MAINE -- When teenagers Michael and Nate Bonzagni went outside to check on their fowl at around 4 p.m. Saturday, they were greeted with a gruesome sight.
A Husky had gotten into the family's poultry pen and killed more than 100 young chickens and turkeys.
"We found the dog jumping over everything, just going over the rest of them that he didn't kill," said Michael Bonzagni, 13. "It was a gray Husky."
The boys immediately called their mother, Amy Tremblay, who was out of the house at the time. "They called me and said, 'There's a dog in the chicken pen, killing the chickens,'" Tremblay said. Her sons caught the dog and hooked it to a run, she said.
The Husky wiped out the family's young flocks of about 105 Rhode Island Red and Cornish Rock chickens, she said.
"It's tragic. They're gone. There's some still alive but they're so badly hurt they aren't going to make it."
They were to be food for the winter, she said. "We're a family of five, and only my husband works."
It's too late now to buy more chicks, Tremblay said. "We got these ones in May."
The family also was raising 20 turkeys for friends and relatives and others who ordered them. In addition, they have two goats, a rabbit and several laying hens - "just a little farmstead to keep ourselves going," Tremblay said.
The baby chickens and turkeys had an indoor-outdoor pen with a 6-foot-high fence. The assumption, Tremblay said, was that the dog jumped the fence.
The Husky, which was young and had a shock collar and a tag, was not dangerous to humans, Animal Control Officer Wendell Strout said Saturday. "I handled him. Everybody there handled him."
The dog probably got excited after scaling the fence, Strout said. "The freakin' birds went nuts," he said. "Once a dog gets in there and the birds start going crazy, the dog starts going crazy, and it just escalates."
[Funny, no mention of how the poor birds suffered. Yes, they're livestock - meant to be eventually killed and eaten - but they do have feelings, people. They feel terror and pain just like you and I do.]
He estimated the dog was in the pen for about an hour. "You'd have to be there for a while to kill that many chickens," Strout said.
Tremblay said the dog didn't eat any of the fowl. "He just mangled them to death. They just have bite marks in them. He just tore right into them."
Strout estimated the damage at around $1,000. The dog's owners will be responsible for damages and will have to pay a fine for letting a dog run at large. "I raise birds, so I know what they cost, new," Strout said. He said the birds were probably between 5 and 8 pounds, ready to be slaughtered.
The dog will be in lockdown, at least until Monday, Strout said.
(Sun Journal - June 29, 2008)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Florida: Woman seriously mauled and her 12-year-old blind Shar-Pei killed by three loose pit bulls
FLORIDA -- Kathryn Dykes was walking her dog Sasha in her Mirror Lakes neighborhood earlier this month when three pit bulls ran from a neighbor's backyard and attacked her and the blind, 12-year-old Shar-Pei.
Sasha's injuries were so severe that the dog was later euthanized. Dykes said she was bitten 51 times on her left hand and arm and several times on her right hand.
On June 11, one week after the vicious attack, Dykes, with her left forearm wrapped in bandages, spoke to the Plantation City Council.
"I want to make our streets safer. Sasha paid a price, and so did I," Dykes said.
Sympathetic council members wondered if there was a way to strengthen the city's dog laws. City Attorney Donald Lunny said it could be done, but Plantation's 2006 ordinance does not specify dangerous breeds.
"We don't care if it's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff," he said.
Broward County has a dangerous-dog ordinance but does not single out dangerous breeds; however, ordinances in Sunrise and Tamarac do.
Sunrise's ordinance requires that pit bulls be "securely confined" indoors or in an enclosed and locked pen with a top or with 6-foot-high sides "because of the pit bull dog's inbred propensity to attack other animals and because of the danger posed to humans and animals by a pit bull dog when running loose or while running together in a pack."
Tamarac's pit bull ordinance mirrors Sunrise's but adds that pit bulls must be muzzled and on a leash no longer than 8 feet. And the leash must be "securely held by a person."
In the recently concluded Florida Legislature session, State Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Plantation, drafted a bill that would have eliminated the prohibition of "breed-specific" local government regulation of dangerous dogs. The bill died early last month in the agribusiness committee.
The Sunrise and Tamarac ordinances could be unconstitutional, said Tim Keller, chief investigative supervisor with Broward County Animal Care.
Keller said the three pit bulls that attacked Dykes and her dog are in quarantine and would be "put to sleep" if they are not claimed by their owner. He said he could not discuss the case because it is still under investigation, but it would be heard on July 11 at the West Regional Courthouse.
Plantation Deputy Police Chief Howard Harrison told the council that Broward County has issued "numerous citations" that could be "in excess of $2,000."
Angela Manalaysay, Dykes' neighbor, is a suspect, according to a report by Plantation Police. The dogs lived at her home at 7450 NW 13th Court and "escaped" from the backyard, police said. Calls to the Manalaysay home were not returned.
"Why can't people take responsibility for their pets?" Dykes asked.
Several council members agreed.
"We need to really start fining people who are irresponsible pet owners," Councilwoman Diane Veltri Bendekovic said.
Councilwoman Sharon Moody Uria said, "We punish the dog, but we need to punish the owner, too."
But Councilman Jerry Fadgen said allowing pit bulls in the city was the problem.
