeiture case most certainly needs to rally the troops because there is inevitably some lunatic like "Daizy" willing to start a hate group like Animal lovers against AlphaTex Kennels within minutes of the media blitz. People like Daizy don't care about fairness or a fair process. They summarily "convict" and proceed to spew their hate instantly; no need to wait for facts. Fortunately, we live in a country where the dictatorial Daizy types haven't won out yet. We can and MUST fight back against their desire for Star Chamber treatment of these cases.
Last year, the owners of AlphaTex Kennels spoke out publicly in defense of all our rights to own animals without excessive government interference. No doubt in my mind that doing so is exactly what put them on the Animal Rights Fanatic (ARF) "target list" and led to the recent seizure of their animals. They spoke out for us and now it is time for us to support them, both in their defense in state court and in support of their already filed federal case which will attempt to regain our rights being so blithely ignored should we dare to "own" animals in defiance of the ARF wishes.
Some of the documents in the AlphaTex federal case are now readily available.
I would especially like to draw your attention to page 5 of the order where the federal judge refers to Don Feare as a "prosecutor" and makes reference to the potential of a "valid conviction". These 2 terms taken together persuade me that the federal judge has not yet wrapped his head even around the fact that this is SUPPOSED to be a CIVIL case. That these cases are indeed more criminal than civil AND often followed by further criminal proceedings is one of the very important issues that needs to be sorted out by the courts as criminal cases should and do come with special protections from Constitutions while these cases tend to be summarily decided and then used to bootstrap the later criminal cases.
Jessica Casenave is a young lawyer assisting Paul Holloway in representing the Smiths, owners of AlphaTex Kennels. Contributions to fund the case against Floyd County, TX (and in support of all owners and their rights) can be sent to: Jessica@caprocklawyer.com through PayPal.com
Please send contributions through as a "gift" and note AlphaTex on them.
Small donations do add up so please don't hesitate to help even if you can only afford to make a small contribution.
These cases are expensive; well beyond the means of just about any individual. As usual, the attorneys are trying to cover OUT OF POCKET costs and aren't ensured they will be paid at all for their services. For all our sakes, we NEED to contribute and help put a stop to these summary proceedings that deprive owners of their most fundamental rights and property.
PS: The Gracia case is still pending on appeal. Legal process can be slow but we're beginning to make a dent. The animal owners and lawyers need to hear from us both in voice and dollars. Freedom is never free.
The owners of AlphaTex dared to speak out, to use their free speech to defend our rights. That is something we should all be able to do without fear that our property, our animals, will be seized and summarily forfeited to the government to be given to strangers who will profit greatly from them.
The recent Medlen decision has once again raised the issue of how to put a dollar value on an animal. If you do a bit of internet searching the popular belief you will find is that a dog is worth its replacement value which is alleged to generally be about $50; that it has always been thus in American law. It's a lie.
Old Drum was shot by a neighbor in 1869. "The farmer (Burden's brother-in-law) had previously announced his intentions to kill any dog found on his property; the dog's owner was suing for damages in the amount of $50, the maximum allowed by law... Vest won the case (a possibly apocryphal story of the case says that the jury awarded $500 to the dog's owner) and also won its appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court."
Well, there indeed is your $50 cap but that is $50 in 1869. There's a little thing accountants call the "time value" of money. Just as the price of postage stamps has gone from a single penny many years ago to 44 times that amount today, $50 in 1869 would have a current value of $808.82 in 2010 which is considerably less inflated than those postage stamps. I don't know if the story of the jury award is true but, if it is, then they found Old Drum to be worth $8,088.24 in today's dollars. These calculations are quite simple and based merely on inflation over the years. There's an easy website if you'd like to run the calculations yourself.
And things have rather changed since 1869. Prior to 1900 and well into the 20th Century and even today, animal care is primarily performed by owners. However, the veterinary profession has been growing since it struggled into existence in about 1761 when the first "organized teaching" of the subject was established in Lyons, France. While the modern veterinary professionals would have us believe that their profession has a long history in pet care, this is simply untrue. Their focus until very recently was on human health and our food supply. It is only the last few decades that the concept of medical care for animals by veterinarians has come into being and it didn't spring into being by accident.
