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Vanishing Species Barbara Jeff Vanishing Species Barbara Jeffrey Harrod
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 235
- Not yet rated
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Vanishing Species Barbara Jeff Vanishing Species Barbara Jeffrey Harrod
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 152
- Not yet rated
-
Vanishing Species Barbara Jeff Vanishing Species Barbara Jeffrey Harrod
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 158
- Not yet rated
-
Vanishing Species Barbara Jeff Vanishing Species Barbara Jeffrey Harrod
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 103
- Not yet rated
-
Vanishing Species Barbara Jeff Vanishing Species Barbara Jeffrey Harrod
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 144
- Not yet rated
-
Abuse at Vanishing Species Abuse at Vanishing Species
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 146
- Not yet rated
-
Abuse at Vanishing Species Abuse at Vanishing Species
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 96
- Not yet rated
-
Abuse at Vanishing Species Abuse at Vanishing Species
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 173
- Not yet rated
-
Abuse at Vanishing Species Abuse at Vanishing Species
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 146
- Not yet rated
-
Abuse at Vanishing Species Abuse at Vanishing Species
- From: Anon
-
Description:
Feb 9,2010 Barbara Harrod entered a no contest plea in front of Judge Ginger Lerner Wren Broward County Florida Court House. The judge found Barbara Harrod guilty of all 5 counts and sentenced her to 12 months of probation and she was ordered to pay court costs roughly in the amount of $1000.00. NO fine was given by the judge even though she could have done so.
Barbara Harrod often “gets” her baby tigers from Larry Wallach whom is licensed out of NY and Ft Lauderdale. Barbara uses these babies for pets then tosses them into a tiny cage for the rest of their lives which typically isn’t very long.
I have now released graphic video’s of what these animals had to endure every day at the Davie location of Vanishing Species under the lack of care of Barbara Harrod.The Sun- Sentinel also did three stories on Barbara Harrod and the property of Vanishing Species. Here’s the link to the latest story. If you type in Vanishing Species you’ll be able to locate David Fleshlers other stories on Vanishing Species.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/fl-wildlife-violations-20100313,0,2508711.story
DAVIE An arthritic tiger failed to receive proper veterinary care. Small mammals housed in a shed died when the air conditioning broke down. Tigers disappeared without proper documentation.A Davie wildlife exhibitor has been accused of those violations in federal inspection reports.
She faces the possible loss of state and federal licenses, after years of using animals to entertain at schools, summer camps, fairs and parties.
Barbara Harrod, who operates Vanishing Species Wildlife Inc., pleaded no contest in February to state charges that she kept animals in unsanitary conditions, used cages that were too small and engaged in other wildlife violations.
She was assessed court costs, not fines.
But the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reviewing the case to determine whether to suspend or revoke her license, said Capt. John West, of the agency's law enforcement division.
After a separate federal review, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said she has failed to comply with a federal consent order to move all big cats off her site.
The order was issued after inspectors found animals' food contaminated with blood and maggots, inadequate veterinary care, and tigers left unprotected from sun and rain.
The agreement signed last year gave her until July 31, 2009, to get big cats off her fenced compound along Southwest 136th Avenue in Davie.
However, visits by federal inspectors over the past several months found big cats still there and repeated violations of the laws requiring adequate care for the animals.
"It's been systematic noncompliance," said Nolan Lemon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"The Animal Welfare Act details minimum standards — minimum standards," Lemon said. "These are repeat violations of those standards."
Harrod said she would answer questions only in writing. Questions were sent by e-mail March 3, but she never responded. Her lawyer, Marshall Platt, could not be reached to comment despite messages left by phone and e-mail.
Despite the agreement to move out big cats, a Feb. 4 inspection found two adult tigers and an adult cougar on the property.
Lemon said Harrod was in violation of the consent agreement.
"It's with our legal folks at this point," he said.
Inspections over the past several months have turned up other violations.
Several small mammals housed in a windowless structure died after the air conditioning failed, according to USDA inspection reports.
hree adult tigers disappeared without the required documentation showing to whom they were given or sold.
The Feb. 4 inspection found an adult tiger named Nicky limping and suffering from arthritis and not receiving adequate veterinary care. The attending veterinarian, who last signed a program of care in 2008, does not live in the area, according to the inspection report.
"It's not like owning a dog or a cat," Lemon said. "There are people who get in with the best intentions and they forget that Tigger is a dangerous animal with very demanding and expensive needs. Vet care is expensive, but you can't compromise on that."
David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4535.
Video Links
Warning these videos are graphic, I recommend not eating prior to viewing if you have a weaker stomach.These video’s are on you tube under vanishing species.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDq9vLf51io
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXW2Gz3YBJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruby5Kyoo2Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGv6rR2fV0g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi8pyhZpmwc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKj8W8zCsEU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l5ap6EDI4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVJVs3izR4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYGQLoWfmtY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAmij5EUcuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du9OOqCchZQ
Some of the animals in these pictures are now dead due to "unnatural" causes.
The Palmdale facility was closed to the public in Feb 2009 by the USDA after a plea agreement with Jeffery and Barbara Harrod owners of Vanishing Species was reached.
USDA fined the Harrods $27,000 for violations and citations at the Palmdale facility but after the plea deal USDA reduced the fines to $3,700.00 with $100.00 payments per month.
USDA didn't return to enforce the plea agreement. Through repeat calling Dr Goldentire , Dr Gibson whom is Dr Goldentire's boss and then calling Joe Nelson I was informed they couldn't discuss the case with me but this case is public record yet none would comment on the case.
In accordance to the public record of USDA it states all cats’ juveniles and adults must be removed off the Davie, Fl. location by July 31, 2009. It's now March 31, 2010 and still class 1 and 2 cats remained on that property. No enforcing of the USDA rules for the plea agreement.
Send a message to USDA to enforce their own plea agreements, revocate licenses, not allow exotic permits or licenses to be given out like candy unless more stringent rules such as testing, serving 500 hours in a vet office that deals with exotic animals, having 500 hours of apprentice experience with FWC and field work, pass a written test, produce 1000 hours of logged time working with exotic animals.
USDA doesn't care about the animals nor enforces their own plea deals.
CALL THESE PEOPLE TODAY!
DEMAND AN EXPLAINATION TO WHY VANISHING SPECIES CAN RETAIN EXOTIC ANIMAL PERMITS AND LICENSES WHEN THEY HAVE VIOLATED EVERY LAW FROM A-N. USDA HAS 2 FILE FOLDERS OF REPEAT VIOLATIONS; THEY HAVE EVEN FORDGED VET RECORDS AND HIDDEN DEATH OF THE ANIMALS, SALES OF THE ANIMALS AND TRANSPORTS OF ANIMALS. SINCE THE PALMDALE FACILITY IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC HOW CAN THEY EXHABIT LEGALLY! THEY CAN'T! ANOTHER LAW BROKEN BUT WHO'S LOOKING. I HOPE CAROL CAN ATTACH THE ORIGINAL PLEA AGREEMENT TO THIS ARTICLE I SENT HER.
The Key players with this disaster with USDA are:
CALL TODAY AND EXPRESS YOUR VOICE
_____________________________________
Dr Goldentire USDA District Manager: 919-855-7100, Fax: 919-855-7123
Dr Gibson, Dr Goldentire direct supervisor: 301-734-4980.
Joe Nelson: 919-855-7106You can access the Harrods inspection records at:
http://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/LPASearch/faces/pdfpage.jspx?custid=9487
If this link doesn’t work type in aphis, then on the left side click on animal welfare, then
On the right side click on publication and reports, next you’ll get a “ warning “ page, just click except, it’s legal for you to look at public records, next your get a page with a box asking name your looking up type in Vanishing Species, under state type in florida hit enter. At the bottom you’ll click on the PDF file and there you go, all of the inspection reports by USDA.
Ask why they have not revoked the Harrods license with repeat violations. Last I checked forging vet records is still forgery and is a felony.
FWC has the green light to revoke Barbara Harrods license yet Captain John West out of Tallassee has done nothing at this point.
Please call: 850-488-6253
Demand answers why FWC won’t revoke Jeffery Harrods or Barbara Harrods license after repeat violations with their agency and numerous complains. They have my log book, video’s I shot that you can now view and still more animals continue to die from lack of vet care, lack of knowledge and lack of funding to buy food.
3 weeks ago Art Matson whom is the inspector for Vanishing Species called and said he had just preformed an inspection at Palmdale, he said he eye balled the tigers and said they looked happy and healthy, I questioned Arts inspection as to what paper work did he receive in regards to the transfer of 7 cougars to Jeffery Harrods friends. Art replied no he ever checked. Art indicated he never went to check on the transferred cougars and made sure their cages were up to FWC standards or checking the proper permits of the friends. I asked Art if he checked for food on the premise to ensure the tigers, lions, leopards and cougars had enough palatable food to feed them daily, Art replied no he did not check to see how much food was in the refrigerators or freezers.
I asked Art if he knew what the proper weight was for a Siberian tiger was, he replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew the proper weight for a Bengal tiger, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he knew what the percentage of food per animal and their weight was too been to feed daily, Art replied no he did not. I asked Art if he looked at any current vet records as a yearly vet check is needed, he replied no he did not.
Art Matson said to me and I quote” the tigers look happy and healthy”. I asked Art what does a happy and healthy tiger look like, he said he didn’t know. I said how do you know the tigers are healthy, are you a licensed veterinarian? He replied no he was not. I asked if a Bengal at proper weight was to weight 600 lbs, eyeballing the tiger how do you know it’s at proper weight? He said he didn’t know but said and I quote again” no bones were sticking out”. This I said would be past malnutrition this is called Emaciation.
Art Matson said to me he couldn’t find any violations or anything wrong yet never checked anything, just talked to Mr Harrod and left.
Concerned a proper inspection wasn’t done and biased friendships seemed to have gotten in Art Matson’s view I called Tallahassee and lodged a complaint against his “inspection”. The next week 2 state officials out of Tallahassee were sent to Palmdale and they discovered MANY, MANY violations!!! Odd how a week prior to that Art Matson said he couldn’t find one thing wrong.
Art Matson said he knows of a sanctuary out of Colorado called Wild Animal sanctuary and they were willing at their own expense bring in eight tractor trailers and take every cat the Harrods have to their rescue where they have set aside 250 acres giving each cat 20 acres to themselves with dens and water falls. Jeffery said he’d agree to it but the condition was he had to also give up his breeders license so this mess can’t be repeated down the road. Jeffery refuses to give up his breeders permits and indicated to Art he wanted to get more babies for money making opportunities. So this process will begin all over again.
From my sources Jeffery Harrod is planning on putting all the animals names in his girlfriends name but she doesn’t yet have a class 1 & 2 license however Jeffery indicated he was going to “ sign” saying she has her 1000 hours per species even though she has none logged and has no idea of animal husbandry.
