Posted on 09/02/2018 1:02:03 AM PDT by Norski
Animal Farm Foundation funded suspect to boost the image of pit bulls
MONTREAL, SAN ANTONIO––The pit bull advocacy organization Animal Farm Foundation, of Bangali, New York, had already had a difficult week, even before a federal grand jury in San Antonio, Texas on August 23, 2018 returned an indictment against Bradley Croft, 46, on eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of money laundering.
Croft was the trainer whom the Animal Farm Foundation funded from 2013 to 2017 to prepare pit bulls for police work.
Were any dogs properly trained?
The indictment did not directly pertain to the “Sector K9” program sponsored and promoted by the Animal Farm Foundation to boost the image of pit bulls.
The indictment called into question, however, whether any of the dogs trained by Croft’s company for police and military use have ever received the advertised quality of evaluation and training.
Croft and associates have reportedly done business in Texas and Virginia as Universal K9, Universal K-9, and/or Universal K-NINE.
Following the indictment a page describing the “Sector K9” program disappeared from the Animal Farm Foundation web site.
Four pit bull fatalities in as many weeks
The Animal Farm Foundation, before the indictment of Croft was announced, was merely having to explain––or avoid explaining––a string of recent pit bull attacks.
On July 21, 2018, for instance, Whittington Cole, 66, was fatally mauled by a mixed pack of four pit bulls and Rottweilers in Hampton Green, Jamaica.
Karen Brown, 57, of Chicago, was on August 4, 2018 killed by a pit bull who was shot dead after attacking police at the scene.
Olga Rekhson, 64, was killed by two pit bulls on August 9, 2018 while walking near her home in Lake Tillery, North Carolina.
(Excerpt) Read more at animals24-7.org ...
Six injured by pit bull in Montreal
Perhaps more awkward for both the Animal Farm Foundation and the Montreal SPCA, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, was the August 19, 2018 injury of six people, including four children, by one rescued pit bull in two separate incidents.
The Animal Farm Foundation and the Montreal SPCA worked together to defeat former Montreal mayor Denis Coderre in November 2017, and then repeal restrictions on possession of pit bulls that Coderre introduced in 2016, after Christiane Vadnais, 55, was killed in her back yard by a neighbor’s pit bull.
Christiane Vadnais
Reported Tristan Péloquin of La Presse, citing police reports, Frances Richardson, 62, who was looking after four grandchildren in her home, “took possession of the pit bull the day before. The animal belonged to the friend of a friend, who said she had to get rid of her dog quickly, because she had just given birth. The pit bull was to be taken to the Montreal SPCA the next day for transfer to New Brunswick,” a frequent destination of pit bulls impounded in Montreal and other Quebec cities. . . ."
(excerpt) (continued next post)
” . . . (continued excerpt) . . .Allegedly stole GI Bill benefits
“According to the [Bradley Croft] indictment,” reported Guillermo Contreras of the San Antonio Express News, “in 2013, Croft [applied to] the Texas Veterans Commission to obtain certification to allow Universal K-9 to receive GI Bill educational benefit payments for providing dog handler training.
“In October 2015, Croft emailed several documents to the commission containing the names of four people who were purported to be instructors for Universal K-9 classes for which Croft was seeking approval to obtain GI Bill benefits. They are listed as victims 1-4 in the indictment.”
Said the indictment, “None of those individuals had granted Croft permission to use their names.”
Claimed a dead man as trainer
Nor were any of them “working as instructors at Universal K-9 in the classes described in the application,” the indictment said. “Victim 1 had died two years prior to the submission of the application for approval.”
“Based on the documents,” Contreras wrote, “the Texas Veterans Commission granted Universal K-9 approval for participating in the GI Bill program. Croft and others, who are not charged, then solicited veterans as students for the dog handler course, indicating that veterans could use their GI Bill benefits to pay for the course. Croft and the others would enroll veterans in the course and submit enrollment records to the VA for payment, knowing the approval of the training had been fraudulently obtained, the indictment said.
Bagged $1.26 million
“Between 2016 through the date of the indictment,” Contreras summarized, “Universal filed approximately 185 claims relating to the education of 132 veterans, totaling $1.26 million, the indictment said.”
According to court records, Contreras added, “Croft has a lengthy criminal history, which includes shooting at people and other violence, and a federal conviction in the late 1990s involving insurance fraud, for which he got five years of probation.”