"In an urban environment, we should not have this type of animal," he said.
Fadgen said he wanted the council to look at the ordinance and for state legislators to act as well.
Harrison said he and Lunny would conduct a workshop for the City Council to toughen Plantation's dog ordinance.
Dykes said she would sue the owner of the pit bulls.
"I'm not stopping till I get some satisfaction for my dog dying such a horrible death," she said.
(Sun Sentinel - June 29, 2008)
Sasha's injuries were so severe that the dog was later euthanized. Dykes said she was bitten 51 times on her left hand and arm and several times on her right hand.
On June 11, one week after the vicious attack, Dykes, with her left forearm wrapped in bandages, spoke to the Plantation City Council.
"I want to make our streets safer. Sasha paid a price, and so did I," Dykes said.
Sympathetic council members wondered if there was a way to strengthen the city's dog laws. City Attorney Donald Lunny said it could be done, but Plantation's 2006 ordinance does not specify dangerous breeds.
"We don't care if it's a Chihuahua or a bull mastiff," he said.
Broward County has a dangerous-dog ordinance but does not single out dangerous breeds; however, ordinances in Sunrise and Tamarac do.
Sunrise's ordinance requires that pit bulls be "securely confined" indoors or in an enclosed and locked pen with a top or with 6-foot-high sides "because of the pit bull dog's inbred propensity to attack other animals and because of the danger posed to humans and animals by a pit bull dog when running loose or while running together in a pack."
Tamarac's pit bull ordinance mirrors Sunrise's but adds that pit bulls must be muzzled and on a leash no longer than 8 feet. And the leash must be "securely held by a person."
In the recently concluded Florida Legislature session, State Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr., D-Plantation, drafted a bill that would have eliminated the prohibition of "breed-specific" local government regulation of dangerous dogs. The bill died early last month in the agribusiness committee.
The Sunrise and Tamarac ordinances could be unconstitutional, said Tim Keller, chief investigative supervisor with Broward County Animal Care.
Keller said the three pit bulls that attacked Dykes and her dog are in quarantine and would be "put to sleep" if they are not claimed by their owner. He said he could not discuss the case because it is still under investigation, but it would be heard on July 11 at the West Regional Courthouse.
Plantation Deputy Police Chief Howard Harrison told the council that Broward County has issued "numerous citations" that could be "in excess of $2,000."
Angela Manalaysay, Dykes' neighbor, is a suspect, according to a report by Plantation Police. The dogs lived at her home at 7450 NW 13th Court and "escaped" from the backyard, police said. Calls to the Manalaysay home were not returned.
"Why can't people take responsibility for their pets?" Dykes asked.
Several council members agreed.
"We need to really start fining people who are irresponsible pet owners," Councilwoman Diane Veltri Bendekovic said.
Councilwoman Sharon Moody Uria said, "We punish the dog, but we need to punish the owner, too."
But Councilman Jerry Fadgen said allowing pit bulls in the city was the problem.
"In an urban environment, we should not have this type of animal," he said.
Fadgen said he wanted the council to look at the ordinance and for state legislators to act as well.
Harrison said he and Lunny would conduct a workshop for the City Council to toughen Plantation's dog ordinance.
Dykes said she would sue the owner of the pit bulls.
"I'm not stopping till I get some satisfaction for my dog dying such a horrible death," she said.
(Sun Sentinel - June 29, 2008)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Toby Breedlove, 40, left dogs to die, police say
GEORGIA -- Animal control authorities say they recently made a gruesome discovery in a Lawrenceville man's backyard, where a dog was so starved it had begun eating its cage mate, a black Labrador puppy.
The animals' owner faces multiple counts of animal cruelty, including an unusual felony charge for aggravated animal cruelty. Police say Toby Breedlove, 40, caged the animals without food at his home on Old Fountain Road. Authorities were alerted to the situation when Breedlove's neighbor reported a dead dog floating in her swimming pool on May 21. The woman claimed the dead dog belonged to Breedlove, and animal control officers went next door to investigate. Officers found three dogs in pens in Breedlove's backyard - one dead and two near starvation, according to a police report. The owner neglected to feed a female black Labrador puppy, which was "left in its pen for days and was partially eaten by its pen mate," another Labrador puppy, according to Breedlove's arrest warrant. The third dog, a separately caged male Westie (West Highland Terrier), was malnourished and infested with insects, the warrant says. Breedlove was arrested Thursday and taken to the Gwinnett County Jail. He posted $28,800 bond and was released Friday. Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli said the two surviving animals were seized by officers. Breedlove faces a felony count because the Labrador puppy had died, Schiralli said. Breedlove on Friday referred all questions to his Buford-based attorney, Wayne Lancaster. "I haven't seen the police report. I don't know what police are alleging," Lancaster said. "We don't want to comment right now as to anything."
