#DaisyUpdate #Voice4theVoiceless Thank you all for your patience. We know its been difficult to not get an update right away but, as most of you have heard, Daisy was turned over to the Spindles after court yesterday. This has been an exhausting rescue and an even more emotionally draining legal defense. We have experienced a variety of emotions over the past 24+ hours and we appreciate that you, the public, have been understanding about our need to process whats happened prior to making a public response. While we are thankful for there to be an end to this legal struggle, we are not at all pleased with the decision to return Daisy to the care, or as the case may be, lack there of, the Spindles. The Spindle family put on a fine show for the courts, crying without tears and feigning relief that their loved pet would be returned to them before Christmas. We have no doubt that she was returned to her chained existence, outside, with no protection from the cold and rain. And thats if she is kept alive at all, given the stories weve been told about Mr. Spindle shooting dogs that wont hunt and leaving them to decompose where they dropped. While we acknowledge and respect the laws of property in the Commonwealth, the information we had before us as of September 26th, when Daisy was rescued from Belle Plains road, and up until the point that the DNA test results came back, did not prove that the Spindles were the owners. Rather than blindly place an intact female into the hands of puppy mill operators just on their word, we did what people in our community expect of us, as an SPCA, and we followed what our hearts said was the moral and ethical thing to do for the dog.... we represented her interest and we gave her a voice. Our protocol for identifying what is a rightful, legal owner is more involved and more practical than the raising of hands required by the government agency in charge of determining proper ownership. On that note, we believe our higher standards are justified, required and appreciated by the rightful owners that may have their property illegally claimed by someone willing to lie to obtain a dog they want. We respect the decision made by Judge Strictland and we appreciate his comments at the December 11th hearing, in which he acknowledged that we, as an SPCA, have a role in this community and that we have filled that role within our community. Unfortunately, this is not an opinion shared by Eric Olsen, Commonwealth Attorney. Were not really clear on what Olsen thinks our role is but he is adamant that it does not involve any legal rights to an animal in our care. We disagree on the basis that, in order to facilitate and adoption to a forever family and make that transfer of ownership, the rescue organization must, first, have legal ownership of the property. Common sense dictates that you cannot give or transfer that which you do not possess. The first part of the hearing yesterday resolved the ownership issues and Daisy was ordered to be returned to the Spindles. The second part of the hearing yesterday was to address the criminal abuse/neglect issues raised by us, against the Spindles. The abuse/neglect case had no case number and was not officially listed on the docket, which was not at all what wed been led to believe by Olsens comments with the Judge and our attorney, Jason Pelt, last Friday. In a creative, legal maneuver, Eric Olsen invited the Spindles up to the defense table and proceeded to make his case that, based on the SPCAs involvement in Daisys rescue and rehabilitation, any opportunity for Animal Control to investigate neglect charges was circumvented and any evidence to the reported condition of the dog was undone because of our involvement. Because of the Fifth Amendment, Double Jeopardy clause, the Spindles cannot be charged, tried or convicted of any criminal neglect, as it pertains to Daisy, using evidence from this point and backwards. However, this does not absolve them of charges pertaining to their other dogs in future complaints. So.... in short, the backyard breeders get Daisy because shes strictly property. The SPCA is denied reimbursement for any funds spent to make the dog whole and healthy, in an effort to undue the damage and negligence on the Spindles part and our involvement in her care is used at the sole reason to not investigate or prosecute the negligent puppy mill operators. Television news has shown Allisons (foster moms) video of Daisy enjoying her time playing with Allisons other dogs, comfy and warm as a loved family in her foster home, as the narration discusses that Daisy was returned to the Spindle family, giving the indication that we, as an SPCA, were denying a loving family access to their happy and healthy pet. All photos and video were provided by our staff to show the foster home environment that Daisy was enjoying and to document the miraculous change in her as she went from being a scared and timid dog to a well-loved, appreciated and valued member of the family. Daisy was returned to a chained existence as a yard ornament, as shown in the picture below, taken on the Spindles property.... but thats if they allow her to live at all. We are deeply saddened by the outcome and we are beyond exhausted, frustrated and disheartened. After this post, we will be taking a short hiatus to focus on our family, the holidays and try to salvage a Christmas with our kids and our animals. We will monitor the page for hateful comments and delete and ban immediately but we will not be responding.. We also wont be responding to emails or calls until after December 25th and we hope that you all will understand, forgive us and allow us some time to process and heal. Above all, we thank you for your support and for believing in us and our mission. We appreciate, beyond words, our friends and supporters that were with us for the hearings and also to those that offered prayers when they couldnt be with us physically. Even in this, the worst case scenario, an awareness has been raised in Stafford County. A call to action has been heard and acknowledged by the animal loving, compassionate, good-hearted people in this, and surrounding counties. You will have your opportunity to be heard and we have no doubt that you will exercise your rights and bring about a positive change in our community.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 01:00:14 +0000
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