A century ago, some 50 years after Old Drum was killed, there was no rabies vaccine as we know of today; infected animals were killed and human wounds were cauterized. "The first rabies vaccine was developed in the early 1960’s" and it certainly wasn't common to vaccinate pets until long after that. I grew up in a world where we watched animals closely for signs of rabies and animal bites were cause for fear. It was during this time that the concept of "indoor only" for cats was born; it was the safest way to protect them from contracting rabies and reduced the chances for a bite to harm a human because, as ever cat owner knows, cat's bite even to show affection. It was also a world where few confined dogs, especially pet dogs.
With a rabies vaccine came protection for the pets and humans. Those in animal husbandry or with more than a few animals could vaccinate their own. We more wimpy owners took our pets to friends or veterinarians. I still remember the veterinarian we went to when I was a kid after we moved to Oklahoma in 1970. We were the yuppies of the day, PET OWNERS who were incompetent to provide basic shots to our cats. It was cause for embarrassment to us and always grins and giggles for the veterinarian and staff who were more accustomed to handling horses and cattle. We all changed over the 4 decades since then. Many owners are still quite capable of tending their own animals but there are way more of us less competent "mere" pet owners and the veterinary profession has evolved to provide the services we want but they are also looking after their own interests.
The veterinary profession has promoted laws that mandate ONLY they should give rabies vaccinations. There is NO good reason for this other than their desire to have a monopoly that is foisted upon us all. Most owners are quite capable of administering the rabies vaccine to their pets and it was done by many owners before these mandates. It's quite simple but many of us are too wimpy (or uninformed) to do it. Arguably, taking away the mandate would open the door to wider vaccinations at community clinics and by individuals so more animals would be vaccinated without that extra charge for a veterinary "exam" (that is often nominal, at best). But, for now, the reality is that the veterinary profession has acquired something of a monopoly on giving rabies vaccinations to pets and that opened a HUGE door for them. Veterinarians suddenly had access to enormous numbers of new mandated clients.
Veterinarians have used that access to encourage use of their services and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that... Well, nothing wrong until they want to mandate use of their services at great cost to owners while simultaneously wanting to keep the value of animals at $50, stuck at the 1869 rate without even an allowance for inflation. They would have us buy into the concept that even the costs they encourage us to incur should be disregarded in the valuation of our pets; that acknowledging the very real existence of these costs as part of our investment in our pets is somehow error. You see, these very real costs are an inherent part of what is being called "sentimental" value in the Medlen case. More than that, we invest our time, our attentions, our feelings and the veterinarians encourage this too; it's a big part of how they persuade us that we should incur $15,000 to attempt to save an injured or seriously ill pet. But still they want the pet to be valued at $50 at the courthouse.
That we have feelings for our pets is nothing new at all; nor is the concept that a dollar value can be placed on them in a courtroom... Nearly 150 years ago, there was a hunting dog shot by a neighbor. The dog's owner sued (and won). Here is part of what the owner's attorney said in closing argument to the jury.
This is Old Drum and many of our pets today too. The veterinarians run businesses but they can't have it both ways. They can't mandate their services be purchased by us and prey upon our sympathies to increase their income while simultaneously devaluing our pets. Some now argue that Medlen is attempting to overturn 100+ years of settled law on the liability when an animal is injured or dies and the valuation of that animal. This too is n untruth; every bit as untrue as the myth that dogs were worthless in 1869 or that owners didn't love their animals in 1869 and long before that.
Perhaps I will take a closer look at the claims made by those asking the Medlen court to reverse itself on another day...
Time and again the media traipses in with the "authorities" to take pictures and video and broadcast it to support their sensationalized versions of events. Yesterday, KCBD was sued and for doing just that and, today, their defense is "no one told us to leave". WELLLLL, no one has to do that. Since the Texas media seems to be wholly unaware of the Texas Criminal Trespass statute, I'm going to publish a bit of it here:
See that great big OR between those 2 subsections? Nobody has to tell you to get the hell out if you had notice you weren't supposed to be there in the first place. What's "notice"? That one is pretty simple too.
Fencing "OR OTHER ENCLOSURE", signs, certain other markings OR crops and you should stay the hell off of private property unless you are invited; otherwise, you are probably guilty of CRIMINAL trespass. On the civil/tort side (that's what is involved in the lawsuit linked above), the rules are even simpler.
WHAT IS TRESPASS TO REAL PROPERTY?