This way Jeffery Harrod can manipulate the system again and gets to keep the cats.
Art Matson said to me Jeffery Harrod told him he was selling Palmdale by the end of his month, so I said to Captian Ardleen yesterday were at the end of the month is Palmdale sold, he said no Jeffery now said it’ll be at the end of the year. STALL, STALL, STALL!!!!
Right now according to Art Matson Jeffery Harrod has housed on the Palmdale property:
7 tigers7 cougars
2 lions
2 leopards
6 alligators
Host of other assorted animals from raccoons to pheasants, emu’s, goats, pigs, etc.
On the property of Palmdale one black leopard according to my close source died about 2 months ago, he was only 2 ½ years old. To my knowledge this animal was not listed on the inventory register as dead with FWC or USDA. No records were ever looked at by Art Matson to compare what animals were there last inspection verses what animals aren’t there this inspection. If sold where is the transfers paperwork and sellers book? Art said he never checked.
March 29, 2010 I received credible information Jeffery Harrod was housing a 3 week old baby cougar in his trailer, according to my inside source the baby is very ill and has diaherra. I was on the phone till after 2 am with a hot line operator whom was in communication with Captain Adleen whom indicated he and Pat Reynolds with FWC would be visiting Jeffery Harrods home and checking if the cougar was ok. He looked at the cat saw the diaherra asked Jeffery if he was going to seek medical attention with a vet at which time Jeffery answered no he wasn’t. He has this cougar baby according to my sources on whole cow’s milk, diluted with water and cat food mixed in. Jeffery indicated the baby is on cat formula and it’s common to remove the baby as soon as it’s born away from the mother. They believe Jeffery Harrod but took pictures
BARBARA HARRODS BROWARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE CASE RECORD
Link HERE
These three powerful people had the green light and authority to revocate ( strip these licenses and permits) but instead looked the other way and gave them a tap on the wrist while more animals suffered and died. The USDA and there laws are worthless to animals.
This is why I've been working to help shut down Vanishing Species because under there lack of proper animal care the species is truely vanishing.
Remember when viewing these animals some here in these pictures are now dead and no one cared!
Who know's what's become of the others in the pictures. Change needs to come to the laws governing who can and can't have exotic animals.
The Harrods have no formal education in attending college for animal husbandry also known as animal science, they have no formal training as a veterarian assistant or in veterinarian medicine, the Harrod's don't possess a master's degrees or doctorates in disciplines such as nutrition, genetics and animal breeding, or reproductive physiology. Yet The Harrods have been given permits for breeding and exhibition by FWC and USDA.
They were just simply given permits! So in essence you need no skill, training nor knowledge to possess and keep a tiger , cougar or leopard which is a class 1 animal!
You just need to “know" someone that already has a class 1 and 2 permit to sign for you stating you have the 1000 hours per species even if you never had 20 hours. You don't need to prove you have the knowledge you just have to produce a few bucks for the permits and off you go.
Unite your voice with mine and stand up to politics that condemn these sacred and endangered animals to a life in a small prison, there only crime was they were born.
Unfortunately these animals you see were only a commodity and expendable.
If one baby died and many did they'd just go BUY another tiger baby to exploit for money doing baby pets at fairs such as Dade County Youth Fair, Birthday parties , schools, and other private functions ,Saw Grass Rec Park where they used to exhibit some of these animals and used the baby tiger pictured here , lioness named " Savanna" and the bob cat for baby pets for money but had lost their contact there and weren't asked back , along with other fairs.
One way or another the laws are going to have to change and if I have to stand alone then so be it but I'd like you the ones reading this to get involved because laws only change when people make law makers change them.
I don't feel the punishment for Barbara Harrod fit the crimes and should have been much more severe. Once again the animals died for a slap on the wrist and court costs. Where is the justice for the voiceless! This statement is my own personal feelings. After this case sat in the legal system with postponements for 3 years this was the outcome for the animals that suffered and died.Please help me to help the animals and be a voice with mine to demand answer from USDA and FWC. How many more animals have to die at the hands of the Harrods? When is enough, enough?
I am an animal advocate, a voice for the voiceless and I’m not going away. If I have to stand alone so be it, I have fought this ongoing night mare for the animals for 3 years and I have no intensions of going away any time soon.
Written by eye witness Chrissy Fischer
Email: witcheswand@yahoo.com
- 5 months ago
- Views: 199
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Puppy Mills Puppy Mills
- From: TheirVoice
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Description:
Statement of Marshal Smith, USDA Whistleblower
I am perhaps one of the least likely people to have turned government whistleblower. I was raised in a family whose agricultural interests included a cattle ranch in south Texas. My father was Executive Director for the USDA's Fever Tick Eradication program. For nine years I was a member of the 4H club. I was comfortable with structure and rules. I was also brought up to adhere to a personal code of ethics; that meant doing what was right.
With my father's code of ethics as my model and a desire to protect the livestock industry, I joined USDA in 1976, while in my early twenties. To me, USDA exemplified doing what was right to protect the public and industry. I was assigned to a mounted patrol along the Rio Grande under the Veterinary Services Fever Tick Eradication Program. In 1979 I moved to Big Bend National Park as a Quarantine Enforcement Officer and continued riding horseback patrol for Veterinary Services. From there I was promoted to a Supervisory Animal Health Technician with the Screwworm Eradication Program, acting as an agricultural attaché to the US Embassy in Mexico. I resigned for a short time to go into private business but returned to USDA in 1984.
In 1984 I was assigned to brucellosis eradication efforts in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was during my tenure in Arkansas that I first learned of the Animal Welfare Act. I learned that pet producers. i.e. breeders for pet stores were required to be licensed and inspected to conform with federal standards. Since USDA’s brucellosis eradication efforts had been successful I volunteered to participate in the Animal Welfare Program.
In 1985, I volunteered as an inspector for USDA'S Animal Welfare Program in order to ensure that puppy mills followed federal regulations. I recall the brief training period, which included viewing footage from a news show that had investigated pet store breeders. There was no discussion following that footage and no mention of the fact that USDA had, since 1967, been responsible for ensuring that conditions like those no longer existed. Thus began many of the naive assumptions I would make in the subsequent years when I was committed to believing the agency I worked for. I assumed then that since the problem of puppy mills had been publicly disclosed, USDA taken remedial steps. I assumed that the sobering news segment, my colleagues and I were viewing was old footage. In the field, I would learn that my assumption was wrong.
My territory included 40 kennels in northwest Arkansas. I approached my new job conscientiously. Records of these pet producers were transferred to me from a retiring inspector who told me, "If you’re smart you'll do what I did, you’ll check everything is OK." I told him that I intended to abide by the law. Another assumption: I assumed he was a lazy good old boy, that he was not voicing the agency's mindset.
The kennels I visited had seemingly never been inspected. I was overwhelmed by what I saw: the wretched looking animals, the mounds of fecal matter reaching in some cases to my knees, at very least to the wire caging of the rabbit hutches which most puppy millers used to house the dogs. In every instance that I recall, the filth and deprivation were shocking. I recorded scores of violations prompting complaints to my supervisor in Little Rock. Luckily for me however, my supervisor, DR. W. J. Ward, who had carved a niche for himself in the Animal Welfare Program, supported me. I was given a cash award and Certificate of Merit for my inspection activities.
I assumed that further measures were taken to enforce the regulations and bring offenders into compliance. I later learned that cases were not developed for enforcement, and that those that were would languish years before coming to hearing, when they would invariably be dismissed. Thus some of the most horrendous conditions under which dogs were bred festered, unfettered by federal intervention.
I accepted a promotion and transfer to Jefferson City, Missouri in 1986 as a Compliance officer, later reclassified to Senior Investigator. In this capacity I documented violations of regulations which were administered under the Veterinary Service Program; the cases were a combination of animal quarantine, animal welfare and veterinary accreditation violations. During this time, my colleagues and I were instructed to review the Animal Welfare case files and close them out with a VS Form 3-60. These were "warning tickets" used to essentially dismiss cases due to a backlog at the Office of General Counsel (OGC). These cases represented the more deplorable pet breeding facilities and I was dismayed at USDA's seemingly inability, or unwillingness, to deal with the violators as the law stipulated.
At this time USDA announced its re-organization which would separate the Animal Welfare Program from the Veterinary Services division. Agency officials publicly stated that the newly independent Animal Welfare Program's workforce of VMO’s and inspectors would be dedicated solely to animal welfare inspections. With the focus exclusively on the Animal Welfare Program it was touted that inspections and enforcement would be more effective and consistent. I would later hear that this re-organization was simply a strategic ploy to obtain larger congressional appropriations. Under Veterinary Services funds appropriated for brucellosis eradication had been allegedly diverted to subsidize Animal Welfare activities. With an independent division designated exclusively for the Animal Welfare Program additional appropriations were needed to properly fund the program. To this day the bulk of the funds account for salaries and equipment.
The resulting reorganization formed Regulatory Enforcement and Animal Care (REAC). It consisted of two distinct divisions; one for the enforcement of all APHIS regulations, Regulatory Enforcement (RE); and one for inspections, Animal Care (AC), which was responsible solely for the Animal Welfare Program. These branches were supposed to work together; Animal Care performing inspections, Regulatory Enforcement developing cases against alleged violators of various APHIS programs including AC. Five geographic sectors were created, but the RE and AC boundaries did not mesh. For example, investigators stationed in Missouri reported to the North Central Sector while Animal Care inspectors reported to the South Central Sector. This arrangement made for confusion and inefficiency.
Following the creation of REAC, Dr. Edward Slauter left his post as Director of the Animal Health Division of the Missouri Department of Agriculture. Why he left this position is telling: he was under pressure from the state's Attorney General for his failure to enforce state animal health regulations. Slauter, an associate of Dr. Joan Arnoldi, the newly named Deputy Administrator for REAC, found a welcoming home at the newly created division.
REAC's publicly stated mission to enforce the Animal Welfare Act and bring offenders into compliance is articulated by Dr. Glosser, APHIS Administrator at that time. As Glosser put it, REAC would "lead people into compliance," through "a flexible, dynamic body of regulations."
I was hopeful then that REAC would begin to address the serious inconsistencies in the inspection program and the agency's chronic failure to seek legal remedy against offenders.
By 1990, my Midwest colleagues and I were working fewer cases than prior to REAC's creation. Congress and the media however were not as willing to overlook transgressions right under the nose of USDA. A September 7, 1990 letter from Indiana Congressman, John Meyer, related to a complaint from one of his constituents who attended an exotic animal park and described it to Meyer as a concentration camp for animals. Forced out of its passive role into action, Animal Care under Dr. Mott investigated and reported three violations; I found 12 categories of violations, with numerous sub category violations. During the course of my investigation I also learned that the Missouri Department of Conservation had convicted the manager of this exotic animal park for hunting those exotic animals under his protective care. The thoroughly documented case was sent on to the USDA attorneys but never reached hearing and prosecution.
