Animal Writings

Photo: SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness)

Photo: SHARK (SHowing Animals Respect and Kindness)

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On June 1, 2006 Phoenix received a baby carrot, extra cilantro and parsley and lots of kisses to celebrate his eight month "anniversary" of surviving an almost fatal act of animal abuse and torture. Phoenix endured second and third degree burns, and lived through having both his ears torched and fall off. His recovery has been nothing short of a miracle.

On October 1, 2005, Phoenix was soaked in lighter fluid, forcibly restrained and set on fire by a teenage boy in Vallejo. Neighbors heard Phoenix screaming in pain, but he was not found by Animal Control until the next day. Phoenix was rushed to Benicia Humane Society and then to SaveABunny for emergency veterinary care.

Placing Phoenix up for adoption is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make in all the years I've been doing rabbit rescue. The abuse and trauma he endured was so severe that both his physical and psychological healing process has been a long process—for both of us. He and I connected deeply, and since he needed to relearn that not all humans are cruel he learned much of that from being with me. Phoenix watches TV with my husband Rob and me, plays and dances in my office while I work, and snuggles into a cushy mat in his rabbit home.

Phoenix is welcome to stay here forever if he chooses, or if the right home does not come along. However, because of the large scale rescue work we do of hundreds of rabbits each year—some needing extensive medical care, I believe that the most loving act I could do for Phoenix is to find him a home of his own. The ideal home for Phoenix would be where he is the only rabbit, since his injuries left him reactive to slight movements and sound. He will be allowed to pick his new guardian, so anyone interested in adopting him must visit him here. Phoenix is a strong-willed bunny with definite preferences—and so am I!

By Eileen McAfee

During the course of litigation, it was clear that the Pound Manager and others perjured themselves. The Pound Manager was removed from her job. More eyewitnesses came forward.

Romanello was removed from oversight of the pound. He eventually left his employment with the City, as did the rest of the clique.

At the end of the Pound Manager's four-hour Motion for Sanctions Hearing for Perjury, Obstruction of Justice and Witness Tampering, Federal Judge Richard Williams referred my case for settlement.

From the outset almost two years earlier, we had made it perfectly clear to the City exactly what I wanted. My demands were:

1. An end to the harassment of me and my fellow rescuers by the Pound Manager and Romanello


2. An apology (not a public one, just a private one).


3. A change in pound Management


4. An advisory board to oversee operation of the pound, and a seat on the board


5. Reimbursement of my legal expenses and not a penny more. If a jury awarded me more than my expenses, the additional amount would be donated to charity.

The City offered me:

1. A "commendation" instead of an apology, to be presented to me at a public, televised, city council meeting. I accepted.


2. A change in pound management. I accepted.


3. Creation of an advisory board, but not a seat on it because I was not a city resident. I accepted.


4. $80,000. (At the time, my expenses were $100,000. We countered that if the City gave us $100K, we would donate $50K back to a charitable program the City told us they had set up. City Manager Calvin Jamison countered again with $80K and out of that he requested we still donate $50K to their charitable organization. Before a financial agreement could be reached, the City dropped a bombshell on us:


5. Drop all perjury and other charges against the Pound Manager. We refused.

After all the City had put us through with false affidavits, hidden documents, perjured testimony, witness tampering (and this report doesn't contain everything done by them to thwart justice and harm animals), this demand was the final straw for us. That no one was going to be held accountable for any of these actions was completely unacceptable to us. The principle was far more important to us than the money. A jury trial date had already been set and we decided to proceed with our right to have "our day in court"...or so we thought.

Before the trial date, however, defense attorneys John Gibney and William Broaddus filed a Motion for Qualified Immunity with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals asking that the Pound Manager and Romanello be given immunity because they were government employees, unaware they had done anything wrong, and therefore, not subject to suit.

Their request was heard by Fourth Circuit Judges Wilkinson, Niemeyer and Beezer. Attorney John Gibney blatantly lied to the court. Among many other things, he misled them to believe that other than having me removed from the pound "on three occasions for being rude and disruptive", the Pound Manager had never, ever done anything else to limit my coming to the pound. Mr. Broaddus did nothing to correct the record.

