California: Residents, police team up to remove impaled coyote

CALIFORNIA -- The blood-curdling scream of an injured coyote led residents to a horrifying discovery at 2:30 a.m. Sunday—a coyote had impaled itself on a wrought-iron fence on Daisy Drive in Chino Hills.

The coyote had been running in a pack in pursuit of a dog on nearby Bluebell Drive when they were chased away by a resident returning home from work.

Kevin Stenson of Daisy Drive said he joined his neighbors after being awaken by what he called a “terrible death scream.”

They found the coyote across the street from Mr. Stenson’s house impaled on his neighbor’s fence.

“It was the most incredible thing I had ever seen,” Mr. Stenson said. “His back legs were sticking out of the fence and he was bleeding—it looked crazy.”

The residents called the Chino Hills Police Department and were advised to contact the Inland Valley Humane Society. When they got a recorded message they contacted the police again.

Deputies Sokly Chau and Juan Frias arrived on the scene and attempted to call the humane society, but also got the recording.

At that point, the residents and deputies carefully removed the coyote and placed it into a dog container. One of the deputies placed the container in his patrol vehicle and drove the animal to a remote place where it was released into the wild.

James Edward, operations manager for the Inland Valley Humane Society, said the recorded message contains a phone number for emergencies that connect to an answering service.

Mr. Edward said he checked the logs, contacted the answering service, and found no record of any calls that morning.

Mr. Stenson said the deputies did what they could to contact the humane society. “They were awesome. They went above and beyond the call of duty,” he said.

He said the humane society should automatically forward emergency calls. “This is 2017. It shouldn’t be that difficult,” he said. “Can’t you just “push 1” or “push 2?” he asked.

Mr. Edward said the phone system was set up to include the answering service number but it doesn’t mean it’s the right setup. He said the humane society has already contacted its phone provider to see if there is a viable solution.

Capt. Darren Goodman commended the deputies for taking action after reaching a recording at 2:30 a.m. while an animal was impaled.

He said the deputy made a judgment call to release the animal based on the facts in front of him. “The animal was showing enough signs of resiliency to release it into its own natural environment,” he said.

For after-hours emergencies, residents should call the humane society answering service at 594-9858. Mr. Edward said emergencies are defined as an injured animal, an aggressive animal, or a police department assist.

(Champion Newspapers - September 2, 2017)

Illinois: Half-drowned coyote puppy found in a bucket with six of its dead siblings -- all had been held underwater and drowned one by one

ILLINOIS -- It was a grisly scene encountered by a ranger from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County when answering a call earlier this month about a bucket of puppies at the Penny Road pond near Barrington.

When the ranger drove to the 4,000-acre Spring Lake Forest Preserve southwest of Bateman and Lake Cook roads, he went to a pond off Penny Road and found a five-gallon bucket with a plastic garbage bag full of dead coyote pups, seven in all.

"According to the incident report, he picked up the five-gallon bucket, and that was when he realized one was still alive," said Dawn Keller, founder and director of the Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation. She runs the facility in downtown Barrington and in Chicago on Northerly Island.

The discovery was made on May 11, and the ranger dropped the surviving pup — which, like its litter mates, was in the one-pound range and only a couple weeks old — at an emergency veterinarian clinic called Golf Rose Animal Hospital in Schaumburg, Keller said.

According to Keller, the clinic has called Flint Creek in the past for wild animals brought in by the public, so a volunteer showed up and took the coyote, its x-rays and the incident report from the Cook County ranger back to Barrington.

"At the point of admission, the puppy was critical," she said. "The leg was shattered, it was dangling and misshapen and it was sticking out slightly because of a hip fracture."

Keller added that Flint Creek staff "started treating it with fluids, anti-inflammatory and pain medication. On the second day, it opened its eyes. Nine days later, last Saturday, the leg was set in a cast, (and) the coyote was eating well and stable at this point."

That's when she started a Facebook effort to get tips reported to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources hotline.

"It was blunt force trauma," said Keller of what caused the injury, adding that she could only imagine what happened to the other coyote puppies. "They were brutalized. This was not some humane killing.

"It takes a special person to brutalize an animal, especially babies. That's not normal. It's really sad."

Officials with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources were not immediately available to comment on Tuesday. Keller said she contacted the IDNR to make sure it was all right to publicize the tip line on their Facebook page.

Keller said if anyone in the Barrington or Barrington Hills area or anyone else knows anything about the incident that occurred on May 11, they are asked to contact the IDNR tip line at 1-877-2DNRLAW (1-877-236-7529).