At the end of 1990, Dr. Walter A. Christensen, Animal Care Sector Supervisor, requested an investigation of a Stover, Missouri kennel operated by two sisters, Janice Knierim and Rhoda Burnett. The case is a classic example of USDA's corruption of established procedures. The kennel in question had been previously licensed under Mr. And Mrs. Vinson Whittle, their parents, who USDA convinced to surrender their license and re-apply under their daughters’ names to clean their slate of severe violations; a new license was thus issued, giving this same kennel a fresh slate, on paper. Yet the same and worse violations persisted: sick dogs ("dehydration, open sores, skin infections"), lack of water and food; improper records; failure to account for the disposition of many of the dogs they sold.
My division, Regulatory Enforcement was, however, never called in to investigate. When the sisters refused Animal Care access to their kennel, Animal Care requested intervention by the local sheriff to gain entry, this in an effort to keep in-house Animal Care's own negligence in issuing the license. The warrant secured by the Sheriff’s department was invalid due to an incorrect address. Later AC did gain access and the kennel passed inspection. But, as indicated by documents in my case file, a complainant who phoned in asked Dr. Slauter "How could they pass? Your inspector must be on the take." Slauter responded, "I know the inspector, he's an excellent inspector." In 1996 the inspector, Robert Dunning, was nabbed in a FBI sting for soliciting a bribe from a kennel owner.
For me, 1992 was a turning point. The stolen pet issue had gotten so hot that local sheriff departments were asking USDA for help. One in Missouri told me pet theft was so widespread that it wanted USDA to set up a hotline to track cases; his request fell on deaf ears. Bunchers were in their heyday, picking up animals from newspaper ads, neighborhoods and I could not understand why USDA was denying there was a problem. I speculated at the time that the situation had gotten so out of hand that the catch up work alone would inundate Animal Care's staff, in addition to reflect poorly on management. I later understood this as an attempt to keep the egregious, long unaddressed problems confined in-house. Animal Care had begun isolating itself from its sister division- it was covering its tracks by excluding Enforcement officers like myself from investigations.
To conceal their misdeeds Animal Care turned to local sheriff's rather than its Enforcement arm, as in the Donald Wood cattery. The conditions there festered over time: sick animals, lack of food or water, improper identification of cats, failure to remove excrement from cages, lack of veterinary care to the extent an inspection report noted: "The gravity of this situation is compounded by the fact that the animals were apparently temporarily abandoned." A warrant was issued with the assistance of the local sheriff and five cats were seized; the warrant, however, did not authorize the seizure. Regulatory Enforcement was subsequently called in to clean up the mess. In an apparent effort to destroy the evidence of the illegal confiscation, Dr. Christensen ordered the cats destroyed. The APHIS Administrator had to sign a confiscation order after the fact. Had Animal Care gone through the proper channels the confiscation would have been legal.
In the Bryant case, yet another case of improper authorizations by Animal Care involved instructions given to an inspector to falsify his reports. When I accompanied this inspector and entered the filthy kennel building, which housed the puppy mill, my eyes immediately started burning from the ammonia vapors; there was no ventilation. One-gallon cans, which formerly contained toxic paint, served as water buckets. When I returned to our vehicle, the Animal Care inspector wrote up his report, clearly omitting some of the most serious and obvious violations. He explained to me that his supervisor had told him "not to document too many violations." I then phoned my own supervisor to discuss this situation. I followed up with a memo, which I faxed to his office as requested. I subsequently learned that the memo had been destroyed "to protect" me. I had not done anything wrong and I was angry that my superiors would not or could not address the issue of a falsified document or the alleged instructions to do so.
This was the last pet producing facility I was asked to visit. In fact, I was not given cases from Animal Care until year-end 1992 when I was dispatched to examine the records of two long time research suppliers, Bruce Barnfield and Randall Huffstetler. The Animal Care inspector responsible for inspecting Huffstetler's kennel had formerly worked at one of the dealer's clients, a university in Missouri. This same inspector had previously called Huffstetler for tips on getting hired by the agency. He returned the favor quid pro quo. On the occasion of my visit, he gave Huffstetler an inappropriate correction deadline. I reported my objections to this action to my supervisor. Huffstetler lodged his own complaint: he was incensed that he had been cited at all. Dr. Bruce Mammeli, Assistant Sector Supervisor, sent an apologetic letter to the dealer exempting him from responding to those citations. Suddenly the inspection had become simply a "fact finding mission." As Mammeli wrote: "On fact finding inspections correction dates are not given, therefore they are not mandatory and will not be held against you during your next routine inspection."
The following year I was asked to review 16 computer generated pages of selected excerpts relating to suppliers of random source animals whose records I had copied. I was not allowed, however, to use the records I had copied, only what headquarters had sent down to me. The resulting case, which I prepared with such selective evidence, was, not surprisingly, returned to me as insufficient for prosecution. The voluminous records I had copied which indicated scores of violations had disappeared. It was not until 1996 that, under pressure from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and finally a threat of prosecution, Huffstetler voluntarily relinquished his license.
At that time, it was advantageous for the sake of public relations and political expediency to finally sacrifice this one dealer, whose kennel should never have been licensed.
In May 1992 the OIG issued its audit of APHIS. For me, the report was confirmation of what I had long been observing and reporting back to my supervisors: there was internally an ongoing pattern of mismanagement, lack of enforcement of the regulations, and a passive, reactive administering of the Animal Welfare Program. OlG concluded that "APHIS cannot ensure the humane care and treatment of animals at all dealer facilities as required by the Animal Welfare Act...did not inspect dealer facilities with a reliable frequency and it did not enforce timely corrections of violations found during inspections." Of the 284 facilities reviewed, 46, or 16.2 percent, had received no annual inspection; 80.8 percent of the remaining facilities found to be in violation had received no follow-up; that APHIS does not have an effective inspection monitoring system... had not timely penalized facilities found to be in violation - in one case "continuous, uncorrected violations” were noted as far back as July 1988.
Notwithstanding this scathing federal report, USDA took no corrective action. Valuable time and resources were thus wasted and admonitions soon forgotten by USDA. Operationally, USDA continued to fall down on the job. In the next year, 1993, there were even fewer inspections fewer re-inspections, fewer cases investigated and reviewed, fewer cases submitted to Regulatory Enforcement; fewer compliance inspections; fewer cases submitted to OGC; fewer official warnings, and on and on. Licensed facilities in violation remained virtually unchanged. I began to understand that USDA had assumed the position that it was above the law.
Meanwhile, complaints had been flooding USDA in states hardest hit by pet theft, including Missouri and Iowa. Media were breaking stories of animals vanishing without at trace. USDA had been forced to respond. A mid West Stolen Dog Task Force had been hastily formed in 1990; I was not asked to participate. Nearly 150 pages of unreleased field investigator notes indicated that dog dealers under investigation had in a few months period obtained dogs from 148 illegal sources, from dealers who had been convicted in local court of stealing pets, and from long dead individuals or those who simply did not exist. Yet APHIS administrator Dr. James Glosser issued quite another finding to the public and press. USDA concluded, "There was a lack of substantive evidence that dealers were knowingly dealing in stolen pets.” Inspectors were told to offer licenses to the 148 illegal suppliers, also known as bunchers.
Providing improper statements to the government (18, U.S.C., 1001) could have sent USDA administrators themselves to jail for a maximum of five years, and a $10,000 fine, let alone imposed maximum sanctions against the dog dealers.
This dog task force would be the first of three, which provided fodder for the agency's self-justified inaction and involved significant laundering of data and tampering with evidence. A January 1993 task force, from which again I was excluded, found rampant falsification of records among long prospering violators in Missouri and Arkansas, and evidence that dealers were obtaining dogs and cats from “Free to Good Home” ads and from other dealers who had been convicted of illegally acquiring animals. One dealer whose underground, football field size underground kennels service most of the large mid west research institutions, burned his records prior to an announced inspection visit and, according to one of its Senior Investigators, moved about 300 dogs overnight to undisclosed locations. Instead of aggressively pursing this dealer, the Task Force was instructed to drop his from further investigation.
Ultimately the entire task force project was canned, despite or perhaps because of, accumulated evidence of wrongdoing by USDA licensees. In November of the same year, another stolen dog task force was revived, this largely in response to the publication of STOLEN FOR PROFIT, a book about the theft of pets and USDA's role in enabling those crimes. This Stolen Dog Traceback Project like its predecessors uncovered severe, widespread violations of the law at dog dealer kennels.
According to USDA regulation, 9 CFR, Section 2.132 (b), dealers must determine whether or not a particular animal was born and raised on his supplier's premises. Yet USDA had constructed pre-written affidavits, which omitted this crucial question, thus exempting critical evidence from case files. I had sent on records containing obvious violations, which should have again justified punitive action, but when those records were returned to me they were purged of these observations and watered down to a handful of relatively minor violations. In one case, Animal Care referred to Enforcement only 17 minor offenses out of hundreds of major, well-documented violations.
National news magazine shows had picked up the story. I was interviewed in silhouette for "Eye to Eye with Connie Chung." Although I was a key source I remained anonymous, out of fear of agency reprisals. Yet there were mounting suspicions that I had provided the author with damning internal documents and that it was in fact I on the news show. By the end of 1993 I had been removed from Animal Care cases involving dogs and cats. My work assignments were principally in the area of animal quarantine cases under the purview of Veterinary Services. I was totally out of the dealer and puppy mill investigation loop.
Throughout 1994 into 1995, USDA's public exposure and vulnerability was increasing. The re-release in paperback of Stolen for Profit drew yet more public and media attention to stolen pets and USDA's role. Despite specific federal code Title 7, Section 2159 "Authority to Apply for Injunction" if the agency believed that "any dealer is dealing in stolen animals or is placing the health of any animal in serious danger," the only occasional cases which made their way to the OGC were invariably granted safe haven. In its by then 28 years monitoring dealers - some of whom had been found guilty by local courts of stealing pets, dealers who had been housing animals in everything from front load dryers to mailboxes to chicken coops, dealers who were selling infected and dying animals to research institutions, the USDA Attorney General had only once taken injunctive action. At this point, only the high profile cases, which had attracted media attention were being, resolved other than by warnings. Under threat of punitive action, relatively small dealers voluntarily relinquished their licenses, among them Randall Huffstetler. This was good PR for USDA, which could claim to shut these dealers down.
USDA's "discretionary powers" were, however, enabling the agency to re- write its federally mandated job description, favoring industry (dog dealers and their research, puppy mills and their pet store clients) over the public. The agency was making obtaining and retaining those licenses by violators easier. It was simply governing "by consensus," and actively removing dealers from legal obligation to comply with regulations. One USDA memo specifically states that corrective measures for non-compliant items cited during routine inspections should be a “…consensus between the inspector and the licensee or registrant.”
