Newcastle woman says officer treated her like a criminal
Animal services director says staff expected to be professional at all times
Almost a month ago, Brenda Newsom bought a neglected horse for her granddaughter and started to nurse it back to health. Last week, the Newcastle resident said she was upset to be treated as though she was now neglecting that horse when a county animal services officer came to investigate the animal’s living conditions. “It was like I was being interrogated,” Newsom said Monday. “I automatically was treated like a criminal on my own property with a horse I had rescued.” A Placer County Animal Services officer reportedly arrived at Newsom’s home Wednesday following a complaint of animal abuse. Newsom said the officer was “antagonistic” as he questioned her about her horse, Rocky, and his conditions. Mike Winters, program manager for county animal services, said at the time he cannot comment on the specific case because the department has a policy not to discuss ongoing investigations. He said that officials look into all complaints and will investigate internally whether or not inappropriate action was taken. “With the person who someone made a complaint of, it maybe (the animal owner) is unaware or not knowledgeable to take care of the animal in general,” Winters said. “The officer needs to be polite in all circumstances and be professional.” Winters said the county office fields about 7,000 calls regarding animal abuse every year. He said sometimes dispatchers will take anonymous complaints depending on the type of call. Usually they take contact information for the complainant but do not release that to the person under investigation. He said usually about two officers are on duty during the week and split the north and south parts of the county. On weekends and off-hours, one officer is on call. Newsom said the officer who arrived at her home issued her a citation saying she needed a veterinarian to check the horse within five days so Newsom called veterinarian Molly Dinucci to her property. On Monday, Dinucci, who is part of the Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center, said the horse was underweight, needed teeth care to help it eat more food, and she administered vaccines and de-wormed the animal. However, she said there were no signs of purposeful neglect on the owner’s part and said the animal’s living conditions were good. Newsom said they bought the horse off a posting on Craigslist.com and spent almost $2,000 in supplies and care. She said the previous owner had started to neglect the horse when her husband was diagnosed with cancer. Newsom said the family was planning to call a veterinarian soon to check the animal’s health. She said they have taken the horse on walks around the property and have been feeding him and providing water. “He’s really been treated well and we only had him three-and-a-half weeks,” Newsom said. Newsom said she does not believe the complaint came from neighbors. Instead, she believes it came from someone driving by her two-acre property off Newcastle Road who saw her horse standing outside in the field. “Basically, what I’m upset about is I don’t like being treated like this on my own property,” Newsom said. “Who’s to say that someone can’t go out and adopt an animal and someone drives by and sees one instance and they’re more reliable than an hour interview with me?” The Journal’s Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.
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I had a similar experience. My old dog was withering away. On the recommendation of my vet, I was feeding him pancakes, white bread, and cottage cheese, but he still looked emaciated. So some busybody called animal control, and in my absence, the animal control guy waltzes onto my property, into my garage, and starts snooping around. I pretty much had to prove my innocence. I have heard several similar reports from friends and business associates relative to old horses and dogs. The county euthanizes thousands of animals every year, but seems way to eager to assume the worst about ordinary people whose only crime is owning an old horse or dog.
If the county wants to cut its budget, I would start with Animal Control.
too eager, not to eager.
And if the county does nothing, there are complaints..and when the county does something there are complaints, way to many whiners in todays society....
"On Monday, Dinucci, who is part of the Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center, said the horse was underweight, needed teeth care to help it eat more food, and she administered vaccines and de-wormed the animal. However, she said there were no signs of purposeful neglect on the owner’s part and said the animal’s living conditions were good."
And the horse did need care as diagnosed by the Vet.....
I think its wonderful that you adopted this animal in need of care. But I have to tell you, the first thing I would have done was have a Vet check to make sure you were providing everything the horse needed. If you had done that, then you could have explained everything to the officer, showed him proof of the check up and you wouldn't have gotten cited. They are only trying to protect the animal.
As oneofthemasses said above, " If you had done that, then you could have explained everything to the officer, showed him proof of the check up and you wouldn't have gotten cited. They are only trying to protect the animal."
She neglected the horse's health by not having a vet check on it immediately.