Um, hey, KCDB it looks to me like you're pretty well screwed both criminally and civilly on this one. And I think you know it too. How many times do we see the media at a distance using telephoto lenses or flying overhead? Yeah, you guys know damn good and well that you aren't supposed to be traipsing onto private property BUT, in these animal seizure cases, you've just gone BONKERS. You seem to think that the law is turned on its head, that the property owner has the burden to oust you when, in fact, YOU have the burden to seek and obtain permission to enter BEFORE doing so.
It's pretty simple in Texas, we property owners don't have an obligation to hover over our property 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year in order to be present to tell those without authority to GET THE HELL OUT because the law tells them NOT TO ENTER. But please don't forget this IS Texas and we recently boosted the stakes with a Castle law, we just might shoot you instead of telling you to GET THE HELL OUT because we know the law tells you NOT TO ENTER. In all honesty, I'm not really worried about trespassing media members getting shot. They really do know better so, if they get shot, that's on them and pretty much falls under the good old "deserved killing" clause. I am, however, worried about the animal "rescuers" on this point.
I attended a little animal law seminar held at South Texas College of Law recently and got to hear the touted "animal law expert" Don Feare speak. He stood before a room of mostly volunteers and some lawyers and told them that, if they were on someone's property at the behest of law enforcement, they were safe from liability. I really, REALLY, urge those in the "rescue" community to seek out a second legal opinion on that topic from someone in criminal and/or property law, someone without the myopic "animal law" perspective. You need to make sure you've got a real "deal" with that law enforcement agency, otherwise, your asses might not be covered.
There are indeed some defenses to the criminal trespass law. Here's some of them:
That last one MIGHT cover you "rescuers" on criminal liability (if you're absolutely sure whoever you are working with won't throw you under the bus if push comes to shove). At a minimum, you should really consider getting something in writing (you know, a contract or something) that says you're an agent of that governmental entity that's asking you to rush in with them and that specifies what you may do and what the rules are for any property you help to remove and you damn sure want to now what, if any, authority you have over property (animals) that you take custody of because you almost certainly do not own them at that point. Even then, I'm not sure your asses are covered on the civil/tort liability for trespass which is more straight forward. And there are SO many other potential liability issues I'm not even going to try to touch on them here.
Mr. Feare did have one other little tidbit of advice at the seminar that I found interesting. Some of the "rescuers" were complaining that owners of dogs they had pulled from shelters were showing up and demanding their dogs back. Did they have to give them back and, if so, couldn't they at least demand some compensation for what they had spent on the dogs (pull fees, vet costs, food/shelter, etc.)? Mr. Feare started with the general rule that one can only sell what one owns. If that shelter didn't own that dog, then the "rescue" doesn't own that dog. Give the dog back! Nope, you have NO right to get paid. I agree with Mr. Feare on this one and what he didn't say is YOU are trafficking in STOLEN property. Yeah, give it back and pray you don't get prosecuted or sued!
Good old Mr. Feare did take his advice on this point one step further in encouraging the "rescuers" to promote city's passing ordinances (and county's passing resolutions) that specify that animals in their shelters automatically become forfeit to the shelter at some point; some "law" that they can hang their hat on to says the shelter "owns" the animal so then the "rescue" will be able to take ownership. That shelter can only sell what it owns, remember. I questioned this at the seminar. Can cities simply declare they "own" your found vehicle after 3 days? In response, Mr. Feare pointed out that cities have deals with tow companies and vehicle storage companies who are the ones that pick up those found vehicles and then apply for new titles under a specific state statute.
Yep, indeed those tow companies and vehicle storage lots do and I'm pretty sure that's because the Texas property laws are pretty damn stringent on NOT forfeiting property to the state (or its subdivisions: counties, cities) except when there is a specific law permitting it and I have yet to find one that would allow the summary forfeiture of foundling pets. There are statutes that cover estray wildlife and livestock but not pets. Is that a glitch in the law? Maybe but, without such a statute (one that is constitutionally valid), best I can tell under general Texas property laws, it would take about 3 years for a foundling animal to become "forfeit" and even then there would be ownership issues. Is that a bad outcome for pets? Yeah, I think so. My question is this: Why haven't the "animal law experts" like good old Don Feare taken note of this and proposed some legislation to deal with it? I mean, seriously, y'all have high paid lobbyists and you're so damn super smart so SURELY you haven't simply missed such a simple issue!
