YIPPEE!!! Another animal seizure DISMISSED!!!
Prosecutors Drop Animal Cruelty Charges Against Olalla Couple…YIPPEE!!!
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/feb/17/animal-cruelty-charges-against-olalla-couple/#ixzz1n50RZRjM
By Amy Phan
Posted February 17, 2012 at 3:28 p.m., updated February 17, 2012 at 6:16 p.m.
PORT ORCHARD — Kitsap County prosecutors have dropped animal cruelty charges against an Olalla couple whose property was raided by animal enforcement officers last fall, according to defense attorneys.
Simon Bailey and Rosalind Yorba-Bailey were charged with second-degree animal cruelty for allegedly neglecting 173 animals they kept on their nearly 5-acre property.
The couple’s lawyer, Steve King, said he did not know the reasoning behind the decision.
Officials in the Kitsap County Prosecutor’s Office did not return several phone calls seeking comment.
Eric Stevens, appointed this week as interim director of the Kitsap Humane Society, said he didn’t know enough about the case to comment. Other officials with the Kitsap County Humane Society, which organized the seizure of the animals in November, didn’t return phone calls.
At the time of the raid, humane society staff claimed the couple did not provide enough water or sanitary living conditions.
Officials found a dead cow during the seizure and believed it may have died of starvation.
The couple later said the cow died because it ate too much. They alleged that shelter staff recommended they leave food out at all times for the animal, despite objections from Bailey.
Shelter staff said they had been working with the couple since April 2011 to provide adequate care for the animals but decided to take the animals after they couldn’t meet the requirements.
On Friday, Yorba-Bailey said she was relieved that the charges were dropped. Since the seizure, she said, the couple has received threatening anonymous phone calls.
“I’m very happy it’s over. This was not right in the first place,” Yorba-Bailey said. “I’m happy something good came out of this. I don’t know what they thought they were doing. I don’t wish this upon anybody.”
The couple has been trying to recover their animals in court since the seizure, according to Paul Richmond, the lawyer who filed the recovery petition on behalf of the couple.
It’s unlikely the animals will be returned, Richmond said, since most have been adopted out or spayed or neutered.
The couple may seek monetary compensation, he said.
When the case became news, supporters from across the state rallied to the couple’s cause. Supporters believed the couple had been denied due process and feared the case could set a precedent.
“It seemed like there were some huge violations of due process and I’m glad to see prosecutors doing the right thing. This case shouldn’t have ever been brought,” Richmond said.
“This would have been a nightmare case for the prosecutors and it was the smart thing for them to back off.”
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Hummmm…Will the Kitsap Humane Society go down for this or the county?!? -”This would be a nightmare for the prosecutors and it was a smart thing for them to back off.” -HELLO!!! Due process was already denied…the nightmare for them began when they seized those animals!!! I’d think they better kiss the Bailey’s butts!!!
A humane society is supposed to be for the welfare of animals…not seeking large yearly fees or search for animal cruelty cases…Educational programs prevent cruelty cases and apparently this humane society was way over their heads!!!
Best to the Baileys!!! I am so sorry you had to go thru THIS!!! I hope that the community comes out to help you!!! You did nothing wrong…THEY DID!!!
Stay tuned…follow this blog BEST -B
**Disclaimer in place for this blog, said in my opinion and reporting the news
Unfortunately, city born raised & educated people are in the H$U$ & they don’t understand the concept of monitoring how much feed your animal has access to. There are many animals who will eat themselves to death if given the chance. Just as we humans can not be healthy if we have food available all the time & eat all the time, animals aren’t healthy for the same reason. I’m glad the courts saw through the made up implications against the Baily’s.
Their animals should never have been adopted or altered.They were evidence in a case. But adopting/ altering the animals, the H$U$ destroyed evidence and need to be ready to pay for what they have done.
I feel that the Bailys deserve full finacial value of their animals plus the additional value these animals would have brought them. There was no reason to adopt/ alter any of these animals until all court cases involving them were over. Just because you are charged does not mean guilt nor does it equate to the loss of any property, living or not. So not a single animal should have left the humane society’s control or unless it was a life/ death emergency, been altered.(and that better be verified by a vet of the Baily’s choice)
The HSUS needs to learn proper proceedures if they are going to keep doing these raids. You don’t willy nilly pass out evidence nor do you do anything to surgically & permantly alter an animal i.e. evidence. They seem to be too cocky that they will win & won’t be held accountable. They need to start being accountable. How about IF they do a raid where there is a large number of animals involved & they have to “foster” them during all of the legal proceedures, the HSUS & the foster both put up a cash bond for the full value of the animal & the animal’s future potential earnings. That bond to be returned to them only after the animal, in good, unhealthy, unaltered is returned to the owners or if the owners are found guilty, after they have exhausted all of their appeals. But the HSUS must be made financially responsible for their actions.
*OOPS* Slight spelling era above. It should read “That bond to be returned to them only after the animal, in good, healthy, unaltered is returned to the owners…….. Sorry about any misconceptions this might have caused.
one issue I noticed is that the article admitted the seizure was “organized” by the humane society, they are not the ones with standing to initiate a case its the state v the other party, not parties with a agenda that look to gain , boy I hope they sue for the millions they deserve IMO.