As we left the courtroom, I told Mr. Gibney, "You just lied to this court." He said nothing, but appeared very nervous and not his usual cocky self. Mr. Broaddus, however, smiled at me and my husband—not a friendly, pleasant smile, but a big, taunting, Cheshire-cat smile. He was gloating and pleased at the performance he had just witnessed. He thought it was funny and he was proud of Mr. Gibney lying to the court.

My attorney repeatedly attempted, in writing, to make Gibney correct his "misstatements" to the Court. Gibney refused. Letters from my attorney to the Fourth Circuit Court informing them of Gibney's lies received no response.


Two months later, Judges Wilkinson and Niemeyer granted the Pound Manager and Romanello Qualified Immunity.^* They literally applied the law to lies. (^*Qualified immunity doesn't mean the Pound Manager and Romanello did no wrong, only that they could not be sued.)

Judge Beezer dissented. He denied that the Pound Manager and Romanello were entitled to qualified immunity and upheld Judge Williams' ruling that the case should go to trial. He wrote:


The full text of the Fourth Circuit's Opinion can be seen at: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/992361.U.pdf.

With new attorneys from Virginia Beach, we requested a re-hearing en banc of the entire Court of Appeals judges. We were not successful in our request. Why? Some opined that since the original case was heard by a panel that included Chief Judge Wilkinson, the other judges were reluctant to overrule any decision made by him.


The City hired the HSUS, the leading experts in pound/shelter management, to evaluate the pound. In their comprehensive report to the City, they documented over 200 violations of Virginia's animal welfare laws during their three-day presence.

1. An experienced pound manager now operates the pound. The animals and the employees benefit.


2. An experienced kennel manager oversees care of the animals.


3. The fired veterinarian was re-hired. She has full access to the animals' records.


4. Animals are treated and euthanized humanely.


5. Rescuers returned and employees are helpful to them; animals' lives and taxpayer dollars are saved.


6. No one has ever again been banned or had the police called on them with false accusations. No employees have ever again been falsely accused of theft, or the catch-all phrase "insubordination".


7. High employee turnover has stopped.


8. All pound animals are sterilized prior to an adopter taking possession of the animal.


9. I'm happy for..."Not Stopping".

My husband and I spent $175,000 of our own money. The City spent $350,000 of taxpayers' money over something that never had to go to court in the first place. As for our spending so much money and two years of our lives in contentious and frustrating litigation, my husband put it all in perspective for me with this question: "If someone told you it would cost $175,000 to fix the City of Richmond Pound, would you do it?" I said "Yes." "Well then, it's money well spent", he said. "We may have lost a battle, but we won the war!"




Richmond Magazine named both "Save Our Shelter" (the group I belonged to) and its president a "Capitol Standout." The Governor's wife hosted us with a reception at the Governor's mansion.

By Eileen McAfee

• When State Veterinarian Inspector Robert Puryear attempted to inspect the pound, the Pound Manager denied him admittance to the kennels. She took offense to his questioning her refusal and filed a harassment complaint against him.


• On another occasion, Puryear was forced to wait 45 minutes in the lobby while, according to caring staff, the Pound Manager ordered them to "get rid of evidence of non-compliance."


• In yet another incident, Puryear, responding to a complaint from me, ordered the Pound Manager to remove a mother dog and her puppies to a larger cage than the one they were in because it was a serious violation of space requirements under Virginia's Animal Welfare Laws. The Pound Manager refused. During the night, the mother dog accidentally suffocated her puppies.


• In regard to a ruling by Judge Rupe in opposition to a case brought by the Pound Manager against a citizen for animal neglect, the Pound Manager stated to employees at the pound: "Judge Rupe has his own opinion and his opinion doesn't mean crap to me!"

