Nebraska: Grand Island Woman Debra Vesely Sues City, Animal Control Over Lemurs

NEBRASKA -- A Grand Island woman has filed a lawsuit against the city of Grand Island and the Central Nebraska Humane Society, saying that 10 lemurs were improperly taken from her in August 2015.

The lemurs were removed from the home of Debra K. Vesely, 4560 W. Highway 30.

The suit, filed in Hall County District Court, involves eight ring-tailed lemurs (six adult and two young ones) and two adult brown lemurs.

In the suit, Vesely says she was in possession of those lemurs on July 22, 2015, when she was contacted by a representative of the Central Nebraska Humane Society. She was informed that possession of such primates is prohibited within Grand Island’s city limits.

At that time, she says, she executed an agreement signed by the Humane Society representative indicating that Vesely would not dispose or otherwise transfer ownership of the animals until such time as an arrangement could be made to remove the animals from the city limits.

Vesely then made arrangements to move to 2805 S. Gunbarrel Road, which is outside the city limits. In that location, possession of lemurs is not prohibited, she wrote.

In August 2015, the day before she planned to move, representatives of the Humane Society, on behalf of the city of Grand Island, “came to my residence and removed the primates in question.”

In the suit, she notes that, at no time, did the city obtain an order from a “court of competent jurisdiction” transferring ownership of the animals to the city or to the Humane Society. She also says that she was not compensated for the animals.

Vesely, who is represented by James Truell, seeks special damages of $23,000, representing the value of the animals, together with pain and suffering in the amount of $50,000.

The Central Nebraska Humane Society did not return calls seeking comment.

City Attorney Jerry Janulewicz said the incidents alleged in the suit “occurred prior to my appointment as city attorney, and at this point, I haven’t had a chance to discuss the allegations with anyone.”

Janulewicz said he couldn’t discuss the suit.

(The Independent - July 9, 2016)

Earlier:

• Nebraska: Lemurs Among Exotic Animals Seized in Central Nebraska

Florida: Woman attacked by ring-tailed lemur, has to get rabies shots

FLORIDA -- A 21-year-old Southwest Miami-Dade woman who was attacked twice Monday by a ring-tailed lemur is speaking out for the first time, saying the incident was “one of the scariest things I’ve been through.”

In an exclusive interview with CBS4’s Peter D’Oench, Victoria Valledor said, “I was terrified because I didn’t know where this animal had come from. I knew it was a wild animal. But I didn’t know who the owner was or what was going through the animal’s mind. I didn’t know the behavior of it but it kept coming at me. It was one of the scariest things I’ve been through.”

Valledor, who is a senior pre-med student at the University of Miami and hopes to become a neurosurgeon, says it was Monday afternoon when she was attacked outside her grandparents’ home at S.W. 56th Terrace and 140th Place.

Her younger sister Isabella took pictures of the lemur — a primate native to the island of Madagascar.

Valledor showed us what happened as she was leaving the home.

“So I came out and stepped out here and right there was the Lemur beside the house,” she said. “So I saw him for a second. I was out here and he jumped on me and I put my arm up and he got me here, and then he was on me for a good solid minute.”

Valledor’s grandmother Celia Rodon said she grabbed a banana to distract the lemur. Lemurs normally consume fruit, nuts and insects.

“We were very scared,” said Rodon. “At first I thought he was just a cute monkey but when he started jumping on my granddaughter to bite her, I felt like panic.”

Valledor ran across the street and called 911. Florida Fish & Wildlife and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue sent crews to the scene.

Valledor said she was in disbelief when the lemur attacked her a second time.

“I was there by a tree and I see him come walking by and I said, ‘oh my’ and I started back up and he bit me a second time and I made a dash right here to the front door. So I went in and I slammed the door in his face,” she said. “He almost came in the home.”

“I was terrified because I thought he was going to get my face or something like that,” she said.

Valledor, whose wrists are wrapped in white bandages, has had more than 40 rabies shots and faces two more treatments. She said she may have to eventually have as many as 50 rabies shots.

Sorry, but the right thing to do is euthanize the lemur, cut off its head, and send it to be tested for rabies. She should not have to get all those shots (and I've never heard of anyone having to get that many...).

“Honestly I am kind of happy it happened to me and not a child,” she said. “My mom was actually coming over here with my two-year-old brother from day care and if she hadn’t know the Lemur was here, God knows what would have happened. I was thinking, why does somebody have a pet lemur? It doesn’t make sense to me. Then I found out that lemurs are legal in Florida if you have a permit. It seemed incredible to me.