It is particularly noteworthy that USDA continued its laissez faire policies despite a 1995 internal report by the Office of Inspector General identifying the agency's negligence and non-enforcement. USDA seemed to have also lost control over not only dealer kennels but its own employees. During a 1994 annual meeting in Oklahoma word got out that a USDA employee within Animal Care had reportedly embezzled over $80,OOO from USDA, primarily in dog dealer license fees and subsequently sabotaged the computer systems so that it became impossible to determine the full extent of this damage.
Shortly after the 0IG report was released, REAC's own internal assessment was provided to headquarters; this report was not made public. In fact, administrators flatly told press inquirers that no such report existed. In the summer of 1994 Morley Cook, had conducted a review of the South Central Sector REAC program whose office was in Fort Worth, Texas. Cook found significant failings within that area's program: the data base system impeded efficiency and management control; public complaints were not being recognized; inspectors were not adequately trained and lacked sufficient information for their job performance; REAC policy was not uniform, etc. What the report did not mention was that the Sector Supervisor, Dr. Walter Christensen had been taking matters into his own hands.
Since 1992, Dr. Christensen had been arbitrarily clearing Enforcement files of violators. Animal Care supervisors had access to the Compliance Investigations Tracking System (CITS) which tracks cases from initiation date to final resolution. This was initially an investigative tool designed to track the time spent gathering evidence and completion of an investigative report subsequent to formal prosecution. Dr. Christensen lobbied for and was eventually granted access to the CITS System so AC could track cases handled by the AC Sector offices. However, Dr. Christensen was closing out cases, oftentimes the same day of their entry. He was accomplishing this by arbitrarily issuing warning tickets. In many cases the violation would have justified a far more punitive action, for example dealer license suspension and even confiscation of animals whose health and safety was in danger. It was my understanding the Enforcement's investigations were a management tool for Animal Care, a back-up for any violations Animal Care had failed to observe. This, apparently, is just what Animal Care did not want: any further indication of its negligence. To bolster its slack enforcement image, the south central sector was padding its enforcement entries.
In spite of or perhaps because of my frustration with USDA authorities I applied for a promotion and was interviewed by RE Sector Supervisor Neil Williamson concerning an Enforcement Specialist position, a promotion that would have entailed my moving to Denver. I even received a confirming letter. However, I received a call from Williamson stating that he had been instructed by Ron Stanley, Deputy Administrator for Regulatory Enforcement, to advise me that the job in Denver had been "put on the shelf." I immediately faxed a memo to Williamson, requesting clarification.
A month later, on May 15, 1995 I was told by Dianne Shank, Regulatory Enforcement Supervisor for the South Central region, that my position in Jefferson City had suddenly been "abolished." I was also told that I had to choose one of seven cities as my new duty station. There was no mention of my promotion to the Denver office. The agency was asking for an immediate reply indicating my compliance with its sudden new directive.
To address this clear evidence of retaliation, I contacted an attorney. He advised me not to comply until I received a written request and had an opportunity to review the agency's offer. On May 22 I advised the agency that I had hired an attorney. That same day Ron Stanley left me a voice mail stating that I would not have to relocate after all. I do not believe the agency was prepared for me to take such aggressive action.
By now I was receiving only insignificant investigations which had no merit. But my complaint concerning the rescinding of my promotion had drawn the attention of OlG. In late November 1995, I was interviewed by an investigator. He told me that Office of Inspector General was looking into allegations of corruption within REAC. At this time, I was sent a case from Animal Care. On fact value it seemed open and shut: minor violations involving the unlicensed sale of some dogs to research. Animal Care did not expect me to further investigate using the records they supplied. I learned that this buncher had been selling dogs to one of the major Arkansas based dealers during a period of ten years, using his relative's names. Again I had, by simply doing my job, placed Animal Care in a bad light. In 1997, that Arkansas dealer who received this buncher's dogs would only be fined $5000 for his own longtime, serious violations.
Following OIG's inquiry I contacted the Government Accountability Project (GAP) in Washington DC. GAP was ostensibly established to address government whistleblower complaints. It was clear by now that I was the subject of retaliation by the agency. GAP was not aggressive in filing a complaint on my behalf, however. GAP suggested I accept USDA's offer that would allow me to remain in the Midwest in my current investigative position. The USDA had created a position that was unacceptable in that I was to educate the industry and public regarding Animal Care’s mission. I simply wanted to do the job I was assigned to do, document alleged violations of APHIS regulations. I could not accept an untenable compromise that would further isolate me.
The on-paper supervisory position would have made me the target continued hostility. Already my once amicable, productive relationship with my longtime office mate in Jefferson City had been eroded. The officer told me, "I'm tired of your whistleblowing shit" and expressed a desire to "beat the shit out of me." He made these statements in the presence of three superiors including Ron Stanley, *none of whom defended me.
Meanwhile Animal Care was consolidating its power. Through a voice mail announcement -no paper trail, we were informed that Regulatory Enforcement would be severed from Animal Care and transferred to the Office of Management and Budget. By assigning enforcement to an office which makes regulations, rather than enforcing them, the former REAC, thus divested of it RE, would take even fewer steps to deal with alleged violators.
In February 1997, I resigned from USDA, a disheartening end to nearly 20 years of services. I forfeited my retirement as well as a lifetime career. The untenable atmosphere had taken a toll. Fortunately, I found a niche with IDA through friendships I had nurtured during my tumultuous last few years with USDA. I quickly embarked on a war against puppy mill leading national, regional, and local television crews to deplorable facilities. On one of my escapades the news crew and I were shot at by the kennel operator and the news vehicle hit with pellets from the shotgun. The shooting incident was caught on tape yet two years later a jury acquitted the shooter.
The suffering and misery that I have seen and continue to see motivate me to fight for the animals who have no voice, no representation, and virtually no standing with our laws. I am determined to expose the evil puppy mill industry, which is supported by the retail pet industry. Each day our efforts improve thanks to those who have seen a mill or vicariously experienced the agony victims of this industry endure each day. Many will suffer and others die at the whim of people motivated by greed instead of love for animals that they profess to the world.
- Blog post
- 6 months ago
- Views: 178
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Noah's Ark Skinned Circus Tige Noah's Ark Skinned Circus Tiger Dumped Body
- From: PatCuvie
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Description:
Controversial Christian zoo skinned tiger Tira and stored her head in freezer
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:52 PM on 19th October 2009
A Christian zoo decapitated a dead tiger and cut off its paws before it dumped the carcass on farmland and stored the head in a freezer, an investigation has revealed.
The female Bengal tiger called Tira was skinned after she died of natural causes and then buried in a black bin bag at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm.
Investigators also discovered she was on loan from the owner of the Great British Circus - one of the last big top shows in Britain to use live tigers in performances.
Bosses at the zoo, in Wraxall near Bristol, admitted the skin, paws and head were removed to be hung on the wall as part of a display for 'secondary education'.
After the revelations, staff at Noah's Ark - which promotes creationism and denies the theory of evolution - dug up the remains and incinerated them.
The case emerged in an undercover investigation by campaign group the Captive Animals Protection Society (CAPS), which planted an undercover worker at the zoo.
The organisation also claims the zoo is raising young tigers as part of a breeding programme to hand back to the circus.
Campaign Director Craig Redmond today called for the attraction to be closed down.
He said: 'What we discovered was shocking but really only scratched at the surface of what goes on in zoos.
'We initially planned just to confirm that the zoo was a breeding centre for the circus owner but the fate of the tiger Tira, her mutilated body dumped in a hole, shows how these animals are treated as commodities, bred to attract tourists.
'We have reported the zoo to various authorities including the local council which licenses the zoo, calling for an investigation as well as its licence to be revoked.'
The undercover 'employee' spent two months working as a volunteer at the site from early June to mid August and secretly filmed conversations.
During that time, recorded conversations confirmed that staff were aware animals were received from Martin Lacey, who owns the Great British Circus.
But when asked, members of the public were told the animals were bought in from a 'private collection in the north' - which it emerged was Mr Lacey.
Three tigers arrived at the zoo in June and July, one of which was the heavily pregnant six-year-old Bengal tiger, Tira.
Three of her cubs were stillborn and the fourth was immediately removed and hand-reared but died three weeks later.
Tira died ten days after the birth and staff cut off her head and paws before her skin was removed and her body dumped on the farm's grounds.
Mr Redmond added: 'The body was buried for reasons unknown, but before any test or a post mortem could be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.
'The head was later seen by our undercover investigator wrapped in a black bag in a freezer, but the paws were never seen again.
'Our insider was told the skin would be hung on the wall as a decoration.'
Anthony Bush, the owner of Noah's Ark, said he has since dug the tiger up and corrected his mistake after Defra vowed to investigate.
A spokeswoman for the zoo said: 'Noah's Ark does not own or hold circus tigers and they are not the property of the Great British Circus.
'The Tigers at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm belong to Linctrek Ltd, a company providing trained animals for use in film, other collections and TV.
'A director of Linctrek is Martin Lacey, who also owns the Great British Circus. We have never, when questioned, withheld information regarding this.
'It has always been well known that our tigers and camels come from a private collector in the north of England.
'Tira the tiger died from a pre-existing condition which was found following a thorough and legal post mortem. Being a zoo and a farm we buried the Tiger under regulations covering farm land.
'However, on subsequently being informed of other regulations we acted instantly to remedy this situation.
'The tiger skin, head and feet will be used for secondary education here at the Zoo and is a common practice within the zoo community.
'The welfare of the animals is exceptional with Noah's Ark passing government and institutionally accredited inspections.'
However, the zoo denied claims that it is part of a breeding programme and says it had 'no immediate plans' to hand back Tira's cubs.
The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Somerset Trading Standards and Defra have all vowed to investigate the allegations.
Professional group the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums said it would also investigate.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1221493/Zoo-skinned-dead-tiger-Tira-stored-head-freezer.html - Blog post
- 11 months ago
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Animal cruelty allegations mad Animal cruelty allegations made against Busch
- From: Anon
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Description:
Animal cruelty allegations made against Busch
Published: 6:24PM Sunday May 31, 2009
Serious allegations, including claims of animal cruelty, have been made against TV's world famous Lion Man.
ONE News has obtained documents, and spoken to workers at the Zion Wildlife Gardens, about occasions when big cats were hurt and people put at risk over a period of five years.
The allegations surfaced after Craig Busch publicly criticised safety standards at Zion, following the fatal mauling of a keeper last week.
ONE News has spoken to staff who claim Busch cruelly killed unwanted cubs.
One worker claims he saw Busch put a cub down using a rock the size of a softball.
