Adoption Media Stories

Old Town, Maine Cruelty Case · San Diego Cruelty Case
Cattaraugus County, NY Cruelty Case

New Homes For Animals in Need
ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 17, 2003

People in Texas and Florida have opened their homes to nearly three dozen farm animals that were seized from the property of an Old Town man this fall.

(Watkins Glen, New York-AP) — The Farm Sanctuary is a national farm animal rescue organization in Watkins Glen, New York. It says it has placed 35 cattle, pigs, sheep and goats with families in country settings in Florida and Texas.

More than 200 sick and dying animals — cattle, chickens, pigs, goats, ducks, rabbits, mice, birds, dogs and others — were taken from Barry Kennedy's Old Town property in October.

The Farm Sanctuary says more than 100 of the animals had to be put down. The organization has been working with the Department of Agriculture to find the farm animals new homes.

Abused goats recovering in Temecula

NORTH COUNTY TIMES
Tuesday, October 14, 2003

TEMECULA — Eight rescued goats were recuperating in a Temecula animal sanctuary Tuesday. Their owner, an Escondido man, faces felony and misdemeanor animal cruelty and neglect charges for failing to care for farm animals on his property, a San Diego County animal control officer said.

Seven of the eight goats were scheduled to be transported to a shelter in Northern California early today. The eighth goat, which is blind from neglect, according to its new owner, Tammie Sandon, will remain in Temecula.

On Oct. 7 and 9, animal control officers, responding to a complaint, rescued 29 sick or injured livestock from the 16000 block of Guejito Road in Escondido, said Lt. Eugene Cikanek of the County of San Diego Department of Animal Services. The department served David Aguilar with a citation, Cikanek said. Aguilar gave up some of the animals, he said. He kept others that were not sick or injured, Cikanek said.

The case is still under investigation.

Someone who answered the phone at Aguilar's home said he declined to comment.

Officers took 16 cattle, a pig and 12 goats from Aguilar's property. Cikanek said Aguilar was buying them at auction, but didn't know the reason or their condition at the time of purchase. Animal shelter officials believe he's buying the animals, which are already sick, and then reselling them.

Sandon and her husband, Lance Sandon, agreed to take in eight goats. The Sandons run a nonprofit shelter, the Sandon Shangri-LA, Home of All Creatures, Big and Small at their 10-acre home in Wine Country.

The goats arrived underfed with severe respiratory infections, Sandon said. Some had mucous coming from their noses. One had a distended belly. Another had a case of pink-eye so severe she is blind.

Seven of the goats are scheduled to leave at 3:30 a.m. today. They will go to Farm Sanctuary in Northern California, a national nonprofit organization with shelters in Orland and upstate New York. The goats will live on 300 acres in Orland, 30 miles west of Chico, or be adopted. Farm Sanctuary will also take nine other animals.

The Sandons will keep the blind goat.

"Regardless of what animals are for, they need to be treated humanely up to the very end," Sandon said. "You don't have to be a vegetarian. You just need to have a heart."

Diane Miller said some of the animals are suffering from pneumonia, parasites and injured legs and feet. The shelter doesn't have room for all the rescued animals and will be looking for "safe, loving, permanent vegetarian homes."

Update on Penny

I wanted to tell you the latest on "Penny". As I mentioned, our mobile vet said that "Penny" the blind goat had severe pinkeye that had been left untreated for so long, the chances of her ever seeing again were very slim! Obviously, she treated her anyway and left me medication for a second injection.

Guess what, she can comfortably open her eyes now and she has some of her vision back. I shared the news with our mobile vet and she is absolutely amazed! "Penny's" breathing is clear now too. When she arrived, you could hear the gurgling of congestion with her every breath as discharge drained from her nose. She was in the worst shape of the group as she was extremely weak and thin. She was head butted each time she tried to eat and she'd get slammed as she couldn't see it coming. We separated her on the first day after seeing this and her condition. She is doing better each day! Dr. Thacher, our mobile vet will be out tomorrow to check on her, etc.

Another precious note; "Penny" and (our physically challenged goat girl) "Spirit" cannot see each other as "Penny" is in another field, but they've been talking back and forth. They talked so much last night that Lance and I were cracking up. I know they'll be the best of friends! Anyway, just thought I'd share and I am so happy to hear that all these wonderful animals are doing so well! Excellent news on the calves! Thanks to all of you for being so caring and Diane, thank you for all of your ever-so helpful advice!

Many Little Piggies go Home

By JENNIFER KINGSLEY
Friday Feb. 21, 2003
Star-Gazette

TOWN OF ORANGE - Bartender Bud, a black and white pig who carries chunks of ice in his mouth, left the snowy barnyard at Farm Sanctuary for greener pastures in California on Thursday.

The swine was one of 128 pigs - Durocs, Berkshires, Hampshires and
cross-breeds - rescued from a frozen field near Olean on Dec. 3, said Phil Barrett, assistant director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Cattaraugus County, the agency that orchestrated the rescue.

During the past two months, 54 of the pigs have been receiving veterinary care at Farm Sanctuary at 3100 Aiken Road in the town of Orange. Farm Sanctuary is an animal-rights group.

Many of the pigs had been suffering from mange (mites that burrow under the skin and cause lesions), upper respiratory infections, stomach bloating and other ailments, said Lorri Bauston, executive director of Farm Sanctuary.

On Thursday, the now-healthy oinkers were loaded into a trailer, driven by Rick and Linda Hayward, who own Live Animal Transport, in Fort Worth, Texas. During the next week, the pigs will be hand-delivered to adoptive families from Michigan to California.

"This really shows the outpouring of support we've received," Bauston said. "They'll (the pigs) be going to homes where they'll be treated like members of the family, like dogs or cats."

That kind of treatment will be new for the pigs who were noticed by a
neighbor of the Olean area farm in early December.

"The mud was hardened, and the pigs could barely move," Barrett said. "When we got there, we realized there were more than 100 pigs."

Gerald Nason Jr. of the town of Ashford, owner of the property where the pigs were found, was charged with 120 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals, according to the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Department. He faces $1,000 fine, a year in jail, or both for each offense.

"We called the Farm Sanctuary for help," Barrett said.

It took volunteers three days, working 11 to 12 hours each day, to remove all of the pigs from the field.

"Nine of the animals had to be euthanized right away because of severe injuries," Bauston said. "Some of the pigs were frozen to the ground, but still alive."

To house the animals, Farm Sanctuary had to clear out garages and storage sheds across their 175-acre property.

Some of the pigs went to Cornell Veterinary School for emergency treatments and surgeries, and all of the male pigs - 26 total - were neutered once they were healthy, Bauston said.

Animal-care workers at Farm Sanctuary named the oinkers. Among the names: Gizmo is being shipped to Massachusetts; Gideon is going to Oklahoma; and Zorro is moving to Iowa.

The cable TV network Animal Planet, a division of Discovery Communication Inc., will feature Gizmo on an episode of the network's show "Pet Story," said Susan E. Coston, shelter manager at Farm Sanctuary. That episode is supposed to air during the summer.

Many of the piglets squealed while being carried to the trailer on Thursday morning.

"They'll be fine," Bauston assured. "It's been a long journey, but they know they're safe."

Foster families in Cattaraugus County are still caring for about a dozen
animals, Barrett of the SPCA said.

Within the next month, he expects to place the remaining pigs in permanent homes.