"I think wild animals should stay in their habitat and not in somebody’s home because something like this can happen and, in this neighborhood, we have kids playing in front. This could have been a child that was attacked and that would have been way worse.”

“I personally don’t think you should have wild animals as pets because it is definitely not safe,” said Valledor. “But all owners should definitely keep them contained and be responsible with them.”

FWC’s captive wildlife division responded to the scene on Monday and was able to capture the lemur.

On Monday, Lorenzo Veloz of FWC said, “Through tricks and practice and a lot of training, they were able to coax it to a kennel and they removed the lemur from the scene.”

Veloz said investigators have identified the owners of the lemur but said the case is under investigation, so the owners are not being named. FWC is trying to find out how the lemur got out and how it ended up outside the family’s home. He said FWC could have more information to release by the weekend.

FWC said several residents in the area near Miller Drive and S.W. 140th Ave. have permits for wild animals.

(CBS4 - July 21, 2016)

Ohio: Jennifer Toth pleads guilty to "attempted cruelty to animals" after leaving her pet lemur with an untreated broken leg

OHIO -- State of Ohio v. Jennifer Toth, a case prosecuted for the Cleveland Animal Protective League.

Toth was charged with one count of animal cruelty related to a Lemur named Nova that had an untreated broken leg. The leg was broken at the time Toth purchased the animal.

Toth pled to one count of attempted cruelty to animals. Toth agreed not to keep any more exotic animals is limited to two spayed/neutered dogs, two male guinea pigs, and a turtle for one and half years. There was no evidence that the non-exotic animals were not being cared for properly.

Additional provisions include payment of court costs, a $250 fine, and $1,109.90 in restitution, representing the cost of amputation of the lemur Nova’s leg.

Toth is subject to random inspections and must keep all animals in a humane, lawful, and sanitary manner. She faces 45 days in jail if she fails to comply.

Nova recovered and was sent to a lemur sanctuary.

(Holland & Muirden, Attorneys at Law - March 29, 2016)

Nebraska: Lemurs Among Exotic Animals Seized in Central Nebraska

NEBRASKA -- Grand Island Animal Control officers say they took ten different lemurs from a rural residence, as well as five other exotic animals on Wednesday. It’s an unusual, but not completely unheard of case for them.

“Animal Control authority just moved in and seized a handful of exotic animals from a residence here inside the city limits of Grand Island,” said Alyssa Nesiba, lead Animal Control officer.

Fifteen animals were taken, none of them native to Nebraska.

“We took lemurs, coatimundis, and some cavies,” Nesiba said.

Authorities say a public tip led them to where the animals were, and that the owner wasn’t allowed to have them.

“We went there starting out as a welfare check, but the bottom line is since they were inside city limits, that gave us the right to seize the animals,” Nesiba said.

But it didn’t happen overnight. Central Nebraska Humane Society Executive Director Laurie Dethloff says it took coordination between local officials, state groups, and federal agencies to get on the right legal track, and to find a place for the animals to go.

“This was two weeks of lots of phone calls and communicating and sharing ideas and resources,” Dethloff said.

Animal Control officers say this won’t be the last such case, and they want to use it as an example to push for better state laws, or to get more specifics in city and county codes so they can act more quickly and be more prepared.

“There doesn’t seem to be a clear path right now for anybody to be able to move forward, or there are lots of paths, and who is going to take those paths?” said Dethloff.

“It’s not a dog that I can just leash and throw in my truck, so it’s very important that we know what’s out there so we have the correct equipment to be able to deal with them, or we have the correct contacts that we can call in to help deal with them,” said Nesiba.

Reporter’s notes:
The veterinarian on the scene said the lemurs and other animals were well taken care of, but said exotic pets take a lot of space and special requirements.

The Humane Society said it was the living conditions that was the biggest issue and my continue to be.

"Having the appropriate ventilation, food storage did not exist," said Laurie Dethloff, the Executive Director of the Central Nebraska Humane Society. "We're still working with the owner because there are several reptiles, birds, and farm animals that do not meet the criteria within the city code."

Animal Control said they were very surprised when they entered the home that sits on the western boarder of Grand Island.