(Gwinnett Daily Post - June 21, 2008)
The animals' owner faces multiple counts of animal cruelty, including an unusual felony charge for aggravated animal cruelty. Police say Toby Breedlove, 40, caged the animals without food at his home on Old Fountain Road. Authorities were alerted to the situation when Breedlove's neighbor reported a dead dog floating in her swimming pool on May 21. The woman claimed the dead dog belonged to Breedlove, and animal control officers went next door to investigate. Officers found three dogs in pens in Breedlove's backyard - one dead and two near starvation, according to a police report. The owner neglected to feed a female black Labrador puppy, which was "left in its pen for days and was partially eaten by its pen mate," another Labrador puppy, according to Breedlove's arrest warrant. The third dog, a separately caged male Westie (West Highland Terrier), was malnourished and infested with insects, the warrant says. Breedlove was arrested Thursday and taken to the Gwinnett County Jail. He posted $28,800 bond and was released Friday. Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli said the two surviving animals were seized by officers. Breedlove faces a felony count because the Labrador puppy had died, Schiralli said. Breedlove on Friday referred all questions to his Buford-based attorney, Wayne Lancaster. "I haven't seen the police report. I don't know what police are alleging," Lancaster said. "We don't want to comment right now as to anything."
(Gwinnett Daily Post - June 21, 2008)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
United Kingdom: "Devil dog Pit Bull did this to my Chloe"
UNITED KINGDOM -- Pretty Chloe Ashman lies lifeless in intensive care after a horrific attack by a breed of dog her dad wants BANNED.
A Staffordshire pit bull terrier ripped away half of the six-year-old’s throat.
Chloe is winning her fight for life but may NEVER speak again because of damage to her voicebox.
Her father Lee — who released the shocking snap — said: "The surgeons can’t believe my Chloe is alive.
"The dog clamped down on her neck and tossed her around like a rag doll. I want to make people aware of what these dogs can do so this doesn’t happen to anyone else."
Chloe was playing in the garden at home in Folkstone, Kent, with her two-year-old brother Samuel when the pet struck.
Lee, 34 — separated from Chloe’s mum Stacey, 27 — claimed her boyfriend brought the dog into the house after its owners gave it away following an earlier attack.
Stacey denied this.
The mum needed stitches in her hand after trying to force the dog off.
She said: "Samuel handed me a drill so I started hitting the dog with the drill. I was able to get my hand in his mouth but he just bit down again.
"My neighbour jumped over the fence and got the dog off. He is the hero."
The dog was put down. Chloe is stable after three life-saving operations at St Thomas’ Hospital in South London.
Four breeds of dog are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act — but they do not include Staffordshire Pit Bull Terriers despite a string of recent attacks.
A girl of five was mauled in Thurnscoe, South Yorks, a seven-year-old girl was badly hurt in Poplar, East London, and a tot almost lost her an eye in Bournemouth.
(Sun UK - June 19, 2008)
A Staffordshire pit bull terrier ripped away half of the six-year-old’s throat.
 |
| Chloe Ashman following the horrific attack |
Chloe is winning her fight for life but may NEVER speak again because of damage to her voicebox.
Her father Lee — who released the shocking snap — said: "The surgeons can’t believe my Chloe is alive.
"The dog clamped down on her neck and tossed her around like a rag doll. I want to make people aware of what these dogs can do so this doesn’t happen to anyone else."
Chloe was playing in the garden at home in Folkstone, Kent, with her two-year-old brother Samuel when the pet struck.
Lee, 34 — separated from Chloe’s mum Stacey, 27 — claimed her boyfriend brought the dog into the house after its owners gave it away following an earlier attack.
Stacey denied this.
The mum needed stitches in her hand after trying to force the dog off.
She said: "Samuel handed me a drill so I started hitting the dog with the drill. I was able to get my hand in his mouth but he just bit down again.
"My neighbour jumped over the fence and got the dog off. He is the hero."
The dog was put down. Chloe is stable after three life-saving operations at St Thomas’ Hospital in South London.
Four breeds of dog are banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act — but they do not include Staffordshire Pit Bull Terriers despite a string of recent attacks.
A girl of five was mauled in Thurnscoe, South Yorks, a seven-year-old girl was badly hurt in Poplar, East London, and a tot almost lost her an eye in Bournemouth.
(Sun UK - June 19, 2008)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Massachusetts: ‘I thought I was going to die’ says 11-year-old boy who was attacked by a 100-lb Mastiff Pit Bull mix
MASSACHUSETTS -- Eleven-year-old Robert “Robbie” Stickney Jr. was frozen with fear.
As soon as he opened the door, the 100-pound mastiff-pit bull ran at him. There was no escape. It bared its teeth and clamped onto his hand, then his arm, and finally his thigh, ripping it wide open.
“I was punching him, but he would not get off me,” Robbie remembered. “I thought I was going to die.”
The dog’s owner was able to pull the animal off Robbie, but not before it mauled him in the April 24 attack in Haverhill. It took hundreds of stitches and multiple surgeries during Robbie’s 12-day stay at Massachusetts General Hospital to help his body begin to heal.
Robbie and his grandmother, Sarie Joffre, who is also his legal guardian, recounted the vicious attack last week at their Haverhill home.
The incident was the worst of several dog attacks this year that compelled Haverhill to toughen its animal control laws.
Two months later, Robbie’s body is healing, but the emotional scars still run deep, his grandmother said. He needed counseling to deal with nightmares that haunted him for weeks after the attack.
Little things can bring back the fear. He is sensitive to the sound of a dog barking. When his own dog, an Akita-German shepherd mix named Sam, happened to bark one day, Robbie winced.
