Malnourished and dead animals found in truck
Queensbury, NY (US)

Incident Date: Saturday, Aug 1, 1998
County: Warren

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Sue T. Davison

Sue T. Davison, Dallas, TX, has been charged with cruelty to animals during a routine truck inspection in Warren County. The authorities found dozens of malnourished and dead animals packed tightly into cages in the back of her truck.

Sue Davison said she was transporting the animals, some were dead, to her new home in Vermont when she was stopped at a highway rest area on August 19. Davison told the authorities she had picked up the animals in Maryland and she planned to nurse them back to health.

The scores of animals found in the truck were: pigeons, doves, chickens, ducks, quail and turkeys in rotted cages covered with animal feces. Three of the turkeys in one of the cages were dead. Their deaths were from heat of the van or being trampled by larger birds.

Also, found in the truck was a goat, a fox, two raccoons, dead wingless crow, dying woodchuck. A federally protected mute swan that had its wings amputated because of lead poisoning. On the front seat of the truck a dead chinchilla was discovered under a blanket. The exact number of all the various animals found in the truck dead or alive was not reported.

Mark Brown, a wildlife biologist with the State Department of Environmental Conservation said at the scene, "You couldn't get any worse conditions than you've got right here." Davison was ticketed for cruelty to animals and permitted to continue her trip to Vermont without the animals. She could face federal charges for transporting a federally protected wildfowl over state line.

A wildlife pathologist at the rest area near Queensbury examined the animals. The animals were moved to a laboratory in Delmar for testing of rabies.

Davison criticized the Department of Environmental Conservation for seizing the animals, said they were stopping her from doing her work.

References

• Associated Press - Aug 21, 1998

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