"The thing that shocked me the most is the living environment they were in," said Alyssa Nesiba, the Lead Animal Control Officer in Grand Island. "It was not clean, there was rotting fruit, lots of bugs, the smell was not pleasant, so that's what shocked me the most. Not so much that she had them, but how she was housing them."

Officials are not releasing the name of the licensed facility the animals were taken to.

Grand Island animal welfare advocates say city code details which wild animals are approved to live in city limits.

EARLIER:
(Apr 16, 2015) NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION OF MAGICAL PARADISE EXOTIC FARM, INC. Magical Paradise Exotic Farm, Inc., a Nebraska nonprofit corporation, has been dissolved. The dissolution of said corporation was authorized by vote of the directors on December 12, 2014, and Articles of Dissolution were filed with the Secretary of State's Office on December 29, 2014. The terms and conditions of the dissolution are that all outstanding liabilities have been paid or otherwise adequately provided for, and the assets of the corporation have been distributed to the person entitled thereto, leaving no liabilities or assets in the corporation. The person who is to wind up and liquidate the business and affairs of the corporation is Debra Vesely, President, 4560 W. Hwy. 30, Grand Island, NE 68803. 2-9-16

(Nebraska TV - Aug 20, 2015)

Escaped coati spotted roaming around quiet neighborhood leads police to garage filled with exotic animals

MICHIGAN -- Police responding to calls of a strange creature roaming the streets in Michigan on Wednesday discovered more than 30 exotic animals in a garage.

Lemus, coatis, an owl and other animals that can be kept only with a license were found in 'deplorable' conditions, living in small cages.

 

Detroit Zoo has taken in the assortment of exotic animals which are said to be [relatively] healthy despite how they were being kept.

The unexpected discovery was made after neighbors reported seeing a coati - a South American animal similar to the raccoon - roaming around on lawns.

'We responded thinking that the odds ... were pretty slim, but they turned out to be credible,'  Deputy Police Commissioner Louis Galasso told Detroit News.

The owner of the animals, who has not been identified, was at work when police called to say they had found his coati.

He told police that he didn't realize he needed an exotic pet license to keep the animals, and that he had been due to clean their enclosures on the day the coati escaped.

This Fennec Fox is being kept in a rodent cage.

Police removed his animals, which included two white-nosed coatis, two ring-tailed lemurs, three fennec foxes and a screech owl.

The creatures are currently in quarantine at Detroit Zoo, which has stepped in before to take over the care of exotic animals.

Elizabeth Arbaugh, curator of mammals at the zoo, said they appeared to be in good health but the 'conditions these animals were being kept in were deplorable'.

Zoo director Ron Kagan said: 'Privately owned exotic animals kept as 'pets' often end up in compromised conditions and in need of rescue.'

He added that the zoo has worked with Michigan Humane Society to try to get legislation passed to bar such animals being kept.

Police said they plan to seek charges against the animals' owner for allegedly having dangerous and wild animals, and for animal cruelty.

Each charge has a 90-day prison sentence or $500 fine.

A fund has been set up by the zoo to help pay for the animals' care.

(Daily mail - July 10, 2014)

1/21/13: Lemurs on the lam attack 2-year-old Miami girl

FLORIDA -- Monday morning, officers with the North Miami Beach Police Department responded to 173nd Street and 20th Avenue after receiving reports of two ring-tailed lemurs roaming the area.

One of the officers responding to the call was North Miami Beach Police Sergeant Richard Rand.

 

Rand initially thought the call was a prank by fellow officers, telling the Herald Tribune it was the first time in his career he had been dispatched to "a call like this".

 Before the lemurs could be captured, one of them reportedly attacked a two-year-old girl as she and her mother exited their car. The girl received a minor injury to her face. Rand stated:

"She has a scratch on her face, she wasn't hospitalized, her parents were on scene. I believe her mother was with her during the incident. Fire Rescue treated her immediately."

The lemurs' owner, Julio Hincapie, told police he keeps the pair caged in his back yard. When asked how the two managed to escape, he told the Miami Herald he thinks someone tried to steal the pair from their cage. Hincapie went on to say:

"They were running around, everybody was chasing them, a lot of lights. They were scared, that's it."

 

 

Hincapie was able to capture one of the lemurs, while a police officer used a catch pole to capture the second when it jumped onto the trunk of a police car.

 Authorities with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are investigating the incident, but stated Hincapie does have the permits required to legally own the animals. Both lemurs were returned to Hincapie's care.

(Digital Journal - Jan 21, 2013)