“I got really scared,” he said.
The attack on Robbie happened without warning on a Thursday afternoon.
Robbie was waiting in a van outside the apartment at 44 High Street where his dad's girlfriend's parents lived. In the van with him was his dad's girlfriend and her dad.
Robbie said his dad’s girlfriend was getting out of the van and somehow injured her fingers in the van’s door, then went upstairs to tend to the injury. Robbie said that after a short time, the girlfriend’s father told him to go upstairs to see how she was doing, so he walked to the apartment.
“When I opened the door (to the apartment) their dog barked at me, so I ran downstairs,” Robbie said. “The dog chased me and ... he got me.”
The dog cornered Robbie in the hallway, and its jaws clamped down on his left hand, causing him to scream out in pain. The bite caused several puncture wounds, and he began to bleed.
Next, the dog tore into his left elbow, and then bit down hard on his left thigh, causing a wound so pronounced that Robbie still wears a large bandage as he waits for it to heal.
The woman who owns the dog — the mother of Robbie’s father’s girlfriend — ran to Robbie and pulled the dog off him. The girlfriend called 911, and within minutes Robbie was in an ambulance and on his way to Massachusetts General Hospital.
Robbie’s grandmother, who was in the ambulance with him, remembered him saying over and over: “Am I going to die?”
“On my ride to Boston they gave me painkillers, a mask to breathe and they bandaged me,” Robbie said.
During his stay in the hospital, the deep wound to his left leg required five surgeries.
“The surgeries didn’t actually hurt because I was asleep,” Robbie said. “They gave me morphine.”
He needed 200 stitches in the area of his left elbow, but his leg was ripped open so badly that it couldn’t be stitched up. It has remained an open wound that doctors are still trying to get to heal.
After almost two weeks in the hospital, Robbie was able to return to Silver Hill Elementary School in Haverhill, where he is in the fifth grade. The school year ends Tuesday, but as summer sets in, he won’t be able to join the other kids for a dip in the pool.
“The only thing I can’t do is swim, or else I could get an infection in my leg,” he said.
Joffre said her grandson’s leg injury requires a change of dressing every night, and he’ll continue to see doctors until the wound is completely healed.
“Robbie needs to be cared for and supported by everyone,” she said.
He is expected to have permanent scarring on his leg, but otherwise should make a full recovery once the leg heals.
The dog was killed several days after the attack, and the owner fined $150 by the city. The owner agreed to have police destroy the animal because of the severity of the attack.
DANGEROUS DOG LAWS
In the aftermath of the incident, the City Council approved several changes to Haverhill’s dog laws. They included giving police the ability to declare a dog dangerous or vicious and requiring owners to post warning signs on their property.
Owners of dangerous dogs must muzzle or restrain their dogs if out in public, they must have an insurance policy and they are required to pay a surcharge in addition to the regular dog licensing fee.
The new laws also call for the creation of a Dog Attack Prevention Commission that will compile and maintain data on dog bites and attacks and make recommendations to the mayor and City Council.
(Eagle Tribune - June 15, 2008)
As soon as he opened the door, the 100-pound mastiff-pit bull ran at him. There was no escape. It bared its teeth and clamped onto his hand, then his arm, and finally his thigh, ripping it wide open.
“I was punching him, but he would not get off me,” Robbie remembered. “I thought I was going to die.”
The dog’s owner was able to pull the animal off Robbie, but not before it mauled him in the April 24 attack in Haverhill. It took hundreds of stitches and multiple surgeries during Robbie’s 12-day stay at Massachusetts General Hospital to help his body begin to heal.
 |
| Robbie Stickney Jr. |
The incident was the worst of several dog attacks this year that compelled Haverhill to toughen its animal control laws.
Two months later, Robbie’s body is healing, but the emotional scars still run deep, his grandmother said. He needed counseling to deal with nightmares that haunted him for weeks after the attack.
Little things can bring back the fear. He is sensitive to the sound of a dog barking. When his own dog, an Akita-German shepherd mix named Sam, happened to bark one day, Robbie winced.
“I got really scared,” he said.
The attack on Robbie happened without warning on a Thursday afternoon.
Robbie was waiting in a van outside the apartment at 44 High Street where his dad's girlfriend's parents lived. In the van with him was his dad's girlfriend and her dad.
Robbie said his dad’s girlfriend was getting out of the van and somehow injured her fingers in the van’s door, then went upstairs to tend to the injury. Robbie said that after a short time, the girlfriend’s father told him to go upstairs to see how she was doing, so he walked to the apartment.
“When I opened the door (to the apartment) their dog barked at me, so I ran downstairs,” Robbie said. “The dog chased me and ... he got me.”
The dog cornered Robbie in the hallway, and its jaws clamped down on his left hand, causing him to scream out in pain. The bite caused several puncture wounds, and he began to bleed.
Next, the dog tore into his left elbow, and then bit down hard on his left thigh, causing a wound so pronounced that Robbie still wears a large bandage as he waits for it to heal.
The woman who owns the dog — the mother of Robbie’s father’s girlfriend — ran to Robbie and pulled the dog off him. The girlfriend called 911, and within minutes Robbie was in an ambulance and on his way to Massachusetts General Hospital.