"We're hoping the leg heals enough that it doesn't have to be amputated," she said. "We're just trying to help investigators. This is not acceptable behavior."

VIDEO CLIP:

(Chicago Tribune - May 23, 2017)

Wisconsin: Kurt Rausch, 35, shot and killed Deanna Clark's dogs which were legally allowed to be off-leash AND were wearing reflective vests. He then lied and said he "thought they were coyotes". Both dogs?! Judge Ellen Berz reduces felony charges to misdemeanors based on his LIE.

WISCONSIN -- Animal mistreatment charges against an Evansville coyote hunter, who officials said shot a woman’s two dogs last winter at a state wildlife area, will be reduced from felonies to misdemeanors under a judge’s order.

Dane County Circuit Judge Ellen Berz, in an order issued on Friday, agreed with prosecutors that animal mistreatment charges against Kurt Rausch, 35, can be amended from felonies to misdemeanors.

Rausch was charged in April with two counts of felony animal mistreatment for shooting two dogs that belonged to Deanna Clark, who was walking them off-leash after dark at Badfish Creek State Wildlife Area southeast of Stoughton on Jan. 22.

Rausch [LIED and] told police he mistook the dogs for coyotes, which he was legally hunting.

Both of the dogs died.

Rausch was also charged with a misdemeanor count of negligently handling a weapon.

 

Felony-level animal mistreatment requires the intent to kill or disfigure an animal, while misdemeanor-level mistreatment requires negligence.

Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey initially argued that because Rausch intended to shoot coyotes when he shot Clark’s dogs, the intent transferred to his shooting of the dogs.

Humphrey later abandoned that argument and argued for reduction of the charges to misdemeanors.

One of the main rules of firearms safety is to be sure of your target and what is beyond it. 

If this moron KURT RAUSCH is dumb enough to think dogs wearing collars and reflective vests look like coyotes and he fires off not just one, but two shots in succession at two separate targets, claiming it was dark and he wasn't sure.... well that's reckless endangerment because there could have been a child standing there behind the dog.

Michele Tjader takes money to defend dog killers

Rausch’s lawyer, Michele Tjader, agreed the charges could be reduced to misdemeanors, but she sought dismissal of the charges entirely because Rausch was exercising his constitutional right to hunt.

Berz wrote that the issue of hunting as a constitutional right hadn’t been fully argued by both sides and she wouldn’t consider it at this point.

Berz also denied a motion by Tjader to dismiss the negligent firearm handling charge. Tjader had argued that Clark was a great distance from Rausch when he fired the shots at the dogs, and that it couldn’t be proven that Rausch endangered Clark, only that he could have endangered her.

Berz said that Humphrey’s argument, that it was dark and Rausch fired shots despite being unable to see where he was shooting, supports a charge of negligence to the minimal level required for probable cause.

The case will continue after Humphrey files an amended criminal complaint, which Berz ordered him to do by Dec. 31.

(Madison.com - Dec 19, 2016)

Earlier:

• Wisconsin: Kurt Rausch, 35, just wanted to have some fun by shooting and killing coyotes. He was so eager to kill something he shot and killed both of Deanna Clark's dogs which were wearing reflective vests
• Wisconsin: Attorney Michele Tjader is scraping the bottom of the barrel by defending killer Kurt Rausch

Washington: Shoreline police Officer Nicholas Manley rescues little dog from coyote, reunites her with her owner who'd been searching for her for 38 days

WASHINGTON -- Sadie is going to have the best Thanksgiving ever.

This story involves a cute dog gone missing for 38 days, a heartbroken daughter and mother, a helpful cop and a rare supermoon.

It was back on Oct. 8, during a windstorm, that Sadie – an 8-year-old Chinese Crested with cute little hairy paws – bolted out of Renee Jones’ yard in Edmonds’ Westgate neighborhood during the early morning hours.

Renee was watching Sadie because her mother, Ardis Santwire, who lives in a condo on Fourth Avenue South, was visiting friends in Eastern Washington.

That night, the wind made strange sounds in and outside the house. Trees rustled. Sadie – used to the relative calm of the condo she shared with her sister, Sasha – started howling. Renee tried to calm her by petting her and speaking softly.

Renee returned to bed. No one knew it then, but a board placed in front of a dog door blew down, allowing Sadie to make her escape.

The next morning, Renee and husband – along with their three children – hustled out the door to attend three separate soccer games. When everyone returned home at 4 p.m., they realized Sadie was missing.

Investigating, Renee found a hole dug under the fence in the backyard, and the search was on.