Despite all efforts to get rid of us, we simply worked around all the restrictions placed on us. We remained committed to the animals, through adoption, and to the caring employees who were also bullied and abused by the Pound Manager and Anthony Romanello.

Then the City really started playing dirty, deciding to "pick us off" one by one. I got to be first.

• After taking a picture of the drain into which three newborn puppies had fallen and drowned, I was falsely accused by the Pound Manager of "setting up a false scene to photograph as true; removing a drain screen and leaving the facility without replacing it."
  
  FACT: I took pictures of reality:
  
  
  1. The drain as I found it (covered with a flimsy screen easily moved by newborns squirming along in the troughs after they routinely fell out of their cages),
  
  
  2. A picture of the screen in my (identifiable) hand showing the open drain and how easily the screen could be removed, and
  
  
  3. The screen replaced over the drain.
  
  In addition, there were four witnesses present, three of whom were pound staff and gave me permission to take the photos. They also subsequently verified in a tape recording to witnessing my photography step-by-step. I sent the photos to City management along with a letter describing the hazard when small animals easily pushed the flimsy screen off the open drain and asked that the original heavy metal, bolted-down grates—which had been removed by the Pound Manager to facilitate cleaning—be replaced to prevent more drownings. I signed the letter.


• Without ever telephoning me to voice any concern and/or asking me to meet with City officials, Anthony Romanello faxed me a letter accusing me of racism^* and informing me I would be accompanied by a guard "at all times when at the pound". He sent copies of the letter to the Governor, the City Attorney, City Council Members, and the Richmond Times Dispatch.
  
  (^*Note: Romanello and the Pound Manager are white, as am I.)


• Romanello also attached a cover sheet to his letter instructing the Pound Manager to "immediately distribute (his letter) to all pound staff". His letter not only maliciously and falsely accused me of racism, but included my home address (which was not listed in the phone directory). His instructions meant that the letter was also to be given to the prison laborers, some of whom were Black and may have believed me to be a racist. This jeopardized my safety. (During litigation Romanello hid this cover sheet from us, assuming or hoping that I still did not have the one he faxed me.)


• Within 24 hours (and continuing for fourteen very long months), our home and cars were vandalized and we were subjected to late night phone calls and prowlers. My County Police Intelligence Unit became involved in helping us, though no one was ever apprehended.

I was unable to find any large, local law firm to represent me in a defamation lawsuit against the City, as they all did "a little work for the City". (This is how localities prevent citizens from suing them). I finally found a solo practitioner who employed a part-time attorney and two office staff. (The City hired twelve attorneys, numerous paralegals and an endless supply of support staff to defend the Pound Manager and Romanello.)

• Through an attorney, I asked for an apology for portraying me as a racist and as dishonest for having "set up a false scene to photograph as true." I did not ask for a public apology, just a private one. After City Attorney John Rupp ignored my attorney's letter, we filed a defamation lawsuit in State Court.


• Within hours of being served with my State lawsuit, the Pound Manager and Romanello suspended my and my group's "adoption privileges" with the false accusation that we did not have the animals rescued by us sterilized.


• Proof of sterilization records were faxed to Romanello. He refused to accept them because "some were blurry." (When hand-delivered to him, he had no choice but to reinstate our "privileges.") Note: None of the animals adopted out by the pound itself were ever sterilized prior to adoption.


• The following day, I was prohibited from entering the pound by one of the "clique" as soon as I opened the front door, with the words: "Ms. McAfee, you're not allowed in the facility any more." When I asked why, he replied: "You'll have to speak to [the Pound Manager], but she's not available." I immediately left. Unbeknownst to the speaker, I was tape recording this conversation (legal in Virginia as long as I was a party to the conversation). After I was falsely accused of "racism", I always wore a tape recorder for protection.


• The City Attorney refused my attorney's request to lift the ban, stating I was "in the kennel area being loud, argumentative and disruptive" and had to be "removed." (Note: To have even been in the kennel area, I would have had to sign in and a security guard would have had to unlock three doors for me.) We then filed a First Amendment lawsuit in Federal Court.
  