“On my ride to Boston they gave me painkillers, a mask to breathe and they bandaged me,” Robbie said.
During his stay in the hospital, the deep wound to his left leg required five surgeries.
“The surgeries didn’t actually hurt because I was asleep,” Robbie said. “They gave me morphine.”
He needed 200 stitches in the area of his left elbow, but his leg was ripped open so badly that it couldn’t be stitched up. It has remained an open wound that doctors are still trying to get to heal.
After almost two weeks in the hospital, Robbie was able to return to Silver Hill Elementary School in Haverhill, where he is in the fifth grade. The school year ends Tuesday, but as summer sets in, he won’t be able to join the other kids for a dip in the pool.
“The only thing I can’t do is swim, or else I could get an infection in my leg,” he said.
Joffre said her grandson’s leg injury requires a change of dressing every night, and he’ll continue to see doctors until the wound is completely healed.
“Robbie needs to be cared for and supported by everyone,” she said.
He is expected to have permanent scarring on his leg, but otherwise should make a full recovery once the leg heals.
The dog was killed several days after the attack, and the owner fined $150 by the city. The owner agreed to have police destroy the animal because of the severity of the attack.
DANGEROUS DOG LAWS
In the aftermath of the incident, the City Council approved several changes to Haverhill’s dog laws. They included giving police the ability to declare a dog dangerous or vicious and requiring owners to post warning signs on their property.
Owners of dangerous dogs must muzzle or restrain their dogs if out in public, they must have an insurance policy and they are required to pay a surcharge in addition to the regular dog licensing fee.
The new laws also call for the creation of a Dog Attack Prevention Commission that will compile and maintain data on dog bites and attacks and make recommendations to the mayor and City Council.
(Eagle Tribune - June 15, 2008)
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
New Jersey: Mitchell Eng charged with animal cruelty
NEW JERSEY -- Mitchell Scott Eng was booked in Bergen County, NJ. Unable to locate any additional information.
Sex: M
Race: CHINESE
Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Weight: 155 lb (70 kg)
Hair Color: BLACK
Hair Length: N/A
Eye Color: BROWN
Complexion: OLIVE
DOB: 8/31/1972
Marital Status: SINGLE
State ID: 839654C
FBI: 878809XB4
INS: N/A
Citizen: United States of America
COB: United States of America
Booking Number: D-66897
Permanent ID: D-66897
Current Location: MAIN
County: SUPERIOR COURTS (all)
Current Housing Section: N/A
Current Housing Block: N/A
Current Housing Cell: N/A
Current Housing Bed: N/A
Commitment Date: 6/10/2008
Release Date: 9/02/2008
Alias Information: N/A
Detainer Information: N/A
Bond Information: N/A
Date of offense: 06/10/2008
Charge: POSSESSION OF CDS (FELONY)
Date of offense: 06/10/2008
Charge: ANIMAL CRUELTY - TORTURE, MUTILATE OR KILL A LIVING ANIMAL (FELONY)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Canada: Two teenagers admit to shoving cat inside microwave and cooking it alive. The cat screamed and suffered for 10 minutes before finally dying.
CANADA -- Two Canadian teenagers cut their burglary and animal abuse trial short Wednesday in Camrose, Alberta, by pleading guilty to microwaving a cat during a break-in.
The males, 16 and 17, who can't be identified, struck a deal earlier this week in connection with the December 2007 events and will face sentencing July 17 after their lawyers cut a deal with prosecutors, the Edmonton Journal reported.
In all, four teens are charged with breaking into the house twice while the owners were away on Christmas vacation. The house was badly vandalized, and Crown prosecutor John Laluk alleged on the second break-in, the cat was killed.
"There were reports of the sound of the cat screaming and that 10 minutes passed before the sounds diminished and the cat died," he told the court.
After the surprise guilty plea, Laluk told reporters it was unlikely the teens would face jail time because they are first-time offenders and have no prior records. He said the two indicated they wanted to apologize to the cat owners before being sentenced.
The other two teens charged entered innocent pleas and will go to trial Nov. 17, the report said.
(UPI - June 4, 2008)
Earlier:
The males, 16 and 17, who can't be identified, struck a deal earlier this week in connection with the December 2007 events and will face sentencing July 17 after their lawyers cut a deal with prosecutors, the Edmonton Journal reported.
In all, four teens are charged with breaking into the house twice while the owners were away on Christmas vacation. The house was badly vandalized, and Crown prosecutor John Laluk alleged on the second break-in, the cat was killed.
"There were reports of the sound of the cat screaming and that 10 minutes passed before the sounds diminished and the cat died," he told the court.
After the surprise guilty plea, Laluk told reporters it was unlikely the teens would face jail time because they are first-time offenders and have no prior records. He said the two indicated they wanted to apologize to the cat owners before being sentenced.
The other two teens charged entered innocent pleas and will go to trial Nov. 17, the report said.