Well, in good old Don Feare's defense, his excuse probably goes back to his history as a cop. Cops just want a written law they can hang their hat on along with their "official immunity". But Don, dearest, you're a lawyer now and you're advising average lay folk at these seminars. They aren't cops and they may not be entitled to any immunity at all (despite your declaration to the contrary at the seminar). Or do you just not mind throwing them under the bus "for the sake of the animals"? Are you that big of a liberal animal rights activist? Oh, my, there I've gone and done it. I called Don Feare an activist and I hear he finds that offensive and tends to sue people over it. Hey, Donny boy, bring it! Are you afraid of a little old blogger just like Attila the Prosecutor in Houston?
“It is not our burden to find the owners,” said Becky Agen, an HBHR volunteer.
OK, you scuzzy broads, you at least need to get your story straight!
There's a statute? REALLY? Get your scuzzy butts over here and post a link or citation. I dare you. I double dog dare ya! (Nobody hold their breath. There ain't no such statute!)
Can't hold a dog indefinitely? Not your burden? If you put your freaking paws on someone else's property, it damn sure is your obligation to return that property to the owner or turn it over to authorities!
Once volunteers "accept ownership"? WTF? Can I accept ownership of your car? How about your house? ACCEPT OWNERSHIP??? I can't stop laughing at the very concept! Where I come from, that's commonly referred to as a 5 finger discount. The law calls it STEALING.
Sandra says this is not their first rodeo. THAT I believe to be absolutely true. I am quite certain this is not the first time they have sold someone else's dogs for their own benefit and profit. It's so much easier to find healthy, well cared for, loved pets who have strayed from home and then sell them than to do the real work of rehabbing animals in true need.
The very, very sad truth is that there are few ethical people in animal "rescue". Most "rescuers" simply presume they have the right to do whatever they want with an animal in their possession and the owner's rights be damned. If your pet got loose, it is YOUR fault and you no longer deserve that pet. Circumstances don't matter and animals disappear after each and every natural disaster into the hands of "rescuers" who will transport them miles away and sell them with little or NO effort to reunite them with their owners.
After Hurricane Katrina, pet owners had to battle to get pets back for years and the rescue community promised to do better "next time". After Hurricane Ike, they didn't do better. After a tornado wiped out Joplin, again the "rescuers" swooped in and animals, from beloved pets to livestock, vanished. This poor family would still dearly love to Bring Hanah Home.
You'd think your pet would be safe and get returned if picked up by a government shelter or animal control but you shouldn't. Can you Help Bring Smokey Home? And Where's Kapone? Your government animal control authority probably has some "rule" about how long they hold your animal before selling or killing it. Here in Texas, each shelter makes up their own, sometimes supported by local ordinance but more often just whatever they pulled out of their butts - like the 72 hour rule. No matter that pets are property and state law is rather clear. These shelters will "accept ownership" just like the "rescue" above and it's where these "rescuers" learned such utter disregard for YOUR property rights.
In some shelters and "rescues", they simply hold your pets hostage for outrageous fees. You could be facing a bill for thousands of dollars to get your pet back but they will gladly sell them to someone else for a MUCH lower price.
“It is not our burden to find the owners,” said Becky Agen, an HBHR volunteer.
Can you see the disdain for owners and their rights in those words? I mean, seriously, how dare you, the owner "surface"? It's not their "burden"! To them, YOU have no rights at all. These are the words and feelings of arrogant, sanctimonious control freaks. On the one hand, they go around spouting off about how important and precious these animals are, so important that you should give them boatloads of money to tend the animals. On the other hand, they are of so little value to you, the true owner, that you have no rights. The property rights you have as set forth in statutes and constitutions are as nothing to them. These animal rights activists and "rescuers" are complete scofflaws.
The type of thievery here by Houston Beagle and Hound Rescue and so common in the animal "rescue" community MUST cease and desist immediately!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yWaE8tTlsc
Grandma refuses to kowtow to LEO. Fat, lazy, bully LEO throws tantrum, throws ticket book to ground, shoves Grandma, Tasers Grandma to the ground, and Tasers her multiple times thereafter. SHAMEFUL LEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i90AhW-X4g
2 CHUBBY LEOs, sitting on kid, Taser scrawny kid while other LEOs watch at a charity event!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWaCD6jIH5Q Tasered in custody, locked room, multiple officers present, one victim present.
Mostly Garbage Dog Food. This exemplifies what I hear whenever there's a commercial dog food commercial playing :)
Here's what my girl looks like 4 days after the vet "fixed" her up for a tiny dog bite.