Ardis arrived back in Edmonds the next day, and immediately started knocking on doors. She and Renee printed flyers, contacted various vet hospitals, the Edmonds police. PAWS. Everett's animal shelter. Craigslist.

No luck.

But then the night of the supermoon arrived. Some think a full moon brings strange happenings. This time, when it was super-close, it brought a miracle.

It began with a phone call to Renee from Animal Medical Center in Shoreline on Nov. 14, four hours after Renee took down a “lost dog” post on a 100th Avenue West telephone poll.

“Hello, is this Renee? You’re the alternate number on the chip.”

Sadie had a microchip, which allowed the vet to identify her owner.

The call went to Renee because Ardis was at a doctor’s appointment that evening for a CPAP sleep study that she had waited months to attend – she was wired up, the whole nine yards. A first call from the Animal Medical Center to Ardis didn’t go through – no reception.

Renee, equal parts relieved and over the (super) moon, tried calling her mother from her cell. This time, the call went through. Ardis was so excited that her blood pressure skyrocketed. But after it calmed down, she stayed for the test she had waited so long for.

SHORELINE POLICE OFFICER SAVES THE DAY

Both Ardis and Sadie wanted to know: How was Sadie found?

This is where things get scary weird.

Sadie made it to Shoreline, Shoreline police Officer Nicholas Manley said, as he told them the story.

Manley saw a coyote with a small dog locked in its jaws. Manley chased the coyote for about 10 yards. The coyote dropped Sadie. The officer picked her up and rushed her to the vet hospital.

“I’m pretty sure running after coyotes was not in his job description when hired,” Renee said, “and he probably wasn’t wearing a pair of comfy running shoes.”

Ardis had Sadie back, but Sadie wasn’t looking too good.

“Our precious Sadie was terribly matted, thin and flea-infested, with puncture wounds where the coyote grabbed her and left bruises,” Ardis said. “In 38 days, she somehow survived losing three pounds, and I am sure she was very weak and not able to find proper nourishment. We didn't recognize her.”

But Sadie recognized Ardis, and was glad to be home.

“So many things lined up that night,” Renee said. “A cell phone call that shouldn’t have gotten through, a dog I didn’t think could survive that long, an officer and a dinnerless coyote and, of course, the light of the Pacific Northwest’s cloudy supermoon.”

If you have a pet that’s not chipped, you might want to do yourself a solid.

“Chip and register your pets,” Renee said. “It really can work in your favor.”

On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Ardis and Renee will meet their hero, Officer Manley, for the first time.

“We can hardly wait to express our gratitude in person,” Ardis said. “This Thanksgiving is very special.”

(Edmonds Beacon - Nov 22, 2016)

Alabama: Birmingham area veterinarian William Weber charged after being caught with 24 raccoons, 6 coyotes

ALABAMA -- Birmingham veterinarian Dr. William B. Weber is charged with 30 counts of illegally possessing protected wildlife.

Twenty-four raccoons and six coyotes were confiscated from Weber's Eastwood Animal Clinic in Birmingham and his home in Irondale.

The animals were reportedly housed in various cages that indicated long-term captivity, and evidence suggested that some of the animals were imported from Louisiana in a violation of state and federal law.

“Attempting to keep a wild animal never ends well for the animal or the person confining it,” Kerry Bradford, WFF Senior Conservation Enforcement Officer, said in a release.

Both coyotes and raccoons are known carriers of rabies, and there is no approved rabies vaccine for raccoons and coyotes.

After seizing the animals, they killed all 30 of them and their brains are being tested for rabies by the United States Department of Agriculture.

"Rabies is a very serious public health threat that is always fatal if proper medical treatment is not delivered soon after exposure,” said Dr. Dee W. Jones, State Public Health Veterinarian with the Alabama Department of Public Health. “Anyone who suspects they might have been exposed to a rabid animal should consult their doctor or county health department immediately."

Maybe these animals had been found as babies and raised with people and he knew he couldn't release them into the wild but figured if they were contained at his house, they could at least be spared death and not a risk to the general public. However, any time wildlife officials find people with wild animals as pets, they take the animals and kill them. 

(abc3340 - Jul 27, 2016)

Michigan: Opening arguments kick off in animal torture case against Jason Roberts

MICHIGAN -- The trial of Jason Charles Roberts, 34, of Ironwood began Tuesday in Gogebic County Circuit Court. Roberts is facing three animal cruelty-related charges in connection to a YouTube video of hunting dogs attacking a wounded coyote.

Roberts faces a felony charge of torturing an animal and misdemeanors for cruelty to an animal and failure to kill a wounded animal. The first charge carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison, while the other have maximum sentences of 93 days and 90 days, respectively.