I had a similar experience..I reported 3 horses I had watched go down, down, down until they were a rack of bones. This was over a one year process. The horses were in good flesh when they arrived at this residence. When Animal Control investigated the starving animals the owner said they had just "rescued" the poor things. All of us in the neigborhood were outraged that the officer believed these people even though many of testified the horses had been there for over a year. At least the people got rid of the horses and then aquaired a new one in good shape and now it is becoming a rack of bones... Looks like we are going to start over, but I hope Animal Control doesn't believe this lying jerks.
If this Newcastle person did rescue the horse....the first thing she should have done is get Veternarian care. I am glad she was treated like a criminal......she was neglectful by not having a vet acess the horses condition.......GOOD JOB ANIMAL CONTROL...wish you were in my county.
When we first got Rocky, we spoke to the professionals down at Foothill Feed and asked for their suggestions for what to feed him and how best to take care of him. When Dr. Dinucci arrived and looked at Rocky, she said we were doing everything right already and said that this situation has happened before. Her words were "you can't put 300 lbs on a horse overnight." Yes Rocky is still slightly underweight, but in the few weeks we have had him he has already gained around 100 pounds. We have also been busy and have only recently had the time to contact a veterinarian.
We rescued a mustang from Northern California last year and he was severly underweight. He was rated as a low 3 in overall condition.
We took him into Loomis Basin to have him checked and had his teeth floated in order to improve his overall possibilities of a fast recovery. We also wanted to make sure our plans for weight gain were on target....which they were.
He was able to gain 250 lbs within 2 months. We took him in for a 6 month check up and he had 350lbs by that point. As they said at Loomis Basin he looks like a different horse now. His personality has changed and is doing great.
Weight gain takes time but without proper attention to teeth and feeding requirements/schedules it is an uphill battle.
If you rescue a horse the first thing you should do is have a vet check and verify that you are doing the right thing. What if there was some underlying disease that was causing the weight loss. You need to know what your up against.
Just my 2 cents.
I wonder if this is the same officer that came out to my parents property (in Newcastle) & handed over his 22 to try & have my mom shoot a sheep that had fallen to either a mountian lion or domestic dog attack. We have never shot animal, we always call out a vet for proper Euthanasia. This man had my 62 year old mother in tears. He was rude down right mean 1. He is not to had over his firearm to a civilian. 2 We contacted his supervisor & were told that our concerns would be investigated, nothing ever happened. This sounds like the same officer. I think he needs his a$$ fired! Quit wasting my tax dollars to pay some A-hole that harasses older people on their own property. Get officers in these positons that give a Sh*T.
This is not the first problem we have had with animal control. We had a nieghbor who was negelcting her sheep, they needed to be sheared so bad that when the summer heat hit they were dropping dead in the pasture feet up and she would leave them there. (No she was not waiting on rendering.)All the neighbors called & called, finally Animal Control came out and basically did nothing except tell her to thin the herd. Her fencing was right next to the canal which was in poor condition a sheep fell in and died from hypotherma. Now that is neglect. Not what Brenda was trying to do for this horse she should be commended for saving this horse from poor conditions not cited by an Animal Control Officer who has a cop complex.
Brenda may have been waitng for HER mobile large vet as we do. Our indepentant mobile vet is the best there is & we have been using her since I was a kid. She has had the horse for 3 weeks lets not be ridiculious, it can take 3 weeks to get your mobile vet to your property if it is not an emergancy. They make an appointment just like anyone else does to take their animals to the vet for a check up. We are talking about a horse not a cat. Horse care can be very costly maybe Brenda works for the state and gets paid once a month. Any number of reasons why after only having the animal for 3 weeks she had not gotten vet care.
I can between the 2 pics that ther indeed is an improvement in the horse. Loomis Basin is far to expensive for normal people to afford. They are great vets but you end up paying for the facilities more than the services you recieve even though Brenda had a house call there is there is a thing we call OVERHEAD that gets figured into charges by vets. The Loomis Basin vet even said there was no neglect on the owners part.
We as taxpayers need to try to Placer County Animal Control under a audit. They waste time,money and it not benefiting the animals they are supposed to be protecting.
If she couldn't afford or didn't have the time to get the animal checked over then maybe she shouldn't have it. According to the caption under the picture, the citation said that "she needed to have a veterinarian check the horse". That's a no brainer. If she was treated as a criminal for neglecting the horse then IMHO she got what she deserved.
