An animal rescuer has been arrested for leaving her own dog in her vehicle for more than two hours. Patricia Siems, president of All Dog and Cat Rescue Angels, was arrested on Aug 9 on an animal cruelty charge.
Ironically, Siems was attending a meeting of the Georgia Companion Animal Advisory Board at the time.
Siems brought her dog, Hank, because she did not want to leave him alone with one of her other dogs, said her friend Patty Dougherty. Siems left the dog in the car because she thought the meeting would be in a restaurant, not in a meeting room.
Siems said she went to check on the dog three times during the meeting to run the air conditioner and give him water. The windows were left about halfway down.
Siems returned to her car more than two hours after the start of the meeting to find members of the state Department of Agriculture's animal control section, who were at the meeting and happened to park near her, waiting for her. An inspector for the department measured the temperature in the vehicle at 103 degrees.
The dog appeared unharmed.
But if convicted of animal cruelty, Siems could lose her license to operate an animal shelter.
"As I've said consistently, we want people who handle these animals to demonstrate that they know how to take care of them and the facilities to do likewise," Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said. "And a hot car is not a very good facility to do that in." Case UpdatesAccording to the police report, she left Hank in her car for two hours and 25 minutes, and a Department of Agriculture animal protection inspector measured the temperature inside the car at 103 degrees. Siems, 42, wishes she had left the dog, Hank, at home. She contends, though, that Hank was not in danger. She left the windows rolled halfway down, left him with water, and periodically returned to check on him and run the air conditioner, she said.
A veterinary technician, Siems said, "I would have seen immediately if something was wrong with him."
Siems pointed out that Hank was released to a friend, Pattie Dougherty, rather than taken to a veterinarian to check his health and complete a report to be used as evidence in the case. Thursday, he was back in Siems' home.
"If I do something wrong," she asked, "shouldn't there be a focus on the victim?"
State Farmers Market police chief Freeman Poole on Thursday referred calls to Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin, who was not available for comment Thursday afternoon.
Siems said her life centers on dogs, and it is hard to dispute. Dog pictures, upholstery and wallpaper cover her house. She says she spends about $7,000 annually to feed and medicate the dogs she takes from animal control facilities to adopt out. She runs the rescue on a voluntary basis.
Said Dougherty, a fellow rescue volunteer, "She loves her animals."
Siems hopes the charge will be dropped. She said that she has received calls of support from several people who also take care of stray or abandoned animals. She said they have offered to act as character witnesses for her. Siems is a longtime dog rescue volunteer and has operated All Dog and Cat Angels for 1 1/2 years.
"I should have left Hank at home," she said, "but that doesn't make me a bad person or a bad rescuer." | Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution - Aug 12, 2005
Update posted on Aug 13, 2005 - 1:11PM |
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