"He lay the cub on the ground...he was in a standing position and he threw the rock down on the ground onto the cub. It took three or four times before he was satisfied it was dead, cause he actually... semi missed&he clipped it cause I remember seeing the thing bounce with the impact of the rock," alleges one anonymous worker.
ONE News put these specific allegations to Busch. He declined to appear on camera, but through a spokesperson says he denies he has ever mistreated any animals.
Earlier in the week at a press conference Busch was adamant the welfare of the cats was a top priority.
"There is no way I am going to allow those tigers or any cat there get put down, no way," he says.
Busch also claimed safety standards at Zion Wildlife Gardens have slipped since he was sacked last year.
"They need to pull their socks up."
However some staff allege last October it was Busch who put lives at risk insisting two keepers run alongside a tiger on a lead as part of training.
Staff spoken to by ONE News say running with a cat can incite it to attack. In one case a tiger did just that, biting a worker.
"The tiger jumped him down on the first run and went over to grab him by the throat, lucky I was there and I hit the tiger a few times," says the worker.
A third park worker alleges he saw Busch beat two of the cats with a short wooden handle.
"He laid into it and laid into and laid into.. the male lion come and laid on top of her to guard her cause she was whimpering ... and he said 'you want some too' and gave him a couple of blows too."
Staff spoken to by ONE News say they didn't speak up at the time because they were scared to do so.
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/animal-cruelty-allegations-made-against-busch-2764199 - 1 year ago
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Big Cats Sold for Meat and Ski Big Cats Sold for Meat and Skins in U.S.
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Endangered_Animal_Trade
Check out how caring the Smiths were in 2002.Exotic Animal Trader Sentenced To Prison
11/15/2002 11:12:41 PM
One of the 15 suspects busted in a Midwest exotic animal ring was sentenced Friday in St. Louis federal court.
A Newschannel 5 investigation exposed the killing and butchering of endangered animals earlier this month. It's a multi-billion dollar black market business with roots in Missouri.
Friday, Stoney Ray Elam, the former operator of a Ft. Gibson Oklahoma exotic animal farm, was sentenced to one year with the bureau of prisons. The last six months of his sentence will include home detention with electronic monitoring.
Elam pleaded guilty to illegally selling two federally protected tigers and three leopards and falsifying federal documents to list the sale as a donation. Elam was busted after selling the five animals to undercover agents at a New Florence Missouri truck stop.
The judge also ordered Elam to pay 5000 dollars to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife "Save the Tiger" Fund.The Endangered Animal Trade
11/1/2002 5:50:02 PM
By Leisa Zigman
(KSDK) -- Missouri has become a major player in a gruesome industrythat preys on endangered animals. Federal agents say next to the drug
trade, the illegal killing of exotic animals is the second most profitable
business in the world.
Recently NewsChannel 5 learned that Missouri is now a black-markethub where some breeders and brokers are making a killing; literally.
Members of a secret Midwest exotic animal ring with roots in Cape
Girardeau had chilling plans for some federally protected endangered
tigers. According to Federal officials they were going to shoot, butcher,
and sell their hides, their body parts, and their meat. Why? Because
these majestic animals, are worth a lot more dead, than alive.
Bill Hartwig is the Regional Director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife. He says
many endangered tigers are purchased to be killed and made into rugs.It's a billion dollar black market business, and it's led federal agents to
Missouri as part of a multi-state sting.
"Animals from Florida, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, were sent to Missouri,to Cape Girardeau, and were killed, butchered, and shipped to Chicago,"
said Hartwig.
In February, Todd and Vicky Lantz of Cape Girardeau pleaded guilty totheir roles in the exotic animal trade.
Tim Santel, an investigator with U.S. Fish and Wildlife, said, "We find the
illegal animal trade is nationwide, worldwide. The fact that it happened inCape Girardeau doesn't surprise me at all."
Tiger hides sell for up to $25,000 dollars a piece. If the big cats weren't
butchered for their pelts, meat, bones, and organs, collectors would pay
thousands to stuff and display them as trophies.
A government informant, who will remain anonymous said, "The personwho supplied the biggest check, got to keep the animal and of course,
they would shoot the animal usually in a caged situation."
Federal prosecutors said the tigers often came through Missouri, enroute to Chicago where collectors paid thousands of dollars to shoot
caged endangered animals. Federal prosecutors say Doctor Robert
Martinez, of Chicago, paid $7000 to shoot an endangered black
spotted leopard while it was still caged.
Hartwig said, "It was a painful situation for them and anyone who has a
conscience to be able to watch."
In August, Steven Galecki of Chicago pleaded guilty to selling and
slaughtering numerous tigers and leopards. When federal authoritiesbusted Galecki, they confiscated all of his paper work. One of the names
led agents to Warrenton, Missouri, and the Wesa A Geh Ya Sanctuary,
run by Ken and Sandy Smith.
The Smiths admit to selling Galecki two lions, a cougar and a dead tigerin the mid 90's. Those actions are legal, but they were in direct contrast to
the mission of her animal sanctuary.
"I truly thought, I believed it in my heart at the time, he had right intentions,"said Sandy Smith.
The Smiths say they used to breed and sell animals but stopped in 1998,
when Wesa A Geh Ya became a not-for-profit sanctuary .
"When I started a year ago this last August, there were 52 animals, andwhen I left there were well over 70, and a lot of them were cubs," said Pat
Bohler, a former Wesa A Geh Ya board member.
Bohler and the other former Wesa a Geh Ya board members, volunteers,and employees, all say the Smiths are not only breeding exotic animals
but soliciting charitable donations.
"Each animal has a story, and each story is a tear jerker, and the more
people cried the more money you're going to get," said Beth Norman,former grant director for the sanctuary.
Former board members say they repeatedly urged the Smiths to quitbreeding, but the Smiths say they¹re against spaying and neutering.
Former volunteers say there have been several recent deaths at the
sanctuary including Zander, a four-month lion cub. His cause of death has
not been established.
Former board members and employees believe the Smiths need to be
investigated and the sanctuary closed. However, the USDA just renewedthe smith's license and the couple insists they have no part in a Midwestern
black market ring.
Nationwide 12,000 tigers are in private hands and more are born everyday. Federal agents asked us not to reveal where the rescued tigers and
leopards are located. We can tell you, it is within the NewsChannel 5
viewing area.
Today, Dr. Martinez pleaded guilty to killing an endangered animal. Hefaces five years in prison and $250,000 dollars in fines.
If you have information about the exotic animal trade that you would liketo report, contact us fish and wildlife call 612-713-5320 or online at
Midwest.fws.gov - Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Nay Aug wildlife housing has l Nay Aug wildlife housing has long, troubled past
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Nay Aug wildlife housing has long, troubled past
Princess Penny, a 21-month-old elephant, unties the shoe of a visitor. Times-Tribune archive - Sept. 1, 1966 Share This Story: 
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the_timestrib696:http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/04/07/news/sc_times_trib.20090407.a.pg1.tt07genesis_s1.2427731_top2.txt
Yahoo! BuzzBY LAURA LEGERE
STAFF WRITERThird of three parts
The Nay Aug Zoo was a center of civic pride for decades after it opened in 1920. In 1924 and 1935, new elephants were purchased using money raised by schoolchildren, a penny at a time. In 1955, about 500 people visited each day. Footage compiled by Hank Robinson into a film about the history of the zoo shows the park crowded with visitors during a summer day in the 1960s. Copies of his film are available at all Lackawanna County public libraries.
When Genesis Wildlife Center was officially opened in November 2003 in one of the former zoo’s buildings, Mayor Chris Doherty called up that past.
“Even I remember coming here as a kid,” he said at the center’s unveiling. “The zoo was a big part of the city’s identity. The thing I didn’t anticipate with this project was how much of an emotional hold it had on people.”Critics of the wildlife center say the “emotional hold” of the park’s past — and a selective memory about the zoo’s history of mistakes — helps explain how the city has been able to persist in keeping exotic animals in an aging structure there.
“The mayor has very good company in our collective nostalgia for Nay Aug the way it was,” Eunice Alexander, a former Scranton resident, said. “I think it colored our thinking as a people. It just seems like we’ve allowed ourselves to think that we could have this.”
Ms. Alexander pointed out a “long history of keeping animals in too-small areas” at the park during a period when “we didn’t know any better.”
“But now, we know better,” she said.
A familiar debate
The debate over the future of the Genesis Wildlife Center is strikingly similar to the debate over Nay Aug Zoo that raged a quarter century ago, and another debate that flared two decades before that.
In 1983, the Humane Society of the United States named the zoo to a list of the nation’s 10 most substandard zoos. Sue Pressman, director of captive wildlife protection for the Humane Society, noted “the exhibits at the Scranton Zoo are so outdated and sterile that there can be no understanding of the animals’ natural behaviors.” She called even the newest exhibits “archaic” by the standards of modern zoology.
The chairman of the local Zoological Society at the time defended the zoo by pointing out it was licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and it was visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year.
“I think the city is getting more than its money’s worth,” said the chairman, W. Boyd Hughes.
Two decades earlier, in 1963, the Humane Society of Lackawanna County criticized the Zoological Society for its approach to renovating the zoo’s heating system, leaky roof and a drafty lion and tiger cage.
It had been a particularly dramatic year at the zoo: a bull elk gored to death a 10-week-old baby elk; a monkey bit the fingers of a zoo attendant who tried to capture it after it escaped; four monkeys and possibly a burro died from exposure to winter weather because the building was insufficiently heated; and a female lion killed two cubs after a faulty door allowed her to get into their cage.
“Zoos start in a spate of excitement and money, and gradually, both diminish,” Hilda Ziegler, the Humane Society’s secretary, said in her criticism of the renovations at the time. “The needs of the animals do not diminish when the money does. It is necessary to look ahead not only to next year but to the next 20 years.”
Tragic history
Before it closed in 1989 because of financial struggles, Nay Aug Zoo’s history was filled with stories of animal escapes, abuse by visitors and occasional tragedies.
In April 1964, two adult bears mauled to death a 2-year-old cub that had gotten into their cage. According to Scranton Times accounts at the time, three boys witnessed “the maelstrom of tangling fur, claws and teeth” as the young bear was killed.
Later that year, a 75-year-old zoo attendant was fatally gored by a bull elk that charged him while he was trying to protect employees fixing a water line. He died after suffering a crushed chest, collapsed lung and severe punctures of the abdomen.
In 1966, a capuchin monkey, described by zookeeper George Lowry as “on the ferocious side,” was shot and killed after it escaped from the zoo. That same year, a baboon was found dead in its cage with a fractured skull, evidently from being hit in the head with a metal bar.
In 1967, a 4-year-old alligator escaped for two days into Roaring Brook, where Mr. Lowry shot it twice in the head with a rifle, mortally wounding it. Less than a week later, someone entered the zoo and let a mountain lion out of its cage. The lion was tranquilized nearby, but during the excitement, an employee left open the cage holding a pony and two llamas, all of which briefly escaped.