There’s an on-going investigation and the department can’t comment? You’ve got to be kidding me. At the most there should be follow-up with the horse owner, but an ‘investigation”? Sounds more like an excuse that avoids being accountable. That’s typical Placer County Animal Control.
Let’s ask Mr. Winters’ of the “7,000 calls regarding animal abuse” every year, how many of those have resulted in prosecution? Even if one-fourth of the calls are valid animal abuse complaints, why can’t we find proof of follow through with criminal action? The Afghan Hound case doesn’t count because only when the animal welfare groups started kicking up dust and finally went to the AJ to expose the situation, did Animal Control take the dogs out of their miserable conditions.
What I find really important in this comment section is most of the commenter’s get it. They understand what should have been done for this horse. Knowledgeable salespeople are never a substitute for veterinary care. Being too busy is never a good excuse to delay taking a suffering animal to the veterinarian. I don’t think anyone would want to feel sick for three and a half weeks (longer if the Officer hadn’t intervened) while your ‘rescuer’ found time to help you.
I give the Animal Control Officer a 7 on the scale (10 being highest) and only because the woman said he was "antagonistic". However, overall department rating for animal abuse cases plummets to a 2 on my scale.
It is not so much about that she was cited maybe she should have been more prompt in the vet care (3-weeks is not that long considering you can see visible improvement in the horse) Looking at Brenda's property clearly the horse is better hands.
Again, if you deal with independent mobile vets they SCHEDULE YOU for check ups on animals because most of the time they are coming out to to de-worm and vaccinate more than one animal. In our case it is a whole herd this can take many hours if not all day. Check up on a horse can take a good deal of time as well.
Clearly this officer over stepped his duties there is no need to come onto someone else's property into a situtation you know nothing about & be an A$$. This officer sounds like he has a MO by threating or being antagonisic seems to get him his way. Either he needs some serious people skills (take a class) or he needs a new job. I vote for the later. Considering most of my interactions with animal control have not been that grand I do not hold a very high opinion of the officers or their supervisors who allow their charges to behavior in such a manner that is unbecoming of an "Officer"
auburnite: No, there are no whiners here & it's not one or the other as you state; if Animal Control would just do their job correctly & with a modicum of tact, there wouldn't be a problem.
Another minor point of clarification: the Animal Control officer gave a list of things we were supposedly doing wrong, such as letting Rocky graze in the pasture, feeding him alfalfa instead of grass hay, etc. The vet told us we were doing the right thing on each of these points, the only additional care that we hadn't given him was the deworming and fixing his teeth. The vet took care of the deworming that day and we have since scheduled an appointment to have his teeth fixed.
JonPNewsom: What many complainers on this thread haven't bothered to realize is what shape this animal would have been in had it not been rescued by your mother.
This A.C officer was so lacking, it's pathetic--maybe needs a little remedial course. I'm sure the Vet would back you up if it comes to that.
I rescued an old horse and the first thing I did was take pictures & video, scheduled a vet check and called a couple of horse-knowledgeable neighbors over as witnesses to the horse's condition. I never had a problem with AC coming or being reported for abuse (surprising, as I live in a very nosy HOA where busybodies abound). A picture is worth a thousand words...
Crazy story!
this a.c. officer was so lacking, YOU sound pathetic ! it is pepole like you that hinder officers in animal control you whine and cry poor me poor me. if that lady is so great she should have gotten vet care before moveing the horse home, then when a.c. came by she could have handed the paper work to him. but know she thought she knew it all! but the vet had to float her teeh and deworm. wow you are a graet horse peple over there WOW AND JUST DO THERE JOB!! what about the lincoln fire. you guys are very very pathetic the a.c. officers that you keep running down were risking there LIFE for YOUR animals what if a.c. officer didn't come would the horse have been seen by a vet i think not great job animal control keep up the good work
The problem with the Placer County Sheriff's Department and the Animal Control Services is that they have lost any that they might have had for the rights of property owners. The U.S. Constitution is quite specific about when an officer can come onto your property for a search or seizure. Officers need to come to your home with a humble attitude, assuming that you are acting legally. We don't need our government harassing us on our own property. Frankly, I think that these officers are more of a threat to the common person than any criminals, for a criminal is better than a bully with a badge who could never even pass algebra.