  Eventually, I was allowed back in the pound but during my second visit, my husband, who accompanied me, and I were ordered out—falsely accused of interfering with City business and trespassing, and the police were called. (See above.)


• Our Process Server attempted service on one of the "clique" in the pound's parking lot, but he rolled up his window. The Server then placed the summons on his windshield. The recipient tried to run the Server over with his vehicle; crumpled up the summons and threw it at the Server. (Our Process Server signed an affidavit to these events.) The police were called and misled to believe that "someone" was in the parking lot "trespassing and littering". When the police arrived and learned the truth—that a Process Server was simply trying to do his job— they expressed anger at the recipient of the summons. The recipient responded: "We're all City employees and we need to stick together." The recipient then filed a complaint against the police. (When the Pound Manager was served, she too crumbled up the summons, threw it on the ground, and ran into the pound. When asked, in her deposition, if she was upset at being served, she stated, "No! Not at all!")


• The City Attorney's office knowingly filed false affidavits. When this was discovered, they were prohibited from continuing to represent the defendants. This forced the City to hire outside counsel: Ruben, Shufford & Gibney for the Pound Manager, and McGuire, Woods for Anthony Romanello. (Coincidentally, all the incidents of harassment we were experiencing at our home immediately ceased.)


• Before entering her deposition, the Pound Manager was overheard advising Assistant City Manager Connie Bawcum: "I think it's best if we all just say we 'can't remember'". (This was testified to in the Pound Manager's subsequent Motion for Sanctions Hearing for Perjury, Witness Tampering and Obstruction of Justice in Federal Court and reported in the media.)


• The Pinkerton guard, who was present in the lobby when I was prohibited from entering the pound, perjured herself in her first deposition by stating she had not made an Incident Report of this event and had not given the Pound Manager a copy of any report.


• As a reward for her perjured testimony, the guard was hired three days later as an animal control officer (ACO) and sent to a meeting in Orlando, Florida in the middle of winter over more senior officers. Claiming she received "an inheritance from her grandmother", her formerly completely disabled car was repaired and painted. She also no longer needed a roommate to help pay the rent on her apartment and rented one on her own.


• Months later, in a moment of weakness or conscience, she told ACO Robert Prine to: "tell Mrs. McAfee I did file a report and to get it from Pinkerton." She also told Prine she was not sure how she would testify in her second deposition. (Her second deposition was little more than "I don't remember anything".) Her Incident Report, which we ultimately received, verified my version of events as well as my tape recording of the event—that I was banned from the pound as soon as I opened the door and not because I was "loud, argumentative and disruptive"—and also verified she had given a copy of it to the Pound Manager. (When the Pound Manager learned Prine had spoken to me, she fired him for "insubordination".)


• The guard perjured herself again in Federal Court to Judge Richard Williams' question: "When were you hired as an ACO?" She stated it was "three days before (her) first deposition." (Subpoenaed personnel records verified it was three days after her first deposition and that she was hired over three more qualified candidates.)


• In regard to her Incident Report, hidden from us for eleven months, Judge Williams called it: "The classic smoking gun! The City knew they had it and they deep-sixed it!" (Reported in the media as "Judge finds smoking gun in McAfee lawsuit against the City".)


• The City intentionally dragged out both our State and Federal lawsuits over two years in an effort to make us drop them. The Pound Manager bragged to employees at the pound: "The City will take this to the end; they will break the McAfees financially and emotionally." They attempted to do this by refusing to provide us with requested documents during the "discovery" phase of litigation and/or providing us with the wrong ones. This forced us to file subpoenas, which they responded to with Motions to Quash our subpoenas, which forced us into a court hearings. Our legal expenses rose by the hour.

The City repeatedly attempted to have my lawsuits dismissed. They lost these attempts in both State and Federal Court and a trial date was set for the Federal case.

The City tried to have me declared a "public figure" because of my appearance on the TV show "Paws for Pets" and argued that as a "public figure" people had a right to criticize me without being sued for defