Dogs killed at evacuation center

LESSON LEARNED:

Don't trust the government to "take care of you" in a disaster. Stock your own supplies, make your own plans, get out early and bring your pets and loved ones with you.

Yes, this is a tragic outrage and people should be severely punished for their bad judgement in destroying others beloved "property".

However, trusting "local officials" to care for your pets, as well as people is simply unrealistic in a large scale disaster.

I think Grisham's novel The Pelican Brief may have been more truth than fiction... this State is the more corrupt than just about anyplace I can even think of --

Someone on the nola.com forum/board posted this, "Half of the people of Louisiana are under water and the other half are under indictment."

From http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/NEWS/REWARD.htm

"$10,000 REWARD OFFERED IN SHOOTING OF
DOGS IN ST. BERNARD PARISH

Fourteen dogs, left by their owners in hopes of returning to them, were slaughtered, shot in the body cavity, forcing the dogs to suffer a prolonged death. All were found dead at Beauregard Middle School in St. Bernard Parish, New Orleans.

$10,000 REWARD OFFERED BY WASHINGTON STATE ANIMAL RESCUE GROUP
Pasado's Safe Haven, a Washington State animal rescue organization that has rescued over 700 animals from New Orleans homes, has issued a $10,000 reward seeking the conviction of the individual(s) responsible for shooting the dogs to death at Beauregard Middle School. Pasado's Safe Haven has issued numerous rewards in the past seeking conviction of perpetrators of heinous animal cruelty cases, which great results:

PASADOREWARDS WORK
• A $3000 reward was posted by Pasado's Safe Haven in a case where a dog was intentionally dragged behind a van by a woman who eventually fled from police. The reward produced a tip that led sheriff's officers to find the woman. The woman was jailed and convicted for First Degree Animal Cruelty.
• A $3000 reward was issued by Pasado's Safe Haven in a case where cows and a calf had been shot in the middle of the night on a cattle ranch. The reward, publicized in the media, led to a tip that led investigators to three teen boys who had purchased firearms off the streets and who admitted to "using the cows as target practice". Three cows died and the calf eventually had to be euthanized. All boys were jailed on First Degree Animal Cruelty charges
• A $5000 reward posted by Pasado's Safe Haven led to the conviction of a man who took a litter of unwanted puppies out to a rural area and shot them in the body cavity, resulting in suffering of the animals. Only one puppy survived with intensive veterinary medical treatment.

HOW PASADOREWARDS WORK
Pasado's Safe Haven offers all animal cruelty-related rewards through the media. According to Humane Investigator for Pasado's Safe Haven, Mark Steinway, "People who commit these kinds of crimes will sell out their mother for a buck. Money makes people talk. They've been a very successful tool for us in tracking down perpetrators of horrifying cases of animal cruelty."
• News of the reward is offered to the media
• Individuals who have witnessed the crime call Pasado's Safe Haven anonymously.
• All tips are turned over by Pasado's Safe Haven to local authorities.
• If the tip leads to a conviction of the accused, Pasado's Safe Haven issues the reward, in full, to the tipster

WHY DO WE OFFER PASADOREWARDS?
People who hurt animals are likely to hurt humans as well. Animal cruelty portends human violence. "People who intentionally make an animal suffer need to suffer the consequences," says mark Steinway. "Hopefully this reward will bring about a conviction that'll make the person who did this think twice before they hurt an animal again."

WHO WAS PASADO?
Pasado's Safe Haven is one of the country's premiere animal sanctuaries, located in the Pacific Northwest. 150 PasadoRescuers have been in New Orleans rescuing animals since Hurricane Katrina hit. The rescue group is named for Pasado the donkey, a beloved 21-year-old donkey who was beaten for hours and hung. The death of Pasado led to upgrading animal cruelty laws from the lowest misdemeanor to a felony.

