AR-News: Sacramento County Sued Over Illegal Sale of Shelter Animals

Fri Mar 26 08:44:34 EST 2004

From:  Interniche-l at interniche.org 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 24, 2004

Sacramento County Sued Over Illegal Sale of Shelter Animals

Sacramento -- Animal protection groups filed a lawsuit today against 
Sacramento County for failing to enforce an agreement with the University 
of California, Davis [U.C.-Davis], and Sutter Hospital safeguarding 
companion animals sold from its shelter for medical and educational 
uses. The Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Association of Veterinarians 
for Animal Rights [AVAR], the Animal Protection Institute [API], and In 
Defense of Animals [IDA].

"Sacramento is the only county in all of California which still allows 
people's pets to be sold into research," says API Chief Executive Officer 
Michelle Thew. "Sutter Hospital and UC Davis have both knowingly and 
willingly violated the agreement with the county, and have done so for 
years without the county doing anything about it. In short, the county has lost
track of the companion cats and dogs it has sold, and violated the public trust"
she says. "It's a disgrace."

As a result of public concern regarding the antiquated practice of "pound 
seizure", whereby adoptable shelter animals are sold for various medical 
and educational uses, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed 
between Sacramento County, U.C.-Davis and Sutter Hospital in 1986, saying 
that in order for animals to be purchased and then used for research and/or
teaching, the purchasers agreed to comply with various requirements set forth by
the county. Those requirements include keeping records, ensuring the animals are
not used in duplicative procedures, complying with local, state and federal
laws, and keeping animals free from avoidable stress. For 18 years, almost every
requirement of the MOU has been violated, and continues to this day.

For years, animal protection groups negotiated with all parties to try and
resolve these violations and the terms of the MOU, but exhausted the
possibilities with little success. The lawsuit comes as a last resort to
safeguard the companion animals entrusted to Sacramento County Animal Care and
Regulation, and therefore seeks to have the sales of shelter animals terminated,
as required by the MOU. It also seeks damages for illegal sales of animals since
the agreement's inception 18 years ago. If damages are awarded, the money will
go toward free and low-cost sterilization surgeries for companion animals of
people who cannot afford the veterinary medical procedure and care.

"Because there are numerous blatant violations which have occurred 
continuously for years, we can only assume that the animals who have ended up at
the shelter and who were sold for teaching and research were not important
enough to the county to even keep track of them. We want the practice stopped
now," says Teri Barnato, National Director of the Association of Veterinarians
for Animal Rights. "AVAR filed a complaint with the county in November 2002
which detailed some of the violations. It resulted in a slap on the wrist for UC
Davis and Sutter Hospital," she said.

"Given that the Sacramento County Animal Shelter sits in the state capitol, it
should be a model for shelters and sheltering policies" says IDA Executive
Director Dr. Elliot Katz. "It has failed on both accounts."

Pam Runquist
Director of Companion Animal Issues
Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights
PO Box 208
Davis, CA 95617-0208
Tel: (530) 759-8106
pam at avar.org

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

------- End of forwarded message -------
_______________________________________________ interniche-l mailing list interniche-l at interniche.org http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/interniche-l 
the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040326/61a6ef75/attachment.html