North Carolina: Are Ashe County Sheriff James Williams and Animal Control Director Joe Testerman lazy, incompetent or corrupt?

NORTH CAROLINA -- A local animal rights activist was charged with second degree trespassing on Feb. 5.

These Beagles are being cruelly confined
by Daniel Cruz in Ashe County, NC.

Lisa Fitzpatrick, 50, of Todd, was charged after videos she allegedly posted to Facebook of a Lansing man’s dogs and property went viral.

Fitzpatrick, who also goes by Lisa Neyland Delaurentiis Fitzpatrick, was released from the Ashe County Detention Center the same day after posting a $500 secured bond, according to Ashe County Sheriff James Williams.

“The property owner, Daniel Cruz, came to see me this morning (Feb. 5) and he was livid,” Williams said. “He said he works in Boone and that that business had been flooded with calls from people demanding that he be fired, that his boss man had been getting calls all day long from these nutcases from across the country.”

Why isn't the Sheriff "livid" that Cruz won't take proper care of his dogs? If I were the Sheriff, I would've told Cruz, "Maybe if you took better care of your dogs these people wouldn't keep calling in. Do what you need to do and the complaints will stop. In the meantime, don't bother me with your petty complaints about how you're the victim."

No proper shelter, no clean water, feces-filled muck in kennel. Yet
Sheriff James Williams refers to the owner Daniel Cruz as the VICTIM.

Those calls may have been prompted by a viral video posted publicly to Facebook on Feb. 4, by Fitzpatrick which appears to show a person walking up to a chain link enclosure that includes three barking dogs sitting on the roof of a doghouse. Williams said the video was taken on Cruz’s property, and said it was the video that prompted Cruz to bring the trespassing charge against Fitzpatrick.

“This is OK in our county,” the person filming the video said. “I’ve been told Animal Control is on their way out, and see if the dogs are taken. I see no food or water anywhere.”

Online, Fitzpatrick has defended herself saying SHE WAS ON THE ADJOINING PROPERTY AND THAT SHE HAD THAT PROPERTY OWNER'S PERMISSION TO BE THERE. Whatever is "in plain view" is legal for her to photograph and record. It will be interesting to see how this case against her unfolds when she provides proof of her innocence.

Beagles in "good condition", insists Joe Testerman
The Director of Ashe County Animal Control, Joe Testerman, said he visited the property on the same day that Facebook video was posted. He said the dogs in question were in no immediate danger, and a note was left for the property owner to call Testerman’s office.

“I’m sure Lisa will probably disagree with me, but the dogs were fat and there were no signs of distress and they were dry and clean,” Testerman said. “Yes there was some mud and standing water in one of the pens. We’d just had heavy rains and let’s be real, you’re going to see a lot of water in that situation, but the dogs had a house and they had an opportunity to get out of that. I saw no reason to take the dogs.”

Testerman said his office has periodically received complaints about that Lansing property in the past, and he said the dogs’ owner had been investigated on cockfighting charges several years ago.

“But he’s never had any other charges brought onto him,” Testerman said. “Every time we’ve visited in the past we’ve seen a few little things that we think need to be fixed, maybe straw or wood chips that can help keep a pen from turning into a mud hole, but those are suggestions and it’s never rose to a level where I can take somebody’s dog.”

WHY WON'T JOE TESTERMAN DO HIS JOB?

Per the Ashe County, NC Code of Ordinances, the puppy mill owner Daniel Cruz is REQUIRED by law to provide proper shelter and  clean water.

Proper shelter in this kind of weather means a size-appropriate dog house with straw or cedar shavings stuffed inside for warmth - not just a giant plastic box doghouse. Each dog should have its own size-appropriate shelter because not all dogs want to huddle together at all times - sometimes squabbles break out and the low man on the totem pole gets left out in the cold - literally. Put three shelters out there and if they choose to share one, so be it, but you should have one per dog available.

Clean water means just that - CLEAN water. Do you see anything that could be remotely considered 'clean water'?

This dog house is falling apart and is not considered
proper shelter, per Ashe County law. 

Are they even current on rabies vaccinations? Did Testerman bother to check?

Is the food being dumped in the mud? Is the mud mixed with excessive amounts of feces?  I doubt Cruz is sloshing through that mess and picking up the feces. To get to any source of water or to go to the bathroom, the dogs slosh through the muck. Then they climb back on the dog house and lick their paws, ingesting rancid feces/urine/mud.

