Goat used as bait for panther
Ochopee, FL (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jun 16, 2004
County: Collier
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Jack Shealy - Convicted
» Richard Scholle - Convicted
» Jan Michael Jacobson - Convicted
Case Updates: 4 update(s) available
Two men are charged were charged with conspiracy to commit animal cruety for allegedly allowing a goat to be tied up so a panther could kill it near their campground in rural Collier County and allowing nearby resident Jan Michael Jacobson to set up a video camera and vidotape the act.
Jack Shealy and Richard Sholle were each charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. The charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Officials believe Shealy and Scholle gave permission to another man to tie up the goat in the hope it would attract the panther. Then the men would be able to track and capture or kill the panther. On June 16, the panther appeared and attacked the goat.
The conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine. Avery said the State Attorney's Office is still reviewing charges against Jacobson.
State wildlife officers captured the panther - it needed medical attention and was sent to White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville for treatment.
Case UpdatesJan Jacobsen was found guilty of cruelty to animals Monday. He was charged with animal cruelty for tying up a goat as bait to catch a Florida panther attack on video.
The jury reached a verdict within fifteen minutes.
The judge sentenced him to a $500 fine and 30 days in jail, which were suspended. He had faced the possibility of a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.
Jack Shealy and Richard Scholle pleaded no contest to the charges against them in the case. They will be sentenced May 18 | Source: NBC 2
Update posted on Apr 27, 2005 - 4:14PM |
The sentencing of two Ochopee men charged with animal cruelty involving a goat was postponed Wednesday because a third co-defendant accused of tying the animal to a stake and allowing it to be mauled by a panther is fighting the charge.
Jack Shealy, 44, and Richard Scholle, 57, already have pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit animal cruelty. They could face up to a year in jail.
The third man, Jan Jacobson, 61, has pleaded innocent and requested a trial on the same charge. His attorney, James Cummins, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Assistant State Attorney Beverly Brennan told Collier County Judge Ramiro Ma�alich the three cases will be consolidated so the men can be sentenced together if Jacobson is convicted. Shealy and Scholle's cases tentatively were set for March 22.
"They've already pled and will be sentenced after Mr. Jacobson's trial," Brennan said.
Jacobson, State Road 1, Box 52, Loop Road, Ochopee, is accused of videotaping the attack on the goat with permission of Shealy and Scholle. The three men were responding to what they saw as a threat from the panther, which was running loose and had been attacking animals at Trail Lakes Campground on U.S. 41 East.
The campground, which is also a petting zoo, had been threatened with closure because the panther was killing its animals and scaring away potential customers. Shealy is the campground's owner.
Prosecutors say Jacobson, director of the Everglades Institute, devised a plan that would persuade the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, which had tagged the panther but had lost track of it, to capture it. Officials believe Jacobson tied up the goat in the hope it would attract the panther, allowing the men to track and capture or kill it.
On June 16, the panther appeared and attacked the goat. Jacobson videotaped the mauling before scaring off the panther. But a copy of the tape showing the goat attack landed in the hands of a Broward County nonprofit animal rights group, which then contacted the authorities, who filed charges.
The prosecutors obtained copies of photos of the mauling from a Web site affiliated with Jacobson. The photo, a still image taken from the videotape, shows the panther's jaws around the goat's neck. The goat survived. The panther later was captured and taken to Jacksonville for medical treatment. | Source: Naples news
Update posted on Jan 27, 2005 - 4:47PM |
| Shealy and Scholle have pleaded no contest to their charges and are scheduled to be sentenced January 26th in Collier County. Jacobson appears in court in a few weeks. | Source: First Coast News - Dec 22, 2004
Update posted on Dec 29, 2004 - 12:56PM |
The State Attorney's office brought animal cruelty charges against Trail Lakes Campground workers Jack Shealy and Richard Scholle, Oct. 14, for their part in the panther mauling of a tethered goat in June.
State Attorney's office spokesperson Chere Avery said a third investigation is in progress on Everglades Institute Director Jan Michael Jacobson for his role in the incident.
Both Shealy and Scholle declined to comment on the charges, but co-owner Dave Shealy said the camp is still open and trying to deal with the charges.
"Right now, with the legal proceedings, we're all trying to do the right thing and they don't want anything used against them," said Dave Shealy, "I stand to lose as much as both of them."
On June 28, the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) alerted the state attorney's office that Jacobson tethered a goat to lure a panther to the area "for the purpose of videotaping the goat's gruesome death."
The panther had reportedly stalked and killed over 13 head of livestock at the campground. The goat survived the incident, however authorities from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) launched an investigation shortly afterwards and turned the case over to the state on Sept. 27.
"The FWC did an initial investigation and then we investigated their investigation," said Avery, "Now we have one more to go."
In his investigation of the incident this summer, Kenneth Holmes, lead investigator for FWC, found evidence that a goat had indeed been staked out with the intention of baiting the panther.
"I spoke to both Richard and Jack and they were cooperative and said that someone came and told them that the state is responsible for panthers and suggested that they stake the goat outside the pen to lure the panther," he said, "Aside from animal cruelty, it's against the law to bait an endangered species."
Holmes said he found scratches and a puncture wound when he examined the goat, but other than that, it was healthy. He said the law does not specify that an animal has to die for incidents to be considered animal cruelty.
Each charge is a first-degree misdemeanor and carries a sentence of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine upon conviction. All three men have no similar prior charges.
Jacobson now admits to tethering the goat, but says he did it to help save the lives of more animals that would have died due to the panther.
"I arrived after the camp had lost 16 animals and they knew [the panther] was going to get into the pen again," he said. "The reality is that several more animals would have died that night. If that were my last goat, I would have put it in a small, lighted area so that you could tape it for evidence if anything happened."
In July, shortly after the ARFF notified the state of possible animal cruelty violations, campground co-owner Dave Shealy denied the claim, saying that the goat, as well as the rest of his livestock, was enclosed safely behind three state-regulated fences and the panther "crawled over three fences" to attack the goat.
"I would never give someone permission to tether an animal and I've never spoken to [Jacobson]," he said at the time, "All I know is he arrived to document the animal that was responsible for killing my livestock, before we even knew it was a panther."
FWC officials used a deer's head as bait and eventually captured the panther on June 29. Scientists determined that the eight-and-a-half-year-old radio-collared male cat was a pure-bred Florida panther.
The animal had visible wounds attributed to territorial fighting and was taken to the Oak Conservation Center in Yulee for treatment.
In the meantime, Dave Shealy says he still plans to pursue reimbursement from the state for the damage the panther caused to the campground.
"We've suffered financially from this," he said, "I think the FWC did a good job, but there's still a loss here and I want to be reimbursed for that loss."
According to Avery, there is "no timeline" as to when the investigation of Jacobson will conclude; however a judge is set to hear the state's case against Shealy and Scholle on Tuesday, Nov. 9. | Source: Everglades Echo - Oct 28, 2004
Update posted on Oct 28, 2004 - 7:17PM |
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