WHY A $10,000 REWARD IN THE NEW ORLEANS CASE?
The middle school was a temporary shelter for evacuees who, after flood waters rose, were ordered not to take their pets with them. Many of the pet owners scrawled their names and phone numbers on the wall of the middle school room, in an effort to have their pets reunited with them. All of the fourteen dogs were found shot, lying in pools of blood. These evacuees lost everything. To find out that the pets they tried to save were killed in this manner is the final blow.

According to Pasado's Safe Haven Humane Investigator, on the ground in St. Bernard Parish, "The dogs who were shot in St. Bernard Parish did not die immediately. They were not shot in the head to quickly bring about death. Shooting an animal in the body cavity is one of the most cruel ways to kill an animal."

According to St. Bernard Parish Sheriff Jack Stephens, the shell-casings are consistent with those used by law enforcement. Before this incident occurred, a St. Bernard Sheriff's Officer was documented shooting dogs in the street by a Dallas news videographer. According to Sheriff Stephens, "We'll get to the bottom of this. If it's one of our officers, we'll let the cards fall where they may. He reportedly has turned this case over to the Louisiana State's Attorney for investigation.

VETERINARY EXAMINATION
Pasado's Safe Haven knows that it takes more than what you think to make a case of animal cruelty. If this person is identified, they may claim "the animals were suffering" "I had to put them out of their misery". To assure that a conviction can happen, PasadoRescuers will take the dogs to a veterinarian, Licensed in the State of Louisiana, for necropsies (animal autopsies). Necropsies can prove whether an animal had been in a state of dehydration or starvation at the time of death. The animals will also be kept, in a freezer, so no evidence will be discarded.

PRESS CONTACT: Mark Steinway, Pasado's Safe Haven/PasadoRescuers are "staged" at a triage location in Raceland, LA, 45 minutes south of New Orleans on a 150-acre farm. There, over 700 animals have been treated for dehydration and emaciation. As of yesterday, PasadoRescuers are still finding "miracle animals" still alive in New Orleans' homes who haven't had food for water for a month."

Now would this be the real police or those ones on the payroll that they made up and paid? The more I hear about that place, the sicker I get.

Excerpt from www.ericsdogblog.com, entry date 9/30/05:

I am sitting here with Kim, who many of you saw on CNN last night. Here's a perfect example of how many of us who came down here made a real difference. If she, I or any one of a dozen people hadn't come down, this may not have been discovered. Information started with a simple pet owner call into us. Once we got into the school, we saw that there was a problem. We’ve known about a second school which you will hear about soon where something similar has happened. We kept it under wraps under advice of the state’s attorney, who is doing a full fledged investigation. They say its one of the worst atrocities that they have seen from this event. I won’t describe anything in detail but the scenes are more horrific than you can imagine. It’s as if this was a game to whoever did this. These animals were posed, tortured. Every one of these animals would have lived with all the food left by the owners. Anyone who goes to St. Bernard parish says it’s like a Steven King novel. They say “there’s a lot of weird stuff”. I don’t want to go into detail at this point but it’s similar to what happened in the school. And animals are being taken from rescuers. I have talked to people and there is no exaggeration. Everyone is so emotional about all that is happening. There are news trucks in and out of St Bernard's parish. You will be able to follow this story on the news for days. I have gotten several calls from people who specifically know who did this. That info has been turned over immediately to the State’s Attorney’s office."

I'd just like to draw attention to this, "And animals are being taken from rescuers. "

Also, they are still pulling live animals out of New Orleans and surrounding areas, but the LASPCA is trying to shut down rescue efforts.

I think that needs to be added to the bumper sticker list. I'm still laughing about the look on the faces of the congressmen hearing Michael Brown this week when they asked about one person and why he wasn't consulted and Michael Brown said "he's under indictment."

Now that I think about it, I think it was a pithier "Half of Louisianna is under water and the other half is under indictment."

I've been thinking they should put up signs at strategic locations around the Parish that say, "Welcome to St. Bernard Parish -- We'll drown your parents and shoot your dogs."

I found this video that was done shortly after katrina- apparently the guy doing the shooting is named Mike Minton

http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/photography/2005/katrina_video/straydogs.html