Again it seems that my post have gone ignored but they seem to hit nail on the head. It seems to be mostly animal ignorant people that are posting in favor of the animal control officer. Others that have any livestock or have delt with Animal Control know exactly what Brenda was put through this is not just an isolated case.
If horses were not supposed to have Alfalfa they would not compress it into cubes purposely for horse consumption. Not letting animal graze WHO HAS EVER HEARD OF A MORE CRAZY THING? Isn't that what they do?
JonPNewson: i don't know if you saw my earlier posts regarding the treatment my mother recieved from animal control but this sounds like the same guy. He let himself into a gated property with any notice he just began wondering about the property. We did not get anywhere taking the "supervisor" approach maybe by getting this article published you can get this guy out of Animal Control he clearly does not belong in this position.
OldHorse; U R an A$$ how about she waits until she gets the animal settled before you start poking & proding it. Build some trust with Rocky before he has all these proceedures done to him. Changing an animals owner can be very tramatic on an animal. We are talking about 3 weeks here. 3 Weeks were he recieved a nice living area, plenty of food and water but most of all Rocky got a loving family that is taking the TIME to get him back on his feet. AGAIN THE KEY WORD BEING TIME. As I have stated several times before these appointments are SCHEDULED YOU CAN'TJUST GET A LARGE ANIMAL VET AT THE DROP OF A HAT. As Jon stated there is a SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT FOR THE TEETH FLOATING. The fact that people like you are able to survive with out common sense amazes me.
Under weight horses often just need a worming, some good food and water. Check their hooves for trimming. Look at their teeth to see if they are alright. Getting a vet out is over-rated in most cases and expensive and not needed. Horses, like cats have strong constitutions and recover quickly when cared for properly. I say, Horrray to Ms Newsom for taking the time and effort to take care of this neglected horse.
ok let see not so smart girl1976 i have owend more land and livestock then you and your mommy and daddy,so it seem's to me to be the other way around you being the ignorant one's. i would bet a load of hay that the a.c officer was very nice to brenda and explaind the county and state code's to brenda!! every body get's mad at animal control because you think thay are telling you what to do with your animals she got the LAW!!!! expland to her .if the animal control didn't respond then you would be on here ripping placer sheriff and animal control for that. but when we had the fire i saw animal control helping evey person thay could and then some but you want to kick them lack of information is ignorant if you can't get emergency vet care WOW i can have a vet on my property in 5 hour's y can't brenda??? from the look's of the horse it is BAD. so pepole LIKE YOU SOULD NOT OWNE ANIMAL'S and if it's your mom who can't put down a sheep that has been mauled by a DOG or MTN LION with a 22 RIFLE you should NOT own livestock you mite what to let mom's know have a great day hater person
OldHorse: I'll take your bet on the load of hay. Will that be a trailer load of hay or just however much I can fit in my Silverado that I'll be taking from you? The officer was rude enough to have my mother in tears by the time he was finished.
L
Can someone explain how all these animals lived without humans in the wild? Sheep and horses in the wild need a vet? All wild animals need to be de-wormed on some kind of regular basis? I just lost 50 pounds and I am skin and bones....will my neighbors call the animal control on her for not feeding me a 1500 3 course meal three times a day? Should I stop running and losing weight....am I sickly?
Amimals need food and water and shelter...anything else is manmade.....and sometimes these chemicals we pump in them and on them... do more harm than good. Horses are insanely expensive....and based on the comments above they are in need of constant medical care from some very well paid vets...24 hours a day! Had to put a dog down recently and the price quoted was $250.00 to drive 10 minutes and drug the dog fpr me...really what planet do these people live on? What would nature have done before our arrival to take such good care of it.....
oldhorse: You have absolutely no basis in fact to make the assertion that the A.C officer was anything but rude. Perhaps you should change your moniker to oldhorses@$$.
LocalGirl 1976: thank you for your support. You are correct that the Animal Control Officer should not have handed his firearm over to a civilian either, I'm pretty sure that is against the rules for them.