Following a morning of jury selection, which resulted in nine men and four women being impanelled — one random juror will be dismissed from jury duty prior to deliberation — and procedural arguments, attorneys for both sides made their opening statements.

Gogebic County Prosecutor Nick Jacobs began by laying out the basic facts of the case, telling jurors the video was filmed in February 2014 while Roberts and Dale Scott Allen, 45, were hunting coyotes near Airport and Kane roads in Ironwood Township Feb. 24, 2014.

Allen is expected to be a witness for the defense in the case, Jacobs told the Daily Globe.

Jacobs told the jury the roughly six-minute video begins with the approach of the wounded coyote and runs for several minutes before the dogs arrive on the scene, attacking the coyote — ultimately killing it.

In one video uploaded Feb. 20 and titled “Hounds Fight Wounded Yote,” hunting dogs Doc, Duke, and Cooter bound through snow toward the mature coyote. Already shot and wounded, according to the video narrator, the coyote lies nearly motionless in the thigh-high drifts. Its eyes blink.

“This is going to be some live action," the man says as he aims the video camera. “There he his. There he is. Get him, Doc. Get him. ... We're going to get Cooter in here. He's a machine.”

High pitched wails punctuate the wooded silence. The coyote is near death at the end. The videographer says they will try to find another one.

He described the attack for jurors, saying it was outside the lines of what is considered hunting.

“Suffice it to say, (the dogs) torment the hell out of (the coyote). They torture it, they mutilate it, they maim it, they drag it, they pull it — blood all over the snow,” Jacobs said. “It’s simply an unacceptable hunting practice. It’s not the way people should hunt.”

Jacobs said the case wasn’t an attack on hunting, hunters or even those who legally use dogs to chase game — including coyotes.

“My goodness, (hunting) is the U.P. way,” Jacobs said. “If they took away my hunting rights, I’d go insane in a minute ... it’s just a way of life for us.”

Rather, Jacobs argued the case was about acceptable hunting practices allowed by law.

Roberts’ attorney, Roy Polich, argued the case was an attack on hunting, saying his client was hunting a legal game animal and the fundamental nature of hunting made it exempt from the animal cruelty statutes.

“I believe this case, as it’s presented to you, is a move to eliminate hunting. Why were they in the woods? They were in the woods to kill a coyote,” Polich said. “The (Michigan Department of Natural Resources) sells licenses and has a season to kill coyotes. The objective is to kill coyotes. A coyote was killed.

“Now we’re here (deciding on) three counts because subjectively — when you look at the video — some people think, “Gee, I don’t like the way they killed that coyote.’”

He later expanded on the idea, telling the jury the video is a graphic depiction of a legal hunt society would prefer not to acknowledge.

“We’re here because we don’t want to see how animals die. We’re here because we grew up at Disney and the animals talk,” Polich said. “And we don’t want to see what happens at the meat-packing plants. And we don’t want to see how chickens are killed. And we don’t want to see how the seals in the Arctic, when they are killing seals with clubs — we don’t want to see it. And most people don’t want to see what happens to a coyote when it’s shot with buckshot.”

Polich discussed the idea of “acceptable hunting practices,” raising the fact that different types of hunting and fishing had different standards for acceptable conduct when killing an animal — using examples of allowing a wounded deer to bed down and bleed out when bow hunting or the legal requirement that traps be checked once every 48 hours to see if game has been caught in them.

He said both examples could likely be viewed as cruel by anti-hunters and didn’t fit the standard of not immediately killing a game animal as required by the second misdemeanor, a DNR game violation.

“Where does (the cruelty line) stop, where does it start?” Polich said. “Where it needs to stop is right here, right now.

“Because pretty soon any kind of hunting you do (will be illegal) ... if we’re going to prosecute people for cruelty to animals, cruelty to an animal we’re trying to kill because there is a designated season, where does it stop?”

Polich also added several facts to the the day of the hunt, including the fact the coyote was actually shot by Allen, the hunt took place in deep snow and there wasn’t any ammo left to shoot the coyote again after it was wounded.

Polich told jurors given the lack of more ammunition and deep snow, the coyote being killed by a dog was probably the most humane option available to his client.

Both Jacobs and Polich touched on the fact that the case wouldn’t be in court at all if the video wasn’t uploaded to YouTube.

The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today with the prosecution’s first witness, DNR Sgt. Grant Emery, who was the investigating officer in the case.