(UPI - June 4, 2008)
Earlier:
Montana: Thirty Three Sled Dogs Pay the Price for a John Hessert’s Misguided Dream
MONTANA -- Breaking trail through snow that topped nearby fence posts, Roger “Rodeo” Vincent n a West Yellowstone concrete contractor and sled dog musher n trudged toward the sound of barking dogs. The dogs’ owner, a musher named John T. Hessert, had been seen leaving town in a fully-loaded truck on Friday, January 25. It was now Wednesday, January 30. After hearing Hessert’s dogs barking that morning, Vincent had received permission from Gallatin County Animal Control Officer Pat Hess to enter a parcel of land west of West Yellowstone to check on them.
When he reached the area where the dogs were staked, he saw no tracks, indicating that they had not been fed or watered in days. The chains used to tether the dogs to drop-lines and fence posts were so short or buried so deep in snow that the dogs could only move a couple of feet. Several dogs were chained to trees and one was roaming free. Only 17 of the 33 dogs had any means of shelter.
“Dogs absolutely need to get out of the wind,” Vincent explained. “It had gotten down to 20 or 30 below recently, and the wind had been blowing pretty good. Huskies burn a lot of calories just trying to stay warm. Unless they have plenty of water and good food, they get dehydrated.”
Hessert, who had reportedly been at the Wyoming Stage Stop dog sled race, arrived on Wednesday afternoon and encountered a sheriff’s deputy. Instructed to feed and water his dogs, Hessert returned with a bin containing dog food soaked in water. Vincent later commented, “The food he showed up with, I wouldn’t feed to a pet dog. Even a low-rent musher would’ve taken better care of his dogs.”
Based on observations made by Animal Control, a warrant was issued and the dogs were seized on February 1. Forest Service officers and sheriff’s deputies shuttled dog crates on snowmobiles to a waiting trailer. Rob Greger, a Bozeman-based musher called in to assist with the rescue, hooked two of his lead dogs to a sled to bring several of the dogs out.
Sue Geske, head veterinarian of the Race to the Sky and a member of the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association, determined that the dogs were seriously underweight, even for the lean, athletic Alaskan Husky breed. Some of the dogs were suffering from frostbite. The youngest dog had a collar deeply embedded in its neck. Within days of the seizure, eight pups were born, bringing the total to 41.
The dogs were transported to a county barn where a dozen volunteers cared for them over a five-week period. Volunteers named the dogs based on physical or behavioral characteristics. Blue had one blue eye and one brown eye. Pacino had a scar on his face. Buster would wrap his paws around volunteers as if greeting a long-lost friend. Yodel serenaded the pack with elaborate whine-songs. Shake-N-Bake would stomp her legs and shake at the sight of food.
When Seeley Lake musher Rob Loveman learned of the dogs’ plight, he donated 800 pounds of top-shelf dog food that he had intended to use in the Iditarod before withdrawing to undergo knee surgery. By week five, the dogs had regained enough strength to be transferred to locations where they could satisfy their innate desire for exercise. Pat Hess and Cara Greger recruited experienced Montana mushers to provide foster care as the case is adjudicated. Hessert was charged with 33 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty.
Who Is JT Hessert?
John Travis Hessert (aka JT Hessert), 24, developed a passion for sled dog racing while growing up in Maine and set his sights on the hotbed of the sport: Alaska. He reportedly began corresponding with legendary musher Martin Buser at the age of 14 and finally convinced the four-time Iditarod champion to take him on as a dog handler in Alaska in 2004. Hessert worked with Buser’s younger dogs, and he qualified for the 2005 Iditarod by placing second in the Klondike 300. At the age of 21, he finished the 1,161 mile Iditarod in 50th place.
According to several mushers familiar with Hessert, it was when he tried to establish his own racing team that he ran into trouble. Even those who object to Hessert’s treatment of his animals say he is an intelligent man with an encyclopedic knowledge of champion sled dog bloodlines. “He had a solid breeding plan,” said one Alaska-based musher who asked not to be identified. “But common sense seemed to be missing. Before he accumulated 30 dogs, he needed to have the means to support them and support himself.”
By 2006, Hessert was living out of his truck in the Fairbanks area and the vehicle’s cab was perpetually filled with trash. In November, he dislocated his kneecap in a trailer hitch mishap, forcing him to ask mushers he hardly knew to care for his dogs. One of those mushers recalled, “He had no home, he barely had means of transporting his dogs and he had no job. I knew these dogs would be in a bad situation if they didn’t get help.”
Another Fairbanks musher, who asked not to be named because he fears reprisal from Hessert, said, “He’s very bright and manipulative. He was good at convincing people to stay on their property, but he always wore out his welcome and had to leave. He used and abused people.”
He also claimed that Hessert routinely refused to provide his dogs with shelters, even when they were available.
Matthew Ruger, Animal Control Manager for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, said, “I have a dossier on Mr. Hessert that’s two inches thick. We have records of 21 different calls related to him.”
Several complaints involved Hessert staking his dogs on borough property or private property without permission. There were also complaints regarding the physical condition of the dogs as well as how they were staked out n their chains being too short or wrapped around brush. Animal Control was also aware that Hessert would disappear for days without feeding his dogs.
“We observed that his dogs were seriously emaciated,” said Ruger. “We took photographs of them. We could see shoulder bones, hip bones and ribs sticking out. We were concerned they weren’t going to live through the winter.” He added, “At no time in our encounters with Mr. Hessert did we observe that he provided shelter to all his animals. Some of the dogs were digging holes to find shelter.”