The same month, Princess Penny, an elephant, choked on a stuffed toy that had been thrown into her paddock, and a zoo attendant had to retrieve the toy from her throat.
In 1970, a group of boys released two 350-pound Himalayan black bears from their dens. The bears were shot by police as they began wandering in the park near Lake Lincoln. A year earlier, a white fallow deer was found dead in the children’s zoo, near about 20 stones and a bloody 3-foot tree limb that had evidently been used to kill it.
‘Not a good zoo’
By the end of 1989, the joint city-and-county-run zoo was in debt and struggling to finance a plan to turn the zoo into a facility that better conformed to the natural environment of the hilly park or one that featured only animals native to North America. After a concerted effort to place the remaining animals in other zoos, the number of animals had dwindled from about 200 in the 1960s to three: two bears and an elephant.
By the time the last animal, Toni the elephant, was moved to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., it was acknowledged it had been unsuitable for the elephant to be kept without peers. It was also noted that a stiffening of the lower joint in her left front leg might have been exacerbated by standing on the concrete of her pen all day.
That year, for the second time in five years, the zoo was listed among the nation’s 10 worst zoos in an article published by Parade magazine. Although many defended the animals’ treatment at the zoo, Eleanor Ginader, a board member of the local Zoological Society said, “Truly, it is not a good zoo. We’d be the first to admit it.”
Three years earlier, in 1986, she had explained the problem with the zoo and a hope for its future.
“I’m sure that the Nay Aug Zoo in the 1930s was one of the finest examples of zoos at that time, but it is still a 1930 zoo,” she said. “It has not been updated; it has not kept pace with the times; it’s not had the money; it’s been one financial crisis after another, and so we have to change.”
She added, “We either have to have something that’s one of the best, even though it’s small, or we don’t have anything at all.”
Read more from the Concrete Jungle series
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- 1 year ago
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Genesis Wildlife Center: A dec Genesis Wildlife Center: A decent life for wildlife?
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CONCRETE JUNGLE: Inside the Genesis Wildlife Center
Published: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 11:30 AM EDT
A series of reports by The Times-Tribune about the conditions and operations of the Genesis Wildlife Center in Scranton's Nay Aug Park.Genesis Wildlife Center: A decent life for wildlife?
BY LAURA LEGERE
STAFF WRITERPublished: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 11:15 AM EDTFirst of three parts
Margaret Miller, the 64-year-old director of the Genesis Wildlife Center, escorted a visitor into a side room full of caged birds that nattered and squawked when she entered.
She stood in the narrow middle of the room partitioned by parallel 2-by-4s suspended thigh-high, each board labeled in handwritten pen "Do Not Cross." As an additional precaution, Ms. Miller likes to have a volunteer sit in the room to prevent people leaning over the wobbly boards and sticking their fingers into the birds' cages. The birds are apt to bite, she said.
"Isn't that right?" she asked the birds. The birds bobbed their heads.
Genesis Wildlife Center aims to be a sanctuary for animals that once were unwanted or abused. But a lack of adequate funding, modern facilities or a long-term plan means chronic problems often are overlooked or patched with makeshift solutions.
Since 2003, when the menagerie was moved to the city-owned building that once was part of the Nay Aug Zoo, the center has struggled to make a home fit for the animals, revealing limitations in both the facility and the way the center is run.
Care fails inspections
The center strains to meet even the minimum standards of animal care set by the federal government under the Animal Welfare Act.
Inspections by the U.S. Department of Agriculture between June 2005 and September 2007, obtained by The Sunday Times in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, describe an array of infractions.
- Read the Inspections (.pdf)
In June 2007, four "grossly overweight" primates were given a "morning snack" of waffles coated with marshmallow topping. They had become "very sedentary" in their cages after apparently gaining back the weight lost on a previous diet.
In November 2005, a member of the public accompanied an employee and volunteer inside the tiger and cougar enclosure, where she was allowed to pet the tiger. Neither animal was restrained or under a handler's control.
In June 2005, most of the medications stored in the office were noted to be expired, including an antibiotic that had been expired for a year but was being administered to a coatimundi, a long-tailed mammal in the raccoon family. The outdated medicines were still on site during an inspection two months later, when staff members threw them out.
None of the animals was examined by a veterinarian during the six months between October 2005 and April 2006, despite the center's program calling for the animals to receive monthly checkups.
Throughout the 27 months of inspections there were numerous examples of noncompliance concerning the building, including dangerous or frayed wire in the animals' metal enclosures, an exposed heater, peeling paint and wallpaper, and gaps and weeds around the perimeter fences that posed a risk to animal or human safety.
In the nine inspections during the period when records were released, Genesis was found to have 17 examples of noncompliance with the Animal Welfare Act. During two of the nine inspections, the center was found to be violation-free. A Freedom of Information Act request for records of USDA inspections performed in 2008 and 2009 is still pending.
'Is it going to kill them?'
Ms. Miller, who owns the animals, said she generally receives clean inspections. When she is cited, the violations most often have to do with maintenance of the city-owned building, "things that I have no control over," she said, like the aging structure, the weeds around it, and the occasional mice that get inside.
"I think I'm doing a terrific job, and most people do. If I was doing something wrong, they would close me," she said. "And if (the animals) get a waffle every once in a while, is it going to kill them? No. No, it won't."
She explained that the citation for having a visitor inside the tiger and cougar cage was a misunderstanding: The woman was the mother of the center's lynx caretaker at the time and she was trained to work with big cats, though she was not wearing any identification when the inspector saw her.
"I don't take people in with the cats because the cats would kill you," Ms. Miller said.
Not all of Genesis' inspectors have recorded violations. The state Game Commission, which regulates the center as a wildlife menagerie, has never issued a citation "for any deficiencies or blatant violations" in seven years of at least twice-annual inspections, said Mark Rutkowski, a conservation officer for the region.
A June 2008 inspection report — the only one released in response to a Right-to-Know records request — indicated the center passed all 22 categories on which it was evaluated, including providing bedding, clean water and adequately sized pens for the animals.
- Read the Inspection Report (.pdf)
Mr. Rutkowski said visitors' complaints to the Game Commission about the center often are about what he calls "aesthetics."
"When people go there, they go there looking for these well-groomed animals you might see at the Bronx Zoo or Philadelphia Zoo, and that's just not what the center is," he said.
But the center's most vocal critics say their concerns go beyond aesthetics: they fear it is unsafe for both people and animals and sends the wrong message to the public.
"The way they display those animals, the huge message you get from that place is these wild animals make good pets," said Mary Sweeney, a former Scranton resident. "A big part of the attitude is, 'Aren't they cute.'"
Eunice Alexander, who grew up in the Hill Section next to the Nay Aug Zoo, said there is little educational value in displaying animals in small cages with concrete floors.
"You can't really do education divorced from any kind of habitat context," she said. "You're showing them that animal seems to be OK in nothing."
Backlash over breeder
The most sustained roar of public criticism leveled at Genesis Wildlife Center began a year ago and was caused by two tiger cubs then big enough to emit only fledgling mews.
Ms. Miller acquired the cubs two months after her beloved Siberian tiger, Reba, died. Many visitors were happy for the chance to see baby animals, but others questioned whether a small, aging facility that admittedly struggled to afford to stay open was an appropriate place to bring 11-week-old tigers.
Captive wildlife and animal sanctuary experts now say the transfer of the cubs had far graver implications.
Ms. Miller obtained the tigers from G.W. Exotic Animal Park, which formerly billed itself as a sanctuary but now considers itself a "conservancy and educational zoo" in Wynnewood, Okla. Sanctuary representatives say G.W. Exotic is notorious for inhumane treatment of its animals.
In 2006, the USDA fined the park $25,000, suspended its license for two weeks and put it on an 18-month probation for violating at least 14 regulations of the Animal Welfare Act.
The park is particularly infamous among animal sanctuary experts for breeding exotic animals indiscriminately to entice visitors who want to play with new cubs. For sanctuary accrediting agencies, such as the American Sanctuary Association and the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, breeding breaks the cardinal rule of true sanctuaries because it adds to the population of unwanted captive species.
Lisa Wathne, a captive exotic animal specialist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said acquiring cubs from the park makes Genesis complicit in G.W. Exotic's behavior.
"Genesis is essentially enabling them to continue breeding these animals," she said.
Vernon Weir, director of the American Sanctuary Association, said Ms. Miller's move is particularly problematic because of a surplus of adult tigers in the country.
"There probably wasn't a single day in the last 10 years when someone didn't call me about an adult tiger that didn't have a place to go," he said. "For them to get tigers from this breeder down in Oklahoma is ridiculous."
Ms. Miller said she had "nothing to do with" G.W. Exotic's practices as a breeder or its past USDA violations. She explained that she found a listing for the cubs in the Animal Finder's Guide, a publication for those who raise captive wildlife. She was asked to make a donation to the park to reserve the cubs, and never got the money back.
She said she does not breed animals at her center — the male tiger and monkeys are neutered, she said, and the male lemurs were "fixed" after several reproduced. She also countered the claims that she is complicit in G.W. Exotic's breeding.
"Do you think he's going to stop? He's not going to," she said of G.W. Exotic. "I wanted two baby tigers that I wanted to save out of there. Does it mean I approve? No."
Now she says she is "truly sorry" she brought the tigers to Genesis, in part because of the public criticism and in part because of the cost. The tigers each eat about 20 pounds of meat each day and a pallet of meat costs about $3,600.
Asked why she acquired the cats, knowing the high cost of feeding them, she said she had leftover meat when Reba died and other cats to feed.
"I had children coming and asking about Reba and not understanding death or where she was or why she went. And some of the cards from the children, that probably influenced me," she said. "But if I could have flashed forward and seen everything, I probably would not have taken them."
Higher standards
Around the country and the world, zoo, aquarium and sanctuary accrediting agencies have worked to set a true standard for humane, viable animal care and distinguish what they call "pseudo-sanctuaries" from real ones.
Accredited sanctuaries are marked by their exceptional care, their avoidance of any trade in animals, and their dedication to creating havens for animals that have been exploited. Once a sanctuary is accredited, it often is easier for it to receive funding and other grants.
Sanctuary accreditation exists because simply complying with the Animal Welfare Act "is so inadequate in terms of what these animals need," said Kim Haddad, a board member of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the manager of the Captive Wild Animal Protection Coalition.
"Our standards are much, much higher" than USDA regulations, she said. "They take into account the natural history of the animal, the animal's life experience."
According to Mr. Weir, the director of the American Sanctuary Association, accredited sanctuaries should have steady finances, strong nonprofit boards, plenty of room for animals to roam and enrichment activities to stimulate them. They also should have a robust education program that focuses on why exotic animals should not be pets.