(Your Daily Globe - April 27, 2016)

Wisconsin: Attorney Michele Tjader is scraping the bottom of the barrel by defending killer Kurt Rausch

WISCONSIN -- The criminal charges issued by the Dane County District Attorney’s Office against coyote hunter Kurt Rausch are politically motivated, says his attorney.

“They came about due to political pressure from an online petition,” Michele Tjader told Court Commissioner Scott McAndrew during Rausch’s initial appearance Thursday morning.

Rausch, who received a signature bond, is charged with two felony counts of mistreatment of animals and one misdemeanor for the negligent handling of a firearm for the fatal shootings of two pet dogs in the Badfish Creek Wildlife Area on Jan. 22. At the time, the Department of Natural Resources declined to press charges.

Each felony count carries a fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to three years. Rausch faces an additional fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to nine months for the misdemeanor charge.

According to the criminal complaint, Rausch was hunting for coyotes at night when he mistook two dogs belonging to Deanna Clark for coyotes. One dog he shot died immediately. The other died days later. The Dane County sheriff’s report on the incident noted that Rausch was “visibly upset and shaken. [He] stated he never meant for this to happen.”

Assistant District Attorney Tim Helmberger proposed three bail conditions for Rausch — that he be banned from hunting, from possessing a dangerous weapon and from contacting Clark. Tjader argued against the first two conditions, offering that Rausch was a lifelong hunter, had never had a DNR citation and has no criminal history.

McAndrews agreed, noting that bail is not supposed to be punitive and that the incident occurred three months ago. “I don’t see a danger to the public,” he said. But he did specify that Rausch not contact Clark in any manner.

Tjader declined to answer questions or allow her client to speak to reporters after the hearing.

The preliminary hearing for Rausch is set for April 27.

(Isthmus - April 14, 2016)

Earlier:

• Wisconsin: Kurt Rausch, 35, just wanted to have some fun by shooting and killing coyotes. He was so eager to kill something he shot and killed both of Deanna Clark's dogs which were wearing reflective vests

Wisconsin: Kurt Rausch, 35, just wanted to have some fun by shooting and killing coyotes. He was so eager to kill something he shot and killed both of Deanna Clark's dogs which were wearing reflective vests

WISCONSIN -- In what could be unprecedented charges, a hunter is facing two felonies and a misdemeanor for the fatal shooting of two pet dogs at a wildlife area in Dane County in late January.

Kurt Rausch of Evansville is charged with two felony counts of mistreatment of animals and one misdemeanor count for the negligent handling of a firearm. He has been ordered to appear in Dane County Court on Thursday morning.

The Department of Natural Resources had declined to press charges.

The criminal complaint filed by Dane County Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey states that Rausch intentionally treated an animal belonging to Deanna Clark “in a cruel manner, resulting in the animal’s death.” If convicted, each count carries a fine of up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to three years. Rausch faces an additional fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment up to nine months for the misdemeanor charge.

According to the complaint, Rausch told a Dane County sheriff’s deputy that he was hunting coyotes at night on Jan. 22 in the Badfish Creek Wildlife Area, located about three miles southwest of Stoughton, when he shot two dogs belonging to Clark, a veterinarian.

Clark was walking with her four dogs — all trained for skijoring — who were wearing reflective vests.

In a letter to Humphrey, Clark states she was wearing a headlamp that is “as powerful as an automobile headlight.”

TWICE, KURT RAUSCH SHOOTS BLINDLY INTO THE DARKNESS AT THE SOUND OF 'SOMETHING' COMING TOWARDS HIM

In the complaint, Rausch says that shortly after using a calling device he heard animals running to his location.

“Rausch stated that he saw the eyes of what he believed to be a coyote and a face and pointy ears, and pulled the trigger, shooting the dog. Rausch stated that he did not realize it was a domesticated dog that he had shot.”

Moments later Rausch shot a second animal who came running towards him, also believing it was a coyote.

According to the complaint, Clark then came running up to him screaming, “What did you do? You shot my dogs.”

Her dog Franny died on the spot.

Gary was able to make it to an emergency clinic but died days later.

In her letter to Humphrey, Clark writes of months of anguish since the fatal shootings.

“On Jan. 22, while enjoying a place I’ve found solace in three to five times per week the last few years, my world was turned upside down when Franny and Gary were shot and killed right in front of me, both wearing reflective vests.... The hunter shot recklessly while hunting in the dark without verifying his target. This was certainly no mere accident.... In writing this letter, I ask that you charge the hunter appropriately, as well as call attention to the real and present danger affecting the public at large when hunters are allowed to discharge their guns at night.”