JohnEads: Thank you as well, you bring up a very good point about our constitutional rights.
SteelyBob: You are totally correct. I wouldn't mind a bit if Animal Control came to check on my animals, so long as they were cordial about it. You are also correct in pointing out again that Rocky is in far better living arrangements than he was previously, and is being taken care of far better than he was before too.
MKDudet: Thank you for the rational thinking and support.
One last thing for OldHorse: You started hating and being rude much earlier than LocalGirl1976, so why is she a hater and you aren't?
The fact is this: yes we should have gotten a vet out to see Rocky sooner than we did. That said we were taking wonderful care of him, the vet said that there was no neglect on our part, and he is in far better conditions than he was before we took him in. This horse is not suffering by any definition of the word.
JonPNewson: I guess AC never learns. Directing horse owners on what to feed and not to feed is exactly what got them in a pile of manure a few years back with a load of abused horses they seized from a woman in Roseville. The first Officer went out and said to feed X, another Officer went out and told her to feed Y, another Officer went out and said everything was OK. Finally AC seized the whole lot of them and ended up caring for them for about 5 years. The entire case was so bungled the woman got all her horses back, in great condition compliments of the taxpayers; except for the ones that died at the shelter because the facility is abominable. The woman sued the County for violating her civil rights when they (County) didn’t provide her with a pre-seizure hearing, as required by law --- she won – more of our tax dollars spent for what?
Here’s a great page with a lot of information: http://www.animalplace.com/placercounty
I found the link to the one I referenced above at: http://www.animalplace.com/placercounty/Jackson_v_Placer_County.pdf
How about Animal Control, instituting a department policy where all AC’s are required to record encounters with the public? Maybe they could critique their approach and enhance their performance.
The Newsom lady was doing well enough but the animal control people have heard all the stories and excuses before. I have a neighbor with dogs that get loose and run in a pack and have killed several dogs and it is still hard to get taken care of as the animal control people have heard all the stories before and have to be very careful in their actions as this time the story may be true.
I wasn't present so I can't say with any degree of certainty what happened or who copped an attitude first.There really is no right or wrong answer on how to treat an undernourished horse. It takes time to put weight back on but a number of things must be done also. First is deworming, two are the hooves, of course, the horse must be fed daily. I can get my vet here very quickly in case of emergency, otherwise within a couple of days or less, depending on his work load.
I truly do not believe that an officer handed a civilian a gun to dispose of an animal, besides they do not carry .22 they usually have .357 Magnums-
The good thing is that Rocky is on his way to a full recovery and hopefully live the remainder of his life being well tended to.
One last thing. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, when I die I want to come back as one of our animals, they sure have it made.
We've only had one dealing with A. C. A neighbor, recently moved to our area from the City, knew nothing about horses and called A.C. because she didn't think the hay we used was good enough. A.C. came, we showed them the hay, we feed three way in the morning and grass in the evening, it is excellent hay, our horses have always looked very good, we have records of all the vet care they receive, inoculations, etc. The AC officer was at our place for maybe 15 minutes, checked the hay barn, it was full, checked the horses, they are in fine condition, we talked a little and he left. Personally at first I felt that I was being singled out by AC, once the ACO explained the reason for the visit my anger turned to the idiot that created an unnecessary problem, then it went away, they were doing the job they are entrusted to do which is to protect the animals.
I can only judge based on our experience with A.C. which is very limited
well sorry you fill that way but your wrong. your the one crying about it hey but i'am sure the horse is in a better place so that's is a good thing so happy trails oh one last thing for jonpnewsom you started hating frist but that ok.??? enjoy your horse;}
OldHorse: When did I start hating? Seems to me I started the loving when my family and I took Rocky in and started caring for him. Also what of the bet?
Loomis: Yes he did had his .22 to mother to shoot her sheep. This is a fact! That is why I feel so strongly about this. This AC Officer needs to be fired period. He would not wait for the vet to get there. Carrying a .357 (would knock you on your a$$ though my dad has one BIG GUN) or .22 I am not sure what the standard is but in mothers case there are witnees & dead sheep in the ground with a bullet in its head to prove it. I buried it ! One of mother's acquantences pulled the trigger because she could not. Our family has always done proper euthanasia. I know back in the day people used to shoot livestock we just feel it is kinda of brutal.