Both organizations also indicated their willingness to work with sanctuaries to help them meet such standards, if the sanctuaries disavow breeding and trade.
"The whole idea behind it, it's not to shut every place down that's not perfect," Dr. Haddad said. "It's to say, 'Here's how you do it right.'"
Genesis Wildlife Center is not accredited as either a sanctuary or a zoo, although Ms. Miller said she would like to work toward it. She had papers in her office about accreditation through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, but had not heard of the American Sanctuary Association or the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
She is in the process of cutting back at the center, working to place some of her tropical birds at an Ohio sanctuary.
"I'm thinking about not doing this (anymore)," she said.
She has been flustered by a stream of public criticism and believes she is being personally attacked, even as she draws consolation from students, volunteers and supporters she works with daily.
She said she wants everything for her center that critics want: a space that serves the needs of her animals and benefits the community.
"I would like it to be a place that, when people visit, they walk away saying, 'Wow, did you see that amazing little wildlife center at Nay Aug Park?' Not, 'The building's falling down. They're not adequately staffed. They don't have funding.'
"Why would you want people to walk away thinking something like that?"
Read more from the Concrete Jungle series
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.comClose 'zoo' at Nay Aug
Published: Monday, March 09, 2009
Updated: Monday, March 9, 2009 4:13 AM EDTBack when Scranton's government operated a zoo at Nay Aug Park, the obsolete, wholly inadequate facility became a major embarrassment and a metaphor for the blighted park and the city itself.
The Doherty administration has strived mightily to restore the park, making it once again a source of pride. Yet it allows a reincarnation of the decrepit zoo to drag down the effort.
Although the Genesis Wildlife Center is not technically a zoo, it serves that purpose in terms of its role in the park. And, although it is not operated by the city, the center operates in much the way the city operated the former zoo — hand to mouth, month to month.
The center has a dedicated director and volunteers, and it might well do some good work. But it is far removed from the modern zoos that grace the parks of progressive American cities — the sort of parks to which the Doherty administration otherwise aspires.
Mr. Doherty saw the center as a means to establish a zoo-like presence at the park without binding the city government to a project that it could not afford. The question that the mayor and City Council should consider, going forward, is whether the center enhances the park. The answer, unfortunately, is that it does not.
If Mr. Doherty and council think a zoo is fundamental to the ongoing renaissance and long-term stability of the park, they should methodically go about establishing one. That would involve substantial planning, expert opinions, and a step-by-step implementation plan, including long-term sustainable funding.
The most likely objective conclusion, unfortunately, is that Scranton simply cannot afford to operate a zoo according to modern standards for humane treatment of animals and for amenities required by human visitors. That is why the city does not have its own zoo now.
If the government studies the matter and reaches that conclusion, it should help the wildlife center with a relocation, and use the old zoo grounds to enhance the park in a different way.Nay Aug tiger cub fights infection
Published: Sunday, January 25, 2009
Updated: Sunday, January 25, 2009 8:11 AM ESTIn the six months since Nay Aug Park welcomed two new tiger cubs, both big cats have grown up quickly, but the male continues to be plagued by health problems.
Ivan, a Siberian tiger now 7 months old and 130 pounds, has not been able to fully fight off ringworm he arrived with from Oklahoma. Margaret Miller, director of the Genesis Wildlife Center, said the fungus keeps reoccurring, and Ivan is under regular veterinary care. Otherwise, he is a healthy growing tiger, but Ms. Miller is worried his immune system could be compromised.
"With him tiring easily, that scares me," she said.
The other tiger, an Indochinese named Alea, has a clean bill of health, and she and Ivan are inseparable. Both often share a pen now with the cougars at Genesis.Tiger cubs debut at Nay Aug with video
A male tiger cub at the Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday, July 25, 2008. Linda Morgan/Staff Photograph BY JEREMY G. BURTON
STAFF WRITERPublished: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Updated: Saturday, July 26, 2008 1:00 AM EDTIf the newest stars at the Genesis Wildlife Center were feeling any effects of a cross-country trek, they didn't seem to show it.
But two bottles of formula and some ground beef are apparently enough to conk a couple of tigers right out.
The Genesis sanctuary on Friday introduced two new tiger cubs, two months after the death in May of 15-year-old Siberian tiger Reba, a park favorite.
The Indochinese tigers, a male and a female, arrived Thursday night from G.W. Exotic Animal Park, a conservancy and educational zoo in Wynnewood, Okla.
"Long drive there, long drive back, but it was well worth it," volunteer Robin Perri said.
With the acquisition of two new cubs, some have criticized the aging, outdated facilities as inadequate for such animals. Throughout the afternoon, though, visitors crowded in front of the enclosure for a glimpse at the cubs. Little kids grinned, and adults marveled.
"Oh my goodness gracious, isn't he cute?"
"Wave to him!"
Staffers said the cubs were doing well and enjoying the attention.
Linda Layland, of South Scranton, said her 6-year-old granddaughter, Stephanie, bawled over the death of Reba.
On Friday, Ms. Layland carried her 18-month-old grandson, Jeremy, who doesn't make a habit of sitting still for long but spent a half-hour watching the two cubs feed and play.
"The kids need something like this," she said.
For now, the 11- and 12-week-old tigers will be housed in an enclosure next to the 3,700-square-foot cougar pen, and they will rotate time outside until a partition can be built between the big cats. Eventually, they will all share the single space, possibly also with the wildlife center's Siberian lynx.
Mayor Chris Doherty is expected to announce a contest to name the two cubs.
Many residents' concerns stem from the rocky history of the former Nay Aug Zoo. Twice in five years in the 1980s, Parade magazine named it among the worst zoos nationwide. The facilities date from 1938, with renovations in the 1970s, 1990s and in 2003, when the Genesis sanctuary moved there. In 1981, two Humane Society officials called the zoo "archaic" and recommended it be closed, which it was in 1991.
Genesis is not by definition a zoo, and its volunteers feel like they are catching flak for a burden that isn't theirs.
"All the things the public wants, I want, too. But it's not my building," Genesis director Margaret Miller said.
Ms. Miller said the new cubs don't represent a change in mission or direction. As a rescue, it's rare for the center to acquire young, healthy animals, but Ms. Miller said they are simply replacing what was lost.
Reba's death cast a pall over the center. The staff was devastated; the cougars didn't eat. Ms. Miller said the cubs bring an infusion of energy and excitement.
"They fit in here just perfectly," she said.
Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.comAbout the Genesis Wildlife Center animals
A pig nose turtle swims in a tank at the Genesis Wildlife Center at Nay Aug Park. April 1, 2009. PAMELA SUCHY / Staff PhotographerPublished: Sunday, April 05, 2009
Updated: Sunday, April 5, 2009 9:20 AM EDTMore than 50 animals from over 20 species reside at the Genesis Wildlife Center. Click each for more information.
WILD CATS
Bearcat (1)
Cougar (1)
Cougar (1)
Fennec foxes (2)
Genet cats (2)
Lynx (1)
Tigers (2)
PRIMATES
Capuchin monkeys (3)
Lemurs (5)
Long-tailed macaques (2)
Patas monkey (1)
Rhesus macaques (2)
Spider monkey (1)
AQUATIC LIFE
Fish (1)
Galapagos tortoises (2)
Pig-nosed turtles (2)
Red-eared slider turtles (About 20)
Red-foot tortoise (1)
Russian tortoises (2)
Spiny soft-shell turtle (1)
OTHER
Fruit bats (5)
Two-toed sloths (3)
Various tropical birds
SOURCE: GENESIS WILDLIFE CENTER'It's like I lost a part of me' with video and photos
Published: Thursday, May 08, 2008
Updated: Thursday, May 8, 2008 1:00 AM EDTBut as the sun beat down on the zoo area, the Elmo doll lay alone in the middle of the cage, which still contains mattresses and blankets for each of Reba's animal roommates.
BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
Visitors to the Genesis Wildlife Center in Nay Aug Park stared into an empty cage Wednesday, as if expecting Reba the tiger to toss around the Elmo doll she often played with to the delight of those young and old.
But as the sun beat down on the zoo area, the Elmo doll lay alone in the middle of the cage, which still contains mattresses and blankets for each of Reba's animal roommates.
Reba, the beloved Siberian tiger, died late Tuesday. She was 15.
After Reba had been cremated early Wednesday, Katlynn, the cougar whom Reba helped raise, moved about slowly, apparently grieving for her companion. Katlynn barely mingled with the cage's other cougar, Dakota.
"Katlynn licked Reba's head as she died last night," said a tearful Margaret Miller, director of the wildlife center. "This is what people don't see: The real animals and what they're really like."
Ms. Miller raised Reba after she obtained her from a small zoo in Marshalls Creek in 1993.
"When I got her, she was nearly dead," Ms. Miller recalled. "Her mother didn't have any milk, one other cub had died, and Reba was in an incubator. I held Reba in the palm of my hand; she was so small.
"It's like I've lost a part of me."
Reba featured in a 2007 video about the Genesis Wildlife Center:
Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.com
Reba, a park favorite since her arrival here in September 2003, suffered a seizure three weeks ago and was taken to the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors performed an MRI, a CT scan and blood test, all of which failed to show why the tiger was ill, Ms. Miller said. The average life expectancy of a Siberian tiger is 8 years in the wild, but 20 to 25 years in captivity, she said.
"It was a fluke blood clot that caused the seizure," she said.
Tears flowed freely among the workers and passers-by at the Genesis Wildlife Center on Wednesday.
"I can't believe we won't see her anymore," said Jesse Walker, a Dunmore resident and frequent visitor to the Wildlife Center. "I heard about Reba dying, and I felt bad. I wanted to see if I could see her just one more time, but it was too late."
Ms. Miller said all the animals will eventually die, but the staff provides regular, first-rate care for all of them.
While the city pays heating bills and contributes $50,000 annually and the use of the building, Ms. Miller has said she needs about $150,000 more a year to run the facility.
The center has relied heavily on donations, and Ms. Miller has said that she often pays for some expenditures out of her own pocket.
One expense Ms. Miller would not have minded paying, if it were at all possible, was whatever the cost would have been to keep Reba alive.
"She was so adorable. Everyone loved her and she loved everyone," said Fern Norton, wildlife center volunteer. "Margaret (Miller) is devastated, as are all of us."
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/multimedia/GWCFOIA.PDF
http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/04/05/news/sc_times_trib.20090405.a.pg1.tt05genesis_s1.2420904_top2.txt - Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Puppy Mill Had Primates Too Puppy Mill Had Primates Too
- From: Guatemala
-
Description:
NW Mo. puppy mill had primates too
WINSTON, Mo. (AP) -- Three people were charged late Wednesday with animal
abuse and neglect after authorities - responding to a call about an agitated
chimpanzee - discovered more than 100 dogs in squalid conditions in rural
northwest Missouri.
