Shelter violating animal cruelty law
Nassau county, FL (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Sep 18, 2002
County: Nassau
Disposition: Not Charged
Person of Interest: First Coast Humane Society
Nassau County commissioners voted to have three groups, including the state attorney's office, investigate conditions at the county's animal shelter.
Commissioners will ask prosecutors to investigate whether the First Coast Humane Society recently violated the state's cruelty-to-animals law in its handling of an injured dog.
Commissioners voted to ask veterinarians to visit the shelter, operated by the humane society, and inspect the physical condition of cats and dogs there and to have the humane society provide an inventory of all animals in the shelter. It was decided that they should be prepared to provide specific reasons why any of the animals are euthanized after that inventory.
They will also ask representatives of the regional chapter of the Humane Society of the United States and the Florida Animal Control Association to inspect shelter conditions.
A negative report back from any of those investigations would give commissioners the legal basis to seek an injunction against the humane society, said County Attorney Mike Mullin.
These actions were prompted by a weekend visit to the shelter by Commissioner Vickie Samus, who has been investigating complaints from local citizens about procedures at the shelter. Samus told commissioners she wanted an investigation of what happened to a German shepherd brought to the shelter as a victim of animal cruelty.
Samus said she was told by a shelter employee that the dog had died for lack of medical treatment, Samus said.
Samus also said she had been overwhelmed by the smell of decaying animals. Reportedly, the shelter's freezer, where dead animals temporarily are stored, broke down during the weekend.
She also was concerned that a dog she saw Saturday with an swollen leg joint was not adopted out to an approved foster caregiver, even though the volunteer had offered to take the animal and pay for medical care until it was healed and adoptable.
The humane society wasn't contacted prior to Monday's discussion -- which was added as an emergency item at Samus' request -- and no one from the organization was at the meeting. References- Nassau Neighbors paper-staff
- Jacksonville.com-First Coast Community
« FL State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Nassau County, FL
|
