NEW YORK -- One of the two Seneca County men facing charges in the case of a pet dog killed in a trap along the fence at the former Seneca Army Depot is the nuisance animal control officer for Seneca Falls.
The officer, Clint K. Moosman, 53, and James W. Brown, 80, both of Seneca Falls, were charged with multiple counts of setting body-gripping traps larger than 6 inches and failing to identify traps as required by law.
One of the traps killed Molly Rose, an 8-year-old yellow Lab, who was walking on a leash outside the depot with Laurena Jensen, 18. The trap snapped shut around the dog’s neck, and despite efforts to save Molly, the dog died at the scene yelping and whining while her owner was helpless to save her.
Seneca Falls Town Supervisor Gregory Lazzaro said Tuesday the town contracts with Clint Moosman for animal nuisance control. In light of the charges, the Town Board plans to discuss the contract with Moosman, in executive session, during a meeting next Tuesday, he said. In the meantime, Lazzaro said he will not call on Moosman for animal control.
Lazzaro said he hasn’t seen or talked with Moosman since the charges following the Jan. 7 death of Molly Rose.
SENECA FALLS NEEDS TO LOOK INTO CLINT MOOSMAN'S CONTRACT:
According to the
Seneca Falls Town board regular meeting minute notes from June 3, 2008, "The motion made by Tim Snyder and seconded by Duane Moore to accept the bid of
Clint K. Moosman for Nuisance Animal Control Officer, said bid for services is $50.00 per animal, was carried 5 ayes, 0 nayes".
So Moosman got paid by the carcass.
If, after 7-8 years of killing animals, Moosman had eradicated most of the "nuisance wildlife" within the town of Seneca Falls, that would cut into his paychecks he receives from the town. Is a dead raccoon, opossum or skunk worth $50 to a private trapper? I don't know. But it's definitely worth $50 to the town of Seneca Falls. After all, he's not paid on a sliding scale (squirrels $5, raccoons $10, skunks $25, coyotes $50)... he gets paid PER DEAD BODY.
Moosman wants that $50 so he begins branching out, setting traps outside Seneca Falls, retrieves the bodies (bludgeoning to death the trapped animals that are still alive - dumping the dead dogs and cats that he's 'accidentally' caught), presents the wildlife carcasses to his supervisor under the premise that they had been caught and killed within the town's jurisdiction, collects his $50 and lets the town leaders think he's doing a great job of "catching all them critters" within the town of Seneca Falls.
If by chance he catches something that he can sell for more than $50, he keeps it for himself and sells the pelt privately - putting all the money in his pocket.
The Messenger reached Moosman by phone on Tuesday. Moosman said he has no comment.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation said the dog was killed near the perimeter fence of the Seneca Army Depot in the town of Varick. Officers issued a total of 12 tickets to Brown and Moosman.
The maximum penalty for each ticket is a $250 fine and/or 15 days in jail. Since their traps had been set over a distance that spanned two different towns, the men are scheduled to appear in the town of Varick Court at 7 p.m. Feb. 10 and the town of Romulus Court at 10 a.m. Feb. 12 to answer to the charges.
Lazzaro said he doesn’t know anything about trapping but the case “hit a real emotional chord,” he said.
“The whole community seems to be very angry. It’s a real emotional thing, with a young girl watching her dog die,” the town supervisor said.
Three days after Molly was killed, Laurena’s father, Brian Jensen, found a coyote trapped along the depot fence in the same kind of body-gripping trap, though a larger type, a Conibear 330. The coyote, still alive, was euthanized after Brian called a DEC officer.
Brian Jensen said he will not rest until those responsible for wrongdoing at the depot are held accountable.
“I am trying to get all people involved charged with animal cruelty. Because it was on public property,” he added.
According to the DEC, however, in responding to questions from the Messenger, “elements involved in this case do not support a charge of aggravated animal cruelty charges under the Ag and Markets law.”
OK so charge him with basic animal cruelty!
Laurena, a student of environmental science at Finger Lakes Community College, said she hopes no one else has to go through what she did losing Molly. Laurena said she had never seen traps before along the depot fence, though she was very familiar with holes in the fence.
Also at issue is the state of the former Seneca Army Depot — including who is in charge and who has access.
For decades a military storage site for bombs and ammunition, the property is owned by the Seneca County Industrial Development Agency. The IDA opened a bidding process in December to sell 7,000 acres of the depot to get it on the tax rolls. The Army Corps of Engineers has maintained the site since the depot closed in 2000, during environmental cleanup. The Army was due to be done by the end of 2015, leaving the land and its white deer herd under new owners.
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THIS COYOTE IS STILL ALIVE:
Three days after Molly was killed, Brian Jensen found a coyote trapped
along the depot fence. The coyote, still alive, was caught in the same
kind of body-gripping trap, though a larger type, a Conibear 330.
The coyote was euthanized after Jensen called a DEC officer |
Addressing questions in an email, Seneca County IDA Director Bob Aronson said the only people legally allowed on the property are law enforcement or those who have permission from the Army or IDA. If a person or organization gets permission from the Army or IDA, they then need to sign out a key from the Army, or be escorted onto the property by the Army or the IDA.
“A person or organization needs to have a valid reason to access Depot property, and even then, access is not guaranteed,” Aronson said.
Who is designated to oversee the depot?
“The Army is responsible for management of the Depot property. However, the Army’s management services are being reduced to areas of the Depot where remediation is still occurring," Aronson said. "The recent incident with the pet dog occurred on Depot property that is being retained by the Army. At this time, the Army is still the caretaker for Depot property."
Due to the dog killed by a trap and the charges, is there anything the IDA will do differently now regarding the property and its fencing?
Aronson said, “The Army is responsible for security at the Depot, however the Army is cutting back on its management responsibilities. The IDA is not equipped to provide these important management responsibilities and this is one of the main reasons why the IDA is selling the Depot property.”
He added the IDA “has received interest in the property from multiple parties,” but does not expect to receive any actual bids until the deadline of Feb. 29. Then, the IDA will begin reviewing bid documents, he said.
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Jamie Olson, who works in Wyoming for Wildlife Services,
encourages his dogs to attack a trapped coyote, which is already
dehydrated and weak from its earlier struggles to escape
the leg hold trap. They rip the coyote to pieces. |
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Olson, happily posing with a dead coyote, doesn't regret torturing animals,
but regrets that everyone saw the photos of him torturing animals. |
WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO LET TRAPS BE LEGAL?!
Do cats and dogs suffer when caught in traps? Of course. Therefore, wolves, coyotes, skunks, foxes, beavers, raccoons, birds, opossums, squirrels, etc. ALSO SUFFER when caught in traps.
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WHEC - Jan 26, 2016)
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