The Daviess County Sheriff's Department responded to a call Monday night on
a request to help capture an angry chimp running loose on a state highway
north of Winston. When officers arrived, the chimp opened the patrol car
door and grabbed the leg of a deputy, who fatally shot it, Chief Deputy Todd
Watson said.
"We never knew there was an animal like this in the county," Watson said.
When Watson approached the home that had reported the angry primate, he
heard barking from an estimated 100 to 200 small-breed dogs inside. He also
smelled a strong odor of ammonia, encountered "nasty conditions and filth,"
and saw a 10 foot by 6 foot cage which the occupants said had housed their
9-year-old chimp, Timmy.
The occupants told Watson they had three other primates.
Watson returned Tuesday with a search warrant and discovered all but 13 dogs
and two cats had been removed, their dog cages remaining inside the home.
Watson said he also discovered the remains of nine dead puppies in the yard,
and recovered records on breeding, sales, and deliveries of puppies that
brought as much as $400 each.
The Humane Society of Missouri is offering a $3,000 reward for information
on the dogs that were gone from the property Tuesday. The Missouri
Department of Agriculture said the three other primates were recovered.
Watson said the remaining 13 dogs and two cats had been abused and neglected
Two with critical injuries or wounds were taken to an animal hospital in St
Joseph. The others were taken to the Humane Society's St. Louis
headquarters.
Brent Hudson, 49; his wife, Cherace Hudson, 41; and their friend Mary
Overton, 52, were each charged by the Daviess County prosecutor with 17
misdemeanor counts of animal abuse and neglect, operating as a commercial
breeder without a license, improper disposal of dead animals, and keeping
wild animals without proper registration.
They were jailed on $5,000 bond and did not have attorneys, Watson said, and
none of the three was talking to investigators.
The sheriff's department led the investigation but called the Missouri
Department of Agriculture and the Humane Society to assist.
Agriculture Department spokeswoman Misti Preston said the USDA also was
involved in the case. She said the breeder never had a state license.
"There was so much filth and stink, it was pathetic," Watson said. "You
needed a gas mask in there."
The home was in a remote location, with no neighbors close by.
Missouri Agriculture Director Jon Hagler, who has said he wants to put bad
breeders out of business, said in a statement that such operators put the
health and welfare of animals at risk and place legitimate licensed pet
breeders at a competitive disadvantage. - Blog post
- 1 year ago
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Drug Dealers, Pimps and White Drug Dealers, Pimps and White Tigers
- From: TheirVoice
-
Description:
Date: 09-Feb-09
Country: MEXICO
Author: Mica Rosenberg
MEXICO CITY - From the live snakes that smugglers stuff with packets
of cocaine to the white tigers drug lords keep as exotic pets, rare
animals are being increasingly sucked into Mexico's deadly narcotics
trade.
Drug gang leaders like to show off rarities like sea turtle skin
boots and build ostentatious private zoos at their mansions.
They also reap additional profits by sharing routes with animal
traffickers who cram humming birds into cigarette packs and baby
monkeys into car air conditioning ducts to be sold to underground pet
traders in the United States.
Mexico's raging drug war killed some 5,700 people last year and some
cartel leaders have even been rumored to throw rivals to their big
cats as food.
The global illegal trade in live species and animal parts -- used for
luxury accessories, Asian medicine or folk remedies like
aphrodisiacs -- is estimated to be worth up to $20 billion a year,
Interpol has said.
The big profits available from selling wildlife on the black market --
where a certain type of endangered South American macaw can fetch
$90,000 and a predatory python around $30,000 -- are added incentive
to Mexican gangs moving other contraband.
"You can sometimes make as much profit, if not more, than drug
smuggling with less consequences, because law enforcement is not
paying attention and if you are caught the penalty is just a slap on
the wrist," said Crawford Allan, the North American head of wildlife
trade watchdog group Traffic.
TURTLE SKIN AND COCAINE
China and the United States are the largest markets for banned pets
and animal products, making the US-Mexico border a busy corridor for
the smuggling of many rare species from across Latin America and
other parts of the world.
"There is some evidence the same people are trading in both (drugs
and animals)," Allan said in Mexico City, where Traffic is helping
train inspectors to spot banned animal shipments.
In a major 2007 sting operation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service,
the largest of its kind, undercover agents spent three years
infiltrating a ring smuggling endangered sea turtle skins from the
shores of southern Mexico to as far north as Chicago.
Illegal drugs turned up on both sides of the border over the course
of the investigation, US Fish and Wildlife agent Nicholas Chavez said.
In the United States, marijuana was seized at one of the raided
warehouses filled with animal skin boots. On the Mexican side,
smugglers offered to ship cocaine along with the hides of turtles
whose numbers are rapidly dwindling in the wild.
"It was just thrown out there like 'Hey, we can also move this stuff
if you want.'... They are pretty much moving anything that they can,"
Chavez said.
The animals can serve a double purpose when they are used to cover up
drug shipments.
"You have cases where there are drugs hidden in false compartments
within crates containing live venomous snakes and written on top it
says: 'Venomous snakes. Don't open!' So no customs guy is going to
want to open that," Allan said.
Bags of liquid cocaine, transparent and only barely visible due to
its slight yellow hue, have been found floating in or lining plastic
bags containing live tropical fish.
In one shocking case at Miami's international airport, some of the
312 boa constrictors found in a 1993 shipment from Colombia were
surgically implanted with condoms full of cocaine weighing a total of
80 pounds (36 kg). All the snakes ended up dead.
NARCO ZOOS
Colombian drug lords used to stock their own private zoos with lions,
tigers, hippos, venomous snakes and other exotic animals, and
Mexico's cartel leaders picked up the same hobby as they took over as
dominant players in the cocaine industry.
The head of the Gulf Cartel's feared armed wing the Zetas had two
lions and a tiger on his ranch and it is widely rumored, and
sometimes printed in newspapers, that he fed the cats with the bodies
of cartel rivals.
Mexico's local market for exotic pets is also growing.
Since they breed well in captivity, you can legally buy a tiger in
Mexico for a couple of thousand dollars, less than the cost of some
pedigree dogs, government officials say.
"It's a show of power and is incredibly common in the criminal
underworld. The worst of the worst have exotic animals," Patricio
Patron, the head of Mexico's environmental protection agency, told
Reuters.
A raid on a drug mansion last year in an upscale Mexico City
neighborhood netted a menagerie of two lions, two Bengal tigers, two
black jaguars and a monkey -- all of them well-fed and likely tended
to by a personal veterinarian.
But not all pets are as lucky as the somewhat tubby big cats, which
were sent to a public zoo after the drug raid.
Many smuggled animals do not survive their long, dark, suffocating
journeys.
Chavez, the U.S. agent who works along the US-Mexico border, once
found nine baby monkeys -- which are usually captured in the wild
after their mother is killed -- crammed into a car's air conditioning
ducts, most of them dead of suffocation.
Jorge Yanez, a government wildlife expert who runs a shelter for
rescued animals in central Mexico, said he once saw four hummingbirds
bound and stuffed into an empty pack of cigarettes.
"For every 10 that are trafficked, only one survives," Yanez said at
the shelter, which is nestled in a pine forest and works to
rehabilitate and release into the wild Mexican species like hawks,
wild boars and lynxes that were seized in police raids or handed in
by overwhelmed owners.
(Editing by Kieran Murray and Philip Barbara)
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Bert Wahl Gets Jail Time Bert Wahl Gets Jail Time
- From: TheirVoice
-
Description:
Bert Wahl Gets Jail Time
Activist gets jail time for cruelty
Convicted of torturing a cougar, animal activist Bert Wahl was sentenced to nine months in jail. He also must pay a $5,000 fine.
By RYAN MEEHAN
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 29, 2002
Convicted of torturing a cougar, animal activist Bert Wahl was sentenced to nine months in jail. He also must pay a $5,000 fine.
TAMPA -- At a sentencing hearing Friday for a well-known animal activist convicted of cruelty to a cougar, there was an unexpected moment of silence.
"Do you love animals?" a prosecutor had asked Bert Wahl.
For nearly 20 seconds, Wahl said nothing. Then he questioned the use of the word love. He had dealt with thousands of animals and took a liking to most, he said, but hadn't loved them all personally.
But with Old Man, the cougar he was convicted of torturing, it was different, he said.
"I loved that cat," Wahl told the judge.
Then the judge sentenced him to nine months in the county jail, three months shy of the maximum for the misdemeanor animal cruelty charge.
"When (the cougar) needed you the most, you were not there for him," County Judge Nick Nazaretian told Wahl. "You were not there."
He also ordered Wahl to pay a $5,000 fine and serve 24 hours of community service.
A day earlier, a jury heard allegations that Wahl abused the cougar in November, a few days before Old Man was euthanized. Prosecutors said the cougar, which was 16 and suffered from pancreatitis, was dragged, punched, kicked and hit with a shoe and had a mop and broom handle jammed down its throat.
Even after Friday's 21/2-hour sentencing hearing, Wahl's supporters were wrestling with the guilty verdict.
The jury "made a mistake," said Gibbs Wilson, a Tampa businessman and Wahl's friend. "It happens every once in a while."
One of nine witnesses to testify on Wahl's behalf at the sentencing, Wilson told the judge the evidence didn't make sense. He and other Wahl supporters said the case was part of a vendetta by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee against Wahl
"I don't believe this is cruelty to animals," Wilson said. "I believe Fish and Wildlife are guilty of cruelty to a human."
Verity Mathews told the judge that Wahl worked with children, and that Wahl and the cougar had been more tightly bonded than most humans. Wahl didn't abuse the animal, because if he had, "I would have taken this and brained him myself with it," she said, brandishing her cane.
Prosecutor Jim Shoemaker called only one witness Friday: a Florida Fish and Wildlife investigator who said he has been following Wahl since the early 1980s. He said Wahl began breaking the law in the early 1990s. Shoemaker spent nearly an hour telling the story of Wahl's past, citing his convictions for animal-related infractions.
"The (defense) witnesses may know the Dr. Jekyll," Shoemaker told the judge. "But before you stands Mr. Hyde."
Shoemaker cited a June 2000 report from Florida Fish and Wildlife describing the condition of property Wahl owned in Tampa. Inside, Shoemaker said, investigators found dead and decomposing rats, snakes and turtles. Two live alligators were found in murky, undersized aquariums and ferrets and a Rottweiler were also discovered on the dilapidated premises.
Wahl said the officer who filed the report was widely known to be a non-credible source and the description of the house was exaggerated.
The judge praised Wahl for services he provided the community but said he saw something deeper in the case of the cougar.
"When that cougar started going downhill, getting sicker and passing away, I think some of you started passing away, too," Nazaretian said. "But when he needed you most, I think you disregarded him. And I think it went beyond just neglect."
-- Ryan Meehan can be reached at 226-3354 or meehan@sptimes.com.
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