AR-News: (NJ - US)Jury ruled for PETA in lawsuit

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Footage of Dog Beating Shown in Court

For Immediate Release:
January 30, 2004

Contact:
Jeff Kerr, Esq. 757-622-7382

Newark, N.J. — Late yesterday afternoon, a jury in a U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J., ruled for PETA in a lawsuit brought against the group and its former investigator, Michele Rokke, by East Brunswick veterinarian Howard Baker, rejecting his claim of malicious use of process. The suit came after Rokke documented Baker’s assaults on animals in his care, which included punching and choking dogs and cats. Although Rokke was once employed by PETA as an investigator, Rokke stumbled across Baker’s abusive conduct unexpectedly and undertook the investigation of the vet on her own.    

Rokke documented the abusive incidents when she worked at Baker’s Village Veterinary Hospital in East Brunswick from April 1996 through June 1997. She reported her findings to the Middlesex County SPCA, which charged Baker with 16 counts of cruelty to animals. In July 1999, he was found guilty on 14 counts, fined $3,500, and ordered to undergo anger-management counseling. In September 1999, the New Jersey State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners revoked his license, although it was later reinstated. 

Baker appealed the decision, and on April 14, 2000, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Joyce Munkacsi drastically departed from the findings of the lower court and acquitted Baker, a ruling based solely on her review of the written record, without hearing testimony from the witnesses. Based on Judge Munkacsi’s findings, Baker sued PETA and Rokke, claiming that he was unfairly targeted. Yesterday, a jury ruled against Baker after watching a videotape that showed him hitting a Dalmatian named Dice and hearing testimony from Dice’s owner, from a former SPCA officer, and from the prosecutor who won the original convictions against Baker. Other video footage was excluded from evidence but can be seen at PETATV.com.

“Baker is a bully veterinarian who beat up helpless dogs and cats and then tried to silence those who came to the animals’ defense,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “We hope that this case helps whistleblowers and animal guardians realize that they have to keep an eye out for what happens to animals behind closed doors in vet’s clinics, grooming parlors, and anywhere else that people may leave their dogs and cats.”  

Rokke’s undercover video footage of Baker can be seen at PETATV.com.