One rescue is licensed by the state and is inspected regularly. The second rescue was not.
About six weeks ago, officers arrived at the second rescue with a search warrant. Three people had reported they had visited the rescue, interested in adopting pets, but left feeling troubled about the filthy conditions.
In the warrant, they reported dogs and cats living in crates stacked on top of each other. Feces were everywhere — in the kennels, in the crates and all over the house. Urine leaked from the upper crates and onto the animals in the lower crates.
When the officers arrived, the owner allegedly tried to block them from entering her home, which doubled as an indoor animal facility. She was arrested. Then the officers loaded up dozens of dogs, cats and rabbits and took them to the Cheyenne Animal Shelter.
The raided rescue was called Litl' Bit of Love Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, located near the small town of Carpenter east of Cheyenne. The owner, Marci Biesheuvel, has been charged.
At the time, Rob Shank, who oversees Cheyenne Animal Control, said filth was the overriding concern. Also, the water in the dishes for the dogs that lived outside was frozen.
Many came to Biesheuvel's defense, posting comments on the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's articles on WyomingNews.com and submitting letters to the editor, saying Biesheuvel was a big-hearted animal lover who made many sacrifices to do what many are unwilling to do — bring in people's unwanted pets.
Her defense attorney said she was a victim of her own compassion and that she isn't a criminal.
Study in contrasts
Drive 20 miles south and you'll arrive at the first rescue, Denkai Animal Sanctuary.
That's in Colorado. And for more than a decade, businesses and nonprofits there that operate as animal shelters, rescues, breeders, groomers and pet stores have had to be licensed and inspected.
The same goes for Nebraska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and many other states.
But in Wyoming, there are no standards or regulations for facilities that are in the pet business — for-profit and nonprofit alike.
"That's where Wyoming is really behind the times," said Floss Blackburn, owner of Denkai Animal Sanctuary. "A lot of it has to do with the fact that it's a rancher-orientated type of state. That's good and bad."
In addition, state experts say law enforcement officials don't consistently enforce what's already on the books.
109 ANIMAL SUFFERED, BUT OWNER GETS JUST 2 CITATIONS
Biesheuvel got just two misdemeanor citations for animal cruelty: failure "to provide proper shelter" for the 37 dogs and 15 cats living in her house and the 53 dogs and four cats living outdoors.
Based on what state experts say, it's entirely possible that in another Wyoming county, officials would see no basis to charge Biesheuvel. As long as the animals were fed, watered, not being whipped and not being rained on, they could do nothing.
Today, the state's animal care law bars cruelty. But it only says this: Those responsible for an animal's care shall provide adequate food, water and protection from the weather.
Therein lies the big gray space.
"'Protection from the weather' — what does that mean?" asked Patricia Fazio of Cody. "The side of a barn? A windbreak? A roof over its head?"
The statewide coordinator of the Wyoming Wild Horse Coalition — who also advocates for the humane treatment of animals — went on to say that current law could work if applied liberally.
"If you want to say that means four sides and a roof and a door, you could interpret that as protection from the weather," Fazio said.
Law in the works
The Wyoming Legislature likely will vote on a law next session that sets more specific care standards for pets.
It's not outside the realm of possibility that regulations for businesses and nonprofits that deal with pets also could be considered.
Rep. Bernadine Craft, D-Rock Springs, supports this. She said officials have complained to her that they have seen some bad situations they couldn't do anything about.
Craft knew of one instance where residents took matters in their own hands. A group did a hostile takeover of the Sweetwater County shelter. Armed with their new memberships, they fired the director, voted out the board and spent days cleaning up the rat-infested facility; according to Craft, two women donned Hazmat suits.
Thanks to those efforts, she said, that shelter is now a showpiece.
Late in the 2009 session, Craft introduced a minimum pet care bill that proposed requirements such as making "actual water, not frozen water" available to dogs, cats and other pets, and keeping their living spaces "reasonably clean of filth."
That bill failed. Since then, the Wyoming Livestock Board has been looking at drafting "animal protection legislation that actually had some teeth in it," said State Veterinarian Dr. Jim Logan.
Ask any 10 people what the current law means, and you'll get 10 different answers, he said.
"There's no doubt in my mind we need to have some consistency," Logan said. "In my opinion, we need to be very proactive in getting this down so we aren't vulnerable to outside entities wanting to do things in their way in Wyoming. … We need to do it here."
It's uncertain right now if the legislation would result in pet business regulations, Logan said. There's no draft bill yet.
The next discussion on this issue will occur during this week's meeting of the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands, and Water Resources Interim Committee. He expects study on the issue to be "ongoing" throughout the summer.
Should the committee decline to sponsor a bill, Craft said she plans to take it on in the upcoming session.
It might be a tough sell to ranchers, she admitted. But the law would not apply to horses and other livestock.
"We're not talking about a horse standing outside in the cold without a blanket — that's what the ranchers are worried about," she said. "No one intends to run around and try to be do-gooders. But it needs to be a controlled industry."
She acknowledged that regulating pet industries would cost the state money, which is in short supply these days, though many of the costs could be offset by license fees.
Laws elsewhere
Others in the animal-welfare industry say regulations work well in other states.
Though the state's very name triggers angry sputtering and gnashing of teeth among some Wyomingites, Colorado has such a system in place.
"(The law) is nice because it fills in the space between what is clearly cruelty and the situation that doesn't quite meet that threshold but just isn't right," said Martha Smith.
She represents animal rescues on the advisory committee of the Colorado Pet Animal Care Facilities Act program.
Though some groups would like to see even tighter regulations in Colorado, Smith said rules are reasonable and it's a work in progress.
In Colorado, rescues pay an annual license fee of $175; shelters pay $350.
Some of the things the rules say:
— Buildings should be structurally sound and in good repair, with electricity, water, washrooms, heating and cooling and ventilation;
— Animal pens should be water resistant, cleaned of waste at least daily and have enough space for the animals to turn around;
— Animals should be given clean water and food that meets the animal's nutritional needs;
— All rescue and shelter pets should be altered before they're adopted out;
— Records should be kept on the animals, such as a physical description, source of the animal and medical treatment;
— All rescue agencies must have a working relationship with a veterinarian;
— An inspection is required before the first license is issued and regular ones will be made afterward.
"If people are not able to meet those standards, then they might think about doing something else," Smith said. "Just because you mean well doesn't mean that you're excused from taking proper care of the animals."
Blackburn, of the Colorado-based Denkai animal rescue group, said the law does have its drawbacks.
A complaint — which can come from someone "who hates us because we exist" — triggers an automatic visit from an inspector. That takes time away from the animals, she said.
But she'd prefer to have regulations than not.
"They help deter a lot of neglect and hoarding situations we'd otherwise have," Blackburn said.
Logan said earlier it was proposed that Wyoming consider adopting a version of Colorado's law. He thought it was "long and onerous and not applicable to Wyoming."
Even having specific minimum care standards for animals would help, Fazio said.
"The idea of having regulations is to show what is really neglect and what is not," she said.
She recounted a northern Wyoming case where two dogs were living in a small box where they could "hardly turn around," topped with a mesh roof that let in rain, snow and hot sun. But the sheriff said he couldn't charge the owner: They had food, water and shelter.
"There was no consideration for the fact they were in there 23 hours a day," Fazio said. "They're kennel crazy. If that's not cruelty, I don't know what is. That's just stupid."
(Wyoming News - April 18, 2010)
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