A phone message left at Rausch's Evansville home was not immediately returned. The sheriff deputy’s report of the incident stated that Rausch called 911 after the shootings and “appeared to be visibly upset and shaken. [He] stated he never meant for this to happen.”

Unlike deer hunting, coyote hunting is permitted at night. Critics say what happened to Clark’s dogs highlights how unsafe this is for domesticated animals as well as people. They are also concerned that a new law signed this fall by Gov. Scott Walker, which allows for powerful spot lights to be mounted to rifles for hunting coyotes at night from Jan. 1 through July 31, increases the danger of evening hunting because shining a bright light on an object blocks out its surroundings. Rausch had a spotlight and a headlamp with him, according to the complaint.

Jodi Habush Sinykin, a lawyer of counsel to Midwest Environmental Advocates, says the loss faced by Clark will happen to others unless “changes are made to guarantee that citizens can enjoy public lands safe from the perils of hunters and trappers. The fact is that the state has taken away most of the public’s safe places to recreate.”

Habush Sinykin says the 2012 state law, known as the Hunting Heritage Bill, which opened up more state parks to hunting and trapping, together with the DNR’s authorization of year-round, day and night coyote hunting, has “created a state landscape in which very few places remain where Wisconsin families can enjoy nature on public lands without risk that they or their pets will be shot or injured in a trap.”

Yes, because even though only a small percentage of people hunt compared to the non-hunters who enjoy the wildlife areas, the hunting lobbyists have all these guys in their pockets and so the non-hunters are the ones who suffer when their pets are shot, trapped and killed. PS - I'm not against hunting but there's a time and a place for it. This is ridiculous that people and their pets are walking around in the same place that hunters are shooting and setting traps.

In an interview, Clark says that she knows the charges will not bring her beloved dogs back. But, she adds, “hopefully it sets a precedent for the future so people won’t be so reckless.”

Clark still can’t talk about the incident without crying. She says she and her husband consider their dogs members of the family, even though the law does not necessarily see it that way. She recalls the Badfish Creek Wildlife Area as a beautiful spot that she would visit often to exercise and unwind with her dogs.

“It was my little piece of heaven, and now it’s my little piece of hell because I will never go back again.”

(Isthmus.com - April 13, 2016)

Oregon: Sunny Valley residents help save coyote's life

OREGON -- Animal Control rescued a coyote after four days of no food and water.

Josephine County Animal Control received multiple reports of an animal running around Sunny Valley with a jar stuck on its head. Officers found the coyote and got the jar off.

Animal Control officer David Pitts said without the community calling in and reporting the animal, Animal Control may have not been able to do their job.

"I'm sure this animal would've probably died if we hadn't got on it and thank God for the two ladies here in Sunny Valley," Officer Pitts said.

The officer said the real problem behind this is throwing things out, without thinking of the wildlife and everything it impacts.

"You pack it in, you pack it out," Officer Pitts said. "I don't care if you're homeless or not, walk to the rest area when you're finished with something and throw it out. There's garbage cans and receptacles right there."

Animal Control said if you see any animal suffering, call the agency.

(KTVL - Apr 9, 2016)

Pet coyote, which wasn't being aggressive towards anyone, killed after getting loose from owner

MARYLAND -- Officials say a coyote that was spotted running around loose in a Maryland neighborhood had been kept illegally as a pet.

The coyote was first seen on Wednesday morning near the Neptune's restaurant in North Beach, officials said.

It was determined to be someone's pet after deputies noticed that it was wearing a blue collar and a leash.

Deputies with the Calvert County Sheriff's Office and animal control responded to the report and caught it with the help of catch poles in the area of Frederick Ave. and 3rd Street. The animal was euthanized later that day.

The animal's owner, a resident of North Beach, came forward to claim the animal.  Officials say that the coyote was obtained as a puppy in Virginia. The age of the animal was not revealed.

Due to the possibility of rabies, the coyote was euthanized, officials say. The animal's body was sent to a lab in Baltimore for testing to determine if it had the viral disease.

It is illegal to own or possess a coyote in the state of Maryland. Charges are still pending for the owner, who has not been publicly identified.

Calvert County is Maryland’s smallest county in land area with 213 square miles. In 2011, it had a population of around 90,000.

(Daily Mail - Aug 27, 2015)

North Dakota man accused of harassing men who were out trying to kill animals

NORTH DAKOTA -- A Flasher man is facing criminal charges after he allegedly threatened, harassed and interfered with two men [trying to injure and kill] coyotes on state land.