- - - more detailed article at link. - - -
Wonderful headline.
if it wasn't such a pathetic attempt to make pits look good, it could have been a monty python sketch, along the line of, "Tigers make wonderful pets! you should get one for yer mum!" And "E's not dead yet!" "yes he is! he's singing with the Angels, gone to the great beyond, pushing up daiseys, he's meeting St. Peter right now.he's dead!!. ..."
This pit isn’t interested in the postition:
The headline was the name of the article. I thought it somewhat awkward, but must post as written.
“Pitbull On the Telly”.
I suppose not.
After viewing the 24-second police cam video of the pitbull attack and subsequent police shooting of the dog, I find that I am now curious about the original reports of unsafe conditions in the home for children.
That’s why the police went to that house in the first place. I’m no dog worshiper but i can see why the owner is pissed.
And i wonder how long the prison sentence would be for a civilian (let’s say an innocent bystander at the scene of a crime) who was to shoot a K-9 “Officer” that approached them in a vicious manner similar to that shown in the video?
You can see why the owner was pissed? Did we wstch the same video? dog tied to a truck? The dam dog walked up the the officer with no ill intent and then suddenly went into the FYou, FYou FYou, bite, chew, kill mode. The owner should be charged with keeping a vicious animal. If that had been an unarmed kid , the kid would be badly mauled at least.
https://scorchedearththepoliticsofpitb.blogspot.com/2018/08/fraud-and-pit-bull-advocacy-who-would.html
Fraud and pit bull advocacy. Who would have expected this? The money train that funds pit bull advocacy leaves the station in New York state from the farm owned by Jane Berkey, and headquarters of the Animal Farm Foundation.
A couple of years ago the Berkey-owned and funded AFF began placing shelter pit bulls, trained by Universal K9, with under-funded police departments in cash-poor communities as single purpose drug detection "police dogs." These dogs were free to the communities and came with large public relations promotions.
Research on the program and the dogs revealed extremely limited training, dangerously limited training. The AFF bragged shamelessly about these single-purpose dogs but fraud hung over this enterprise like a dirty cloud. Fast forward to recent developments. The owner and operator of Universal K9, Brad Croft, trainer paid by the Animal Farm Foundation to train shelter pit bulls as police dogs, was raided by the FBI, the IRS, and local humane investigators. Croft has been arrested and charged with fraud and other crimes.
Animals 24/7 has done an excellent post on this ugly situation. The post begins with this quote. "The pit bull advocacy organization Animal Farm Foundation, of Bangal, New York, had already had a difficult week, even before a federal grand jury in San Antonio, Texas on August 23, 2018 returned an indictment against Bradley Croft, 46, on eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of money laundering. Croft was the trainer whom the Animal Farm Foundation funded from 2013 to 2017 to prepare pit bulls for police work. Please read what has been written by Merritt Clifton and Beth Clifton on the Animals 24/7 website. Here is a link. There are so many angles on this mess that it makes your head spin.
Communities still using dogs trained by Croft should be VERY concerned about legal liability. Bred for blood-sport stray dogs obtained from shelters desperate to unload unplaceable pit bulls placed through a fraudulent training program? What could go wrong?
Brad Croft
A handler moves a dog to an Animal Care Services transportation vehicle Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018 at canine training facility Universal K9, 15329 Tradesman, near Loop 1604 on the Northwest Side, as an ACS officer walks behind the handler. State and federal authorities served a search warrant on the non-profit organization's facility early Wednesday morning and ACS took custody of 27 dogs from the facility as part of the raid. Photo: William Luther, Staff Photographer / Staff Photographer / © 2018 San Antonio Express-News
For more on the Animal Farm Foundation supplied and funded pit bull police dogs, here are photos of the dogs and their handlers plus a map of locations. Handy. Lawyers for anyone injured by any of these dogs should find VERY deep pockets. Suspect the page will not last long. Get screenshots. Posted by scorched earth at 1:33 PM Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Labels: Animal Farm Foundation, Brad Croft, fraud, police dogs
See previous post . . . and see the page referenced if desired.
“Lawyers for anyone injured by any of these dogs should find VERY deep pockets. Suspect the page will not last long. Get screenshots.”
“Were any dogs properly trained?”
You would think they had to have basic training, to at least pass as K9 regardless of the scamming and their effectiveness at their specific job, right? I am still curious if well trained pit bulls have snapped or attacked.
Freegards
Yes, I still keep a lookout for “well-trained” pit bulls.
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