Oldhorse: you just need to shut your mouth all that comes out is filth! I doubt you have any clue what you are talking about. As far as my livestock experience I have been raising all forms of livestock since my dad brought home a herd of goats (nubians approx. 30) that were going to put down if they did not find a place to go that was when I was about 5 years old. They only thing you have on me is age (to bad for you) Let me give you the run down since you are so doubtful: Goats, sheep, horses, llamas, cows, chickens, cats, dogs, bunnies, what hey we'll through in the guinee pigs as well. No experience with pigs though. Does that disqualify me by your standards?
I think that about covers it! We had to do the work on the farm there was no boys in our family. I have pretty much seen it all when it comes to the farm from life to death.
Loomis: I am not versed in firearms so the caliber of the firearm maybe possiblely mistaken. I have only fired a 9mm (kinda fun)
My mother only recently purchase a shot gun to scare off the freaking coyotes that have taken the 5-mile radius around her property as home. Horriable little creatures they are. But the incident with the AC Officer did take place there was witness including a CHP that is an adjacent neighbor. It is not the AC Officer job to force people to choose a form of euthanasia, As long as the situation was handled.
Apologies for typos posting in a hurry.
LocalGirl, I just stated my opinion, I was not calling anyone a liar or putting anyone down. We've only dealt with AC once and it was not a bad experience. I don't think that one incident qualifies me as an expert on the matter. The only thing I know for sure is that whenever our incident took place I did ask the AC Officer what caliber gun they carried and he said it was a 357 Magnum. By the way, my wife who is 5' tall and on a good day may weight 100 pounds is very good with a 357, it doesn't kick that much. A .22 would be a poor excuse for a sidearm, specially when dealing with critter like bears, mountain lions and some people.
Have a good one.
Loomis: Maybe the overall conclusion is this officer needs some courses on how to deal with the people factor of his job. Learn how to spot the bad guys from the good guys.
There is no easy way for law enforcement to approach a situation. A cold call is quite ackward and can easily provoke someone who feels that they are treating their animals well. Newsom's incredulousness is probably a normal reaction. She has since called a vet so everything is OK. I say give th ACO a break, they have a tough job.
BTW, an ACO came out to our old ranch in response to a skunk and possum fight. His revolver was loaded with snake shot and he shot the skunk several times while it was on the end of his pole's loop. That didn't work and he yelled several times for my wife to get his rifle out of his truck. She didn't want to touch the gun and was too afraid to get near the scene of the fight. The skunk escaped and attacked my neighbors dogs and they killed it. It was rabid but the dogs survived and after awhile in quarantined they got to come home.
My wife knew that a skunk in the daytime is usually rabid. It went into an out building and found the possum. That was when the fight started. The possum lost the fight and the officer eventually got around to putting it out of his misery.
This story was the talk of my neighborhood.
Did the AJ just remove a comment?
ChuxxR: It wouldn't surprise me.
ChuxxR: You’ve got to be kidding me. The Animal Control Officer asked your wife to “get his rifle out of his truck”? Is PC Risk Management reading this? If not, someone should send these comments their direction. There are now two posts here that seem to be gross negligence for handling situations that involve the use of weapons by Animal Control Officers.
PC ACO’s use to carry sidearms but sometime around 2001 management stared pushing to disarm them. After years of confrontation between management and the ACO’s, management won – who would have guessed :-. Of course, it’s not management in the field encountering these issues; they’re back in their air conditioned office trying to sort out the latest employee grievance. Long story short, sidearms were replaced with .22 gauge automatic rifles in 2007. I hear these weapons are prone to jamming and as in your case, not readily available when needed.
As your situation played out, these ‘tools’ should be easily accessible when humanely dispatching a rabid or injured animal. Safety for the officer and the public should be first and foremost.
While I agree with canis_lupis in that the department of Animal Control should record all encounters with public, I would also suggest that if the County won’t provide ACO’s with the proper tools to do their job, effectively, efficiently and safely then they (ACO’s) should in every situation call for Sheriff’s backup to assist. I think it …
I am one of local girl's sisters and am the one who spoke with Mike Winters regarding his officer's conduct with regard to coming onto private property and forcing her to shoot an animal with HIS gun. In the 30+ years of having livestock, we have never had such a poor experience with Animal Control.
