3/2/09 MySpace Blog Post

Happenings In Riverside County *REPOST*
Current mood: bullied

This is a letter that is soon to be published written by the wife of an AKC Judge & respected breeder that I showed dogs with. (The only correction is there were 21 horses taken not 5) Please feel free to pass this around.

One of the sections in the recently passed MSN was the "hearing for those cited are handled by a hearing official appointed by the Animal Control director." This is how it works:

It all goes back to the case against Angel White who has yet to be charged or scheduled for a court hearing.
Now, every person who spoke up in her defense and lives in Riverside County has been visited by AC. The latest case occurred yesterday and involves her friend who has horses. These were not "pet" horses but registered Arabians, including a valuable stallion. She boarded five horses for two weeks but that stretched to a month. She paid for boarding and food and was in contact regarding when she would be arriving with the horse trailer for her horses. She was notified that AC had seized her horses and were bringing criminal charges against her for their condition. The person who had the boarding facility was not charged nor named in the case. The owner was denied access to see her animals. The attending vet said the horses were a little thin but healthy so should be returned to the owner. She asked for a public defender. When they arrived at the hearing they were notified that this was a criminal and civil case. The public defender asked for a delay because she had only been given the criminal file the day before and had no knowledge of the civil case. It was denied. The charge was that she had abandoned her horses. She showed the receipts for boarding and food and said the balance was due when she pick up her horses. The person who runs the boarding facility and was paid to feed the horses arrived and talked to the hearing officer in private without the defendant nor her attorney being allowed to hear what she had to say. There was no written account of her private testimony. The decision was that she was guilty of abandoning her horses and therefore lost all rights to them. The county now owned them. This was not justice by any stretch of the imagination. It was a set up.

For those who still feel that Rob Miller and Alan Drusys can be trusted to abide by the law, think again; they are the law. They have systematically harassed and intimidated anyone they knew of who could speak in behalf of Angel. With this new hearing system in place are we at risk? What if you go on vacation and board your champion dogs or have a dog sitter come in? Could you be charged under the same scenario as the horse owner? Since you do not have the right to see and verify the condition of the animals, you cannot refute their allegation that the animals were being starved. AC could not feed the animals while in their care and take photos showing thin animals. In another incident, an Angel friend went to work in the morning and was later called by a neighbor who said that there was an AC truck on the road and two people went into her back yard. Luckily she worked close by and rushed home to find the AC officers in her back yard, peering into her sliding glass door. She confronted them and told them that they were not allowed to enter her yard without a warrant and advance notice. They told her that they were allowed because the animals were abandoned. What?? She just went to work. This was plain intimidation.

I am concerned because Rob Miller and Alan Drusys were not happy that so many of us showed up to fight MSN. He has names and addresses of the speakers. Let us know if any of you are harassed.