Testerman himself says that Cruz has been complained on FOR YEARS and that they go out and always find something wrong. How many times do they have to go out there and 'nudge him' to do the right thing?

Maybe you don't have enough to seize the animals and file criminal charges, but he is definitely in violation of numerous county ordinances - noise violations, public nuisance from the stench of uncleaned kennels, (possibly) no proof of rabies vaccination, not providing proper shelter, not providing clean water.

Maybe if you'd pulled out your citation book and started writing him one ticket after another for violations on EVERY SINGLE DOG, you wouldn't have to keep fielding complaints from citizens and returning to tell this idiot the same thing over and over. And if Cruz wants to argue the tickets, tell him go ahead, and you'll show the judge the photos and let him/her decide if he's in compliance with the laws of Ashe County.

It's called DOING YOUR JOB.

How many dogs are on Cruz's dilapidated property?
Another video seems to show dozens upon dozens
of dogs on this dumpy property.

§ 90.02  CRUELTY TO ANIMALS (ASHE COUNTY, NC)
   (A)   It shall be unlawful for any person to molest, torture, torment, deprive of necessary sustenance, cruelly beat, needlessly mutilate or kill, wound, injure, poison, abandon, or subject to conditions detrimental to its health or general welfare of any animal, or to cause or procure such action. The words “torture” and “torment” shall be held to include every act, omission or neglect whereby unjustifiable physical pain, suffering, or death is caused or permitted; but such terms shall not be construed to prohibit lawful taking of animals under the jurisdiction and regulation of the Wildlife Resources Commission; nor to prohibit the Department or veterinarians or duly authorized persons from destroying dangerous, unwanted, or injured animals in a humane manner.

   (B)   It shall be unlawful for any owner or keeper to fail to provide his animal(s) with proper shelter and protection from the weather, sufficient and wholesome food and water to keep his animal(s) in good health and comfort, and the opportunity for vigorous daily exercise. Veterinary care shall be provided when needed to prevent suffering.

§ 90.04  NUISANCE  (ASHE COUNTY, NC)
   (A)   An animal or group of animals shall be considered a nuisance if:
      (1)   Private or public property is damaged.
      (2)   Animal(s) interfere with, or attack person(s) or other animals.
      (3)   Animal(s) chase, snap at or harass pedestrians, bicyclists, or vehicles.
      (4)   By virtue of number is offensive or dangerous to public health, safety, and welfare.
      (5)   Animal(s) are diseased or dangerous to public health.
   (B)   It shall be unlawful for an owner or keeper to permit an animal or animals to create a nuisance, or to maintain a nuisance created by any animal or animals, as defined in division (A)(1) through (5) above of this section.

In the video, she comments about the atrocious stench coming from the kennels containing the dogs. This watery muck is a mixture of mud, feces and urine. Dog feces is NOT manure. It must be picked up and removed. The stench and the non-stop barking should be enough to cite Daniel Cruz on violations of this ordinance.

For each dog without current proof of rabies vaccination, I would write a ticket. If that dog has no proper shelter, I'd write another ticket. If that dog doesn't have clean water, I'd write another ticket. If the kennel is full of rancid muck, I'd write another ticket for public nuisance. If the dog is barking non-stop, I'd write another ticket for public nuisance. That's potentially FIVE TICKETS PER DOG. How many dogs are on the property in these conditions? Keep writing, Joe...

Dozens upon dozens of dogs living in these
conditions. Can you imagine the stench
and the noise from their barking?

MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, JOE TESTERMAN IS NOT AT FAULT:

Now it just may be that Joe Testerman is being prevented from doing his job. This usually happens when the suspect is either friends or business associates with people in power -- the mayor, commissioners, the sheriff and/or his captains and chiefs, prosecutors, judges, well-known attorneys who are friends with judges/law enforcement, nearby law enforcement jurisdictions. It may be that Testerman was told "hands off" this Cruz guy. THIS KIND OF STUFF HAPPENS EVERYWHERE, NOT JUST SMALL TOWNS. So maybe Testerman has been ordered not to write Cruz any citations so he does the best he can, which is to go out there and nudge Cruz into providing straw or clean water when he sees how bad it's getting...

(Jefferson Post - Feb 6, 2016)

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