As for our incident, we called out a private tracker and Fish and Game as we believed this attack was a mountain lion- the first for us. The corpse had to be dug back up for them to investigate. After the HORRIBLE behavior of the AC officer, I think the LEAST my momdeserved was an apology fromthe department- SHE NEVER RECEIVED ONE even after Mike Winters lied to me and said he had spoken with her! She was NEVER contacted from the department regarding the complaint. She also was in tears from the officer yelling at her. I thnik this guy likes to harass older women who are alone on rural property. Is anyone else seeing the pattern emerging that I am???
Many have commented negatively about how this woman should have contacted the vet as soon as she got the horse. As my sister stated, it was not an emergency and vets usually SCHEDULE appointments. Rescue animals need time to bond and get familiar with their new surroundings. Anyone who takes in a rescue understands this. I applaud this woman for not only taking in the horse, but for getting the media involved, something we did not do.
I think it....... would be better than requesting citizen assistance.
wd2000: Could your mother describe the officer or does she have his name?
I believe the officers name was R. A. Stout.
local girls sister your family WOW YOU GUY'S are to much. and you own livestock what a sham for THEM? if you are your smart sister. or your mom can't dispach a mauled animal your self ? then you and your famliy should NOT THAT'S RIGHT NOT OWN ANY LIVESTOCK.. WAITING FOR A APPOiNTMENT TO EUTHANIZED A MAULED ANIMAL IS NOT PROPER EUTH. SHAM ON YOU AND YOUR FAMLIY IF AN A.C.O. OFFERED TO LET ME Use HIS GUN TO DISPATCH MY? MY? MAULED SHEEP SINCE AC.O'S CANT SHOOT YOUR LIVESTOCK FOR YOU. WOW THE COMPASSION HE MUST OF HAD. FOR YOUR FAMLIY AND THE MAULED ANIMAL BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE any COMPASSION that show's SHAM ON YOUR MOM AND YOUR SISTER. i hope p.c.risk mangement is looing at it because i looked at it and found that localgirl has posted before on other animal control issues that do not have ANYthing to do whith this issue she hate's animal control just check it out for your self she is on the auburn journal and placer harold. hater. and since we are name droping and you don't know if it is even him how about your name and address so we can all come by and see how your animal's look ?let all go by your mom's house and look at the mould sheep for a day or two before you get your vet out to put it down. sham on you agian. remember compassion??? OH wd2000 your sister don't know crap about horses nor do you that is obvious and would you like to say y the aco was called to your mom's house ? i bet a mauled sheep some one called on you for letting it SUFFER? SHAM SHAM ........
TO ANIMAL CONTROL I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR THE JOB THAT YOU DO EVERY DAY .I KNOW IN THIS …
I had a bad experience with the animal control officer "Joe Spera" he happened to notice an injured sheep on my property and ordered my wife to call a vet asap. His behavior was as if we dont care about our animals. We love our animals and take great care of them. Accidents do happen though. He drove right through my gates and was not helpful. His overall attitude was very unprofessional. I eneded up putting the ram down, and he shows up with the sherriff and tells me that i cant bury it and that i have to wait till monday (it was friday afternoon) to have a rendering facility take the animal, meanwhile i have to have a bloated, smelly fly infested dead ram laying around for almost three days. He told me I have to prevent coyotes or vultures from getting to it. It would have been much better if this guy approached us with a helpful attitude instead of a presumption of guilt and purposly being difficult. This guy was a jerk!
John Eads in an earlier post was dead on "Officers need to come to your home with a humble attitude, assuming that you are acting legally. We don't need our government harassing us on our own property. Frankly, I think that these officers are more of a threat to the common person than The problem with the Placer County Sheriff's Department and the Animal Control Services is that they have lost any that they might have had for the rights of property owners."