Alaska’s animal cruelty and due process laws require that unless an animal is in immediate danger of death a “removal notice” be posted 24 hours prior to seizure. Ruger said they posted several removal notices at various sites. “When we’d roll back out 24-hours later, we’d find warm tire tracks and he’d be gone. We spent a good deal of time chasing him around. The borough is the size of Connecticut, and we have five officers.”
As a result, Hessert’s only animal-related penalty in the Fairbanks area was a citation for failure to properly restrain an animal.
Animal Control officers would leave bags of dog food with the removal notices.
“There’s no sense in letting these dogs suffer if we can prevent that,” Ruger reported.
He also said that Hessert is an anomaly in the sled dog world.
“Ninety-nine percent of our dealings with mushers are positive. They’re good stewards of their animals.”
Hessert’s lack of planning became evident during the 2007 Yukon Quest race. According to published accounts, Hessert was fined $500 for being late for a mandatory pre-race meeting. He was penalized for not cleaning up at race checkpoints and was fined $250 for not having vaccination records when he arrived in Dawson City. Hessert was involuntarily “withdrawn” by a race official due to his lack of preparation and failure to have a dog handler. An on-site observer was quoted as saying, “Those poor dogs don’t know what they’re getting into.”
Hessert arrived in West Yellowstone in September 2007 without a place to stake his dogs. He eventually leased a parcel of land west of town that bordered National Forest property. Although the leased property had plenty of space, Hessert staked several dogs on neighboring federal land, earning him a Forest Service citation.
Hessert’s trial is scheduled to begin on August 13. He is represented by attorney Chuck Watson. His father Stephen Hessert, a managing partner in a Maine law firm, requested custody of the dogs until the case is decided, a move that was opposed by the County Attorney’s office.
On May 12, Judge Holly Brown granted the request; Stephen Hessert will transport the dogs to Maine. The senior Hessert testified at the hearing that he has been monetarily assisting his son’s mushing efforts, and that he intends to return the dogs to his son if he is acquitted.
John Worsfold, the Deputy County Attorney who was trying the Hessert case, is relocating to California to continue his law career. Worsfold said he was disappointed in the ruling. “The Judge's decision contradicts the clear and well defined intent of the Legislature who wrote the law regarding the return of seized property.”
Candace Hamlin, a volunteer who provided care for Hessert’s dogs at the county barn, fears the case is heading in the wrong direction.
“After everything these dogs have endured at the hands of JT Hessert, the possibility that they might one day be given back to him is unthinkable. That would be the height of injustice.”
Author’s notes:
Neither JT nor Stephen Hessert replied to email and/or telephone requests to provide input for this article. The author was one of the people recruited to care for the seized dogs at the county facility.
(Montana Standard - June 3, 2008)
When he reached the area where the dogs were staked, he saw no tracks, indicating that they had not been fed or watered in days. The chains used to tether the dogs to drop-lines and fence posts were so short or buried so deep in snow that the dogs could only move a couple of feet. Several dogs were chained to trees and one was roaming free. Only 17 of the 33 dogs had any means of shelter.
“Dogs absolutely need to get out of the wind,” Vincent explained. “It had gotten down to 20 or 30 below recently, and the wind had been blowing pretty good. Huskies burn a lot of calories just trying to stay warm. Unless they have plenty of water and good food, they get dehydrated.”
Hessert, who had reportedly been at the Wyoming Stage Stop dog sled race, arrived on Wednesday afternoon and encountered a sheriff’s deputy. Instructed to feed and water his dogs, Hessert returned with a bin containing dog food soaked in water. Vincent later commented, “The food he showed up with, I wouldn’t feed to a pet dog. Even a low-rent musher would’ve taken better care of his dogs.”
Based on observations made by Animal Control, a warrant was issued and the dogs were seized on February 1. Forest Service officers and sheriff’s deputies shuttled dog crates on snowmobiles to a waiting trailer. Rob Greger, a Bozeman-based musher called in to assist with the rescue, hooked two of his lead dogs to a sled to bring several of the dogs out.
Sue Geske, head veterinarian of the Race to the Sky and a member of the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association, determined that the dogs were seriously underweight, even for the lean, athletic Alaskan Husky breed. Some of the dogs were suffering from frostbite. The youngest dog had a collar deeply embedded in its neck. Within days of the seizure, eight pups were born, bringing the total to 41.
The dogs were transported to a county barn where a dozen volunteers cared for them over a five-week period. Volunteers named the dogs based on physical or behavioral characteristics. Blue had one blue eye and one brown eye. Pacino had a scar on his face. Buster would wrap his paws around volunteers as if greeting a long-lost friend. Yodel serenaded the pack with elaborate whine-songs. Shake-N-Bake would stomp her legs and shake at the sight of food.
When Seeley Lake musher Rob Loveman learned of the dogs’ plight, he donated 800 pounds of top-shelf dog food that he had intended to use in the Iditarod before withdrawing to undergo knee surgery. By week five, the dogs had regained enough strength to be transferred to locations where they could satisfy their innate desire for exercise. Pat Hess and Cara Greger recruited experienced Montana mushers to provide foster care as the case is adjudicated. Hessert was charged with 33 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty.