Richard James Breiner was charged in South Central District Court in Morton County this week with felony terrorizing and misdemeanor reckless endangerment, driving with a suspended license and interfering with a lawful hunt [action sanctioned by the state in which animals can be terrorized, injured and killed so that men can feel empowered].

The felony charge could be punished by up to five years in prison if found guilty.

Ask yourself: what person, instead of spending time with their wives and
children, would instead choose to spend the day terrorizing and killing
animals? And that's if they actually kill them; almost 1/2 of all injured
 animals are never recovered by these idiots. They suffer for days before
dying a slow death.  They are not hunters. Like serial killers, they enjoy
inflicting pain and causing death. They are not trying to feed their families.

  

  

Real hunters were Native Americans, who respected animals and spend days
stalking their prey in loincloths and barefoot with bows and arrows, not
high-powered rifles and wearing weatherproof Carhartt overalls.

Breiner has been ordered to appear before Judge Cynthia Feland on June 2.

Jeff Violett, a state game warden, stated in an affidavit that, on Jan. 30, he received a report of an incident that happened three days prior.

Two men said they were hunting [trying to injure and kill] coyotes on a parcel of state school land off of County Road 83 in Morton County, about 2.5 miles south of North Dakota Highway 21, when Breiner rode up to them in an all-terrain vehicle, demanding to know what they were doing.

Breiner allegedly was upset that the two men were hunting [trying to injure and kill] coyotes, and that they had parked their vehicle on the section line road.

Both men reported feeling harassed and intimidated by Breiner, who allegedly used his ATV to drive in circles around the men while shouting obscenities and whooping. At one point, Breiner allegedly drove so close to one of the hunters [killers] that the vehicle brushed against the hunter's jacket.

The hunt [enjoyment they would have received by terrorizing, injuring and killing animals] ruined, both hunters [men who enjoy terrorizing, injuring and killing animals] got into their truck and left, later filing a report. One of the hunters [men who enjoy terrorizing, injuring and killing animals] also used his cellphone to record part of Breiner's alleged harassment.

Violett wrote that he contacted Breiner, who lives near the area where the alleged harassment occurred.

"Yeah, I ran them off," Breiner said, according to the affidavit.

Violett wrote that Breiner said he felt disrespected by the way the hunters [men who enjoy terrorizing, injuring and killing animals] asked him what he was doing there and he was concerned the hunters' [killers'] truck would damage the soft ground of the road. He said he had had problems all winter with hunters [men who enjoy terrorizing, injuring and killing animals]  driving on his property.

Breiner denied nearly hitting one of the hunters [men who enjoy terrorizing, injuring and killing animals] with an ATV, stating that he simply "cussed them out and used a lot of f-bombs," Violett wrote.

When Violett told Breiner that he could be criminally charged, "Breiner stated that if they want to fight he will fight them, saying he could also say he felt threatened because they had guns," according to the affidavit.
(Grand Forks Herald - May 1, 2015)

A trapper's alleged torture of a coyote once again brings animal cruelty to the forefront.

NEW YORK -- Animal cruelty takes many bizarre forms. Let us sadly count the cruel ways.

One allegation of depravity and indifference just arrived from the Hudson Valley Humane Society's law enforcement arm.

According to the HVHS, a 50-year-old Pomona man by the name of Charles Bovis traps coyotes, which he skins for their pelts. Evidently, he has a license to do this.

Below are two stories about men who torture and kill coyotes. When society says that an entire species is a pest and deserves no sympathy, they are tortured and killed for the amusement of men who call themselves hunters and trappers.

Wyoming coyote trapper defends graphic photos

 

Men Who Filmed Dogs Mauling Coyote Face Criminal Charges in Michigan

Now, it's true that Eastern coyotes have become something of a suburban menace in recent years, so one less varmint in the world might not be cause for overwhelming grief.

But the aforementioned Pomona trapper, the HVHS alleges, "brutally tortured" a coyote he caught in a leg trap in a wooded copse off Call Hollow Road.

After snaring the coyote, Bovis took a shovel and beat it over the head "multiple times," the HVHS charged. Failing to kill it, he then strung up the injured animal by its hind legs and left it hanging on a tree for five hours, the HVHS says.

Haverstraw police discovered the coyote and put it out of its misery. Bovis was later arrested and charged with violating Section 353 of Article 26 of the Agriculture & Markets Law, a Class A misdemeanor.

Animal rights activists are more active than ever — a fact that Bovis is facing firsthand. They have raised public consciousness and pushed for stricter laws and harsher penalties against sadistic miscreants who harm animals, wild or domestic. Buster's Law, which was enacted in 1999 and named after a cat in Schenectady that was doused with kerosene and set on fire, raised animal cruelty to a felony offense in New York.