Animal control officers are PUBLIC SERVANTS payed with our tax dollars, the least they can do is
first act professional and
second be as helpful as they can
dont assume guilt, dont be pushy and go onto private property without reasonable cause
They do perform a valuable service when performed properly, but these guys are overstepping thier bounds
this country is slowly taking away all of our personal freedoms and these guys need to be aware of that
oldhorse You seem to be in the know. you wrote: "AC.O'S CANT SHOOT YOUR LIVESTOCK FOR YOU". Why not? Aren't they suppose to prevent abuse/neglect/suffering? Why when a person brings in their old sick dog to the shelter, can it be euthanized? What's the difference? Aren't they trained? Why not? My next question is: Two ACO's were named here. How many ACO's are at the Auburn shelter? Four or five?
dano1001 I would think the ACO would have some sort of reasonable cause in the sense of an eyewitness complaint or a visual sighting. I doubt they just go door-to-door.
I'm still waiting for Mike Winters to tell us how many of those "7,000 calls regarding animal abuse" every year result in prosecution? oldhorse, could you find this out?
no all i know is about 5 or 6 year's ago my neighbor's's dog's got on my prop' and mauled one of my goats thank's neighbor but some one called on the goat WOW ? THE OFFICER THAT CAME OUT HIS NAME WAS STEVE or somethig like that he was the nices't guy you ever wanted to meet HE INFORMED ME THAT HE COULD NOT SHOOT MY LIVESTOCK that it was" COUNTY POLICY" AND HE DID NOT OFFER ME HIS GUN?? LIKE SOME PEP'S WE KNOW he did tell me that i could call a emergency vet since THE GOAT WAS SUFFERING. i got my 22 cal. and dispatched the goat. and the aco help me the hole time. and you all do knowthat placer county go's from elverta by rio linda to lake tahoe WOW and for the question you asked i don't know mike winter's but i can answer 4 or 5 officer's 7'000 call rio linda to lake tahoe WOW NO BRAINER dano1001 all you have to do is think for your self?????????? so i say again thank you animal control and steve??and mike wiinters and r.a. stout and joe sper and all of you for the job that you do..................
oldhorse, what happened to your neighbor's dog for killing your goat? That's awful, I mean, what did 'steve' do about it? Wouldn't the dog be considered potentially dangerous? Did your neighbor pay you for your loss? What did you do with the goat carcass? Did steve say you could bury it?
well it was a long time ago but i think the officer talked to my neighbor so my neighber came by and payed me for the goat we became friand's and had a bar-bQ the goat was good so that's y i like officer shwan or steve-o or what ever his name is p.s old new's now move on i did ...geewizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Whoa, I hate to beat an oldhorse and I know 'time fly's" but steve has been with animal control for two years, not 5 or 6. And, you are obviously ignorant of the things that are easy to verify. You bar-b-q'd the goat and became friends with your neighbor because he paid you for damages? Come on. If you ask me, I think you're comments are nothing short of you talking out of your blow-hole. You're right, time to move on to a discussion with credible participation.
whoa canis pukus let me tell you right NOW your NOT MAN ENUFF to beat this old horse and i don't think i'am the ignorant one if you can read right pucus. i stated i DO NOT remember his name i said i think ? so pucus how is that ignorant? now lets all move on OH pucus stay off the dope you sound stupid
oldhorse has it's dander up.
Alright. The main thing I have to say is that everyone here should be mature enough to be polite on this comment section. I am sorry if I offend anyone by saying so on this public forum. That said, my mother called Mr. Winters several days ago requesting that a copy of the report be sent to her. That day, Mr. Winters said that the report was on his desk and that he would have a copy sent either that afternoon or the next morning. THis occurred five dyas ago and we have not yet recieved a copy of the report. I do not necessarily displike Placer County Animal Control, yes they do provide a necessary service. That said they should provide a better account of what they do, what is accused of the persons they investigate, and they should in every instance be more courteous when dealing with accused persons, whether they are or are not (in our case are not) guilty of neglecting the well being of an animal. We took Rocky in from a shelter, we are treating him like a prince, and he is doing quite well. That said I would like to see a copy of the report from PCAS (Placer County Animal Services)... especially when my mother requested one five days ago, and we have yet to recieve a copy...
Wellllllllllllllllllllllllll? So, here it is the 26th of June. Any report yet?
We did get one a couple of days ago, yes. The report was... interesting... We also recieved a letter from Mike Winters about the whole situation. We'll see what happens from there.