AR-News: (USA) Please email this sample letter.

[molly]

LETTER/Savage Abuse From President Of Dairy Goat Assoc.----- Original
Message ----- 
From: info at kinshipcircle.org
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 8:53 PM
Subject: LETTER/Savage Abuse From President Of Dairy Goat Assoc.


SAMPLE LETTER FROM KINSHIP CIRCLE
2/13/04--Savage Abuse From President Of Dairy Goat Assoc.
http://www.kinshipcircle.org
1 letter

SOURCE OF INFORMATION:
Farm Sanctuary Alert: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/weekly.htm
http://www.FarmedAnimal.net

contact information:
[http://www.co.columbia.wi.us/]
http://www.co.columbia.wi.us/search/oop/qfullhit.htw?CiWebHitsFile=%2Fabout%2Felected%2Easp&CiRestriction=District+Attorney+near+Columbia+County&CiBeginHilite=%3Cstrong+class%3DHit%3E&CiEndHilite=%3C%2Fstrong%3E&CiUserParam3=/search/search.asp&CiHiliteType=Full

DAIRY GOAT CASE: BROADER IMPLICATIONS FOR AGRICULTURE?
Agri View, Ron Johnson, Jan. 27, 2004
http://www.agriview.com/articles/2004/01/26/dairy_news/producer01.txt

GOAT GROUP'S LEADER TO TAKE LEAVE
Associated Press & Daily Register reports, Jan. 20, 2004
http://portage.scwn.com/articles/2004/01/20/news/news1.txt

MAN CHARGED WITH TORTURING HIS GOATS
Associated Press, Todd Richmond, Jan. 17, 2004
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D804RMVG0.xml

*DISCLAIMER: The information in these letters is verified with the original
source. I cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information
or for the consequences of its use.

*Kinship Circle cannot guarantee the validity of email addresses. During a
campaign, recipients may change or disable their email addresses.

**NOTE: Farm Sanctuary's alert lists DA Jane Kohlwey's address as PO Box
683, but a search of the Columbia County, Wisconsin website directory of
elected officials lists the address as PO Box 638.

=================SAMPLE LETTER=================

The Honorable Jane E. Kohlwey, Columbia County District Attorney
400 DeWitt Street, Room 101
P.O. Box 638
Portage, WI 53901-0638
ph: 608-742-9650; fax: 608-742-9606
email: Kohlway.Jane at mail.da.state.wi.us

RE: Columbia County Case #2004CF000004

Dear Ms. Kohlwey,

I commend you for firmly prosecuting Daniel Considine, the American Dairy
Goat Association president and goats' milk farmer charged with one count of
mistreating animals causing death and a second count of passive
participation in the mistreatment of animals causing death. Thank you for
instituting a no-tolerance policy for the abuse of farmed animals.

So far, Considine's sole defense against two criminal complaints filed by
one-time tenants, Diana and Larry Moyer, has been to label the witnesses
liars and claim the public does not "understand agriculture." Perhaps not,
but the majority do understand cruelty.

The alleged incidents Considine calls "nonsense" include bludgeoning baby
goats on the head with a hammer as a method of euthanasia; performing a
caesarean section on a fully alert doe (with no anesthesia or veterinary
guidance) and allowing the animal to die; and assisting a group of college
students in the live burning of a goat.

According to the complaint, filed with Columbia County Sheriff's deputies,
the goat was set ablaze BEFORE her throat was slit. The complaint also
references state humane officer Yvonne Bellay, who describes the severing of
a fetus from a conscious mother as "barbaric and unacceptable." Bellay's
statement portrays the incineration of live animals as "extreme cruelty."

While Bellay seems to state the obvious, the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical
Association (WVMA) is more alarmed about the case's long-term effects on the
farming industry. Citing tail docking, dehorning and castration as other
practices performed without anesthesia, they define the routine infliction
of pain as simply part of the job.

Plainly, Considine's behavior violates any sense of moral decency--if not
the few protections in place for farmed animals. If he is not penalized for
his grotesque acts, the justice system establishes a precedent of
acceptability. Please do not let the battering, burning or dismembering of
sentient creatures become legitimate forms of "animal husbandry."

I strongly encourage you to seek the maximum seven-year prison term and
$20,000 in fines. Please ensure that Considine is prohibited from owning,
harboring, or marketing animals for commercial purposes. In addition, I hope
authorities will confiscate Considine's surviving animals for examination by
a qualified veterinarian and transfer to a farmed animal sanctuary. If abuse
is found, please file additional animal cruelty charges.

Thank you for your conscientious litigation in this appalling case.

Sincerely,