Nevertheless, the animal cruelty file in this region is bulging. One case that captured national attention was last April's grim discovery of 25 dead cats that had been stuffed in plastic bags and hung from trees in Yonkers.

It amounted to a "whodunit," a disturbing mystery that persisted for seven months and stirred the emotions of animal lovers — among them Geezer Butler, the bassist for the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, who offered a $25,000 reward.

 

 

Finally, in November, investigators from Westchester's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals arrested Rene Carcamo, a 60-year-old Yonkers man who was charged with illegally disposing the dead cats. He was additionally charged with a couple of counts of animal cruelty for failing to give medical attention to two live kittens in his possession.

Carcamo's legal fate remains up in the air, but the details of his case, which are still fresh in the public's mind, prompted a Putnam County legislator to take action.

Last week, Bill Gouldman, a Republican, proposed a local law to establish a county animal abuse registry. The idea is to put the names and addresses of convicted offenders on an online list, creating a useful tool with which to vet anyone seeking to buy or adopt a pet.

Gouldman has already consulted with Ken Ross, the chief of Putnam's SPCA, which makes most of the animal cruelty arrests and would be the lead agency in creating and maintaining the registry.

Five other counties in New York have registries — Westchester, Rockland, Suffolk, Nassau and Albany. Ross told me that the Putnam law would be similar to the others, but not a verbatim copy.

"Hopefully, this is something that will go through because it's one of those crimes that opens up to other crimes," Ross said. "There's an association with domestic violence and child abuse."

Raising a red flag to domestic violence was a key rationale behind the Westchester law that is three pages long and was enacted in 2012 at the urging of the Westchester Bar Association. The bar cited a study showing that 71 percent of women who sought refuge at shelters had reported that their abuser had also harmed or threatened their pets.

One infamous case was that of 21-year-old Andrew King of Yorktown who in 2010 killed his ex-girlfriend's dog, a Yorkshire terrier-mix, and stuffed it behind a clothes dryer. King was convicted under the provisions of Buster's Law and sentenced to one year in prison.

If King had committed the crime after the law was passed, he certainly would've been a candidate for the Westchester registry, which is the responsibility of the county Department of Public Safety. As it stands now, the Westchester registry has not been activated. However, Rene Carcamo could receive the dubious distinction of being first on the list.

In Rockland County, three men are on the abuse list, which can be found by going to the county sheriff's website. All of them were convicted of crimes connected to dog fighting.

Depending on how his case turns out, Bovis, the Pomona coyote trapper, may soon join them.

(The Journal News - February 24, 2015)

Men Who Filmed Dogs Mauling Coyote Face Criminal Charges in Michigan

MICHIGAN -- Two Michigan men accused of filming a group of hunting dogs mauling a coyote will face felony and misdemeanor charges, authorities announced last week. 

The law enforcement division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources began investigating the men after they posted a video online, where they encouraged three hunting dogs to attack a wounded coyote.

After being shot and collapsing from exhaustion and pain, there
will be no quick death for this poor thing.

 

 

“We’re going to let them finish this thing off,” one of the men in the video can be heard saying about the coyote as he hears the hounds approach. “He might have a little fight left in him. His eyes are open.”

At one man’s order, the radio-collared dogs then begin biting and violently shaking the coyote, which loudly yelps and can be seen bleeding and fighting back in vain. The final frames shows the coyote motionless, laying bloodied in the snow.

The video, entitled “Hounds Fight Wounded Yote,” was initially posted to YouTube in Feb. 2014. It has since been removed.

The investigation also discovered a second video at one suspect’s property, featuring a coyote that was allegedly injured after being purposefully struck by the man’s truck. In the video, the men film and talk about the animal for several minutes before dispatching it with a revolver.

  

  

  

 

  

  

The POS filming calls out encouragement to his dogs which maul this
poor little coyote to death. It is one of the most disgusting things I've seen.

Apparent from the charges, investigators believe the incident captured in the video crossed the line from hunting into something closer to animal abuse.

One of the men faces a charge of killing/torturing animals, a felony with the possibility of a four-year jail sentence. He could also be charged with four misdemeanors, general violation of wildlife conservation, two counts of abandonment/cruelty to an animal, and taking game from a vehicle.
Punishments for each violation range around 90 days in jail.

The second suspect will also face a felony charge of killing/torturing animals and a misdemeanor count of abandonment/cruelty to an animal.

(Wide Open Spaces.com - Jan 20, 2015)