Who Is JT Hessert?
John Travis Hessert (aka JT Hessert), 24, developed a passion for sled dog racing while growing up in Maine and set his sights on the hotbed of the sport: Alaska. He reportedly began corresponding with legendary musher Martin Buser at the age of 14 and finally convinced the four-time Iditarod champion to take him on as a dog handler in Alaska in 2004. Hessert worked with Buser’s younger dogs, and he qualified for the 2005 Iditarod by placing second in the Klondike 300. At the age of 21, he finished the 1,161 mile Iditarod in 50th place.
According to several mushers familiar with Hessert, it was when he tried to establish his own racing team that he ran into trouble. Even those who object to Hessert’s treatment of his animals say he is an intelligent man with an encyclopedic knowledge of champion sled dog bloodlines. “He had a solid breeding plan,” said one Alaska-based musher who asked not to be identified. “But common sense seemed to be missing. Before he accumulated 30 dogs, he needed to have the means to support them and support himself.”
By 2006, Hessert was living out of his truck in the Fairbanks area and the vehicle’s cab was perpetually filled with trash. In November, he dislocated his kneecap in a trailer hitch mishap, forcing him to ask mushers he hardly knew to care for his dogs. One of those mushers recalled, “He had no home, he barely had means of transporting his dogs and he had no job. I knew these dogs would be in a bad situation if they didn’t get help.”
Another Fairbanks musher, who asked not to be named because he fears reprisal from Hessert, said, “He’s very bright and manipulative. He was good at convincing people to stay on their property, but he always wore out his welcome and had to leave. He used and abused people.”
He also claimed that Hessert routinely refused to provide his dogs with shelters, even when they were available.
Matthew Ruger, Animal Control Manager for the Fairbanks North Star Borough, said, “I have a dossier on Mr. Hessert that’s two inches thick. We have records of 21 different calls related to him.”
Several complaints involved Hessert staking his dogs on borough property or private property without permission. There were also complaints regarding the physical condition of the dogs as well as how they were staked out n their chains being too short or wrapped around brush. Animal Control was also aware that Hessert would disappear for days without feeding his dogs.
“We observed that his dogs were seriously emaciated,” said Ruger. “We took photographs of them. We could see shoulder bones, hip bones and ribs sticking out. We were concerned they weren’t going to live through the winter.” He added, “At no time in our encounters with Mr. Hessert did we observe that he provided shelter to all his animals. Some of the dogs were digging holes to find shelter.”
Alaska’s animal cruelty and due process laws require that unless an animal is in immediate danger of death a “removal notice” be posted 24 hours prior to seizure. Ruger said they posted several removal notices at various sites. “When we’d roll back out 24-hours later, we’d find warm tire tracks and he’d be gone. We spent a good deal of time chasing him around. The borough is the size of Connecticut, and we have five officers.”
As a result, Hessert’s only animal-related penalty in the Fairbanks area was a citation for failure to properly restrain an animal.
Animal Control officers would leave bags of dog food with the removal notices.
“There’s no sense in letting these dogs suffer if we can prevent that,” Ruger reported.
He also said that Hessert is an anomaly in the sled dog world.
“Ninety-nine percent of our dealings with mushers are positive. They’re good stewards of their animals.”
Hessert’s lack of planning became evident during the 2007 Yukon Quest race. According to published accounts, Hessert was fined $500 for being late for a mandatory pre-race meeting. He was penalized for not cleaning up at race checkpoints and was fined $250 for not having vaccination records when he arrived in Dawson City. Hessert was involuntarily “withdrawn” by a race official due to his lack of preparation and failure to have a dog handler. An on-site observer was quoted as saying, “Those poor dogs don’t know what they’re getting into.”
Hessert arrived in West Yellowstone in September 2007 without a place to stake his dogs. He eventually leased a parcel of land west of town that bordered National Forest property. Although the leased property had plenty of space, Hessert staked several dogs on neighboring federal land, earning him a Forest Service citation.
Hessert’s trial is scheduled to begin on August 13. He is represented by attorney Chuck Watson. His father Stephen Hessert, a managing partner in a Maine law firm, requested custody of the dogs until the case is decided, a move that was opposed by the County Attorney’s office.
On May 12, Judge Holly Brown granted the request; Stephen Hessert will transport the dogs to Maine. The senior Hessert testified at the hearing that he has been monetarily assisting his son’s mushing efforts, and that he intends to return the dogs to his son if he is acquitted.
John Worsfold, the Deputy County Attorney who was trying the Hessert case, is relocating to California to continue his law career. Worsfold said he was disappointed in the ruling. “The Judge's decision contradicts the clear and well defined intent of the Legislature who wrote the law regarding the return of seized property.”
Candace Hamlin, a volunteer who provided care for Hessert’s dogs at the county barn, fears the case is heading in the wrong direction.
“After everything these dogs have endured at the hands of JT Hessert, the possibility that they might one day be given back to him is unthinkable. That would be the height of injustice.”
Author’s notes:
Neither JT nor Stephen Hessert replied to email and/or telephone requests to provide input for this article. The author was one of the people recruited to care for the seized dogs at the county facility.
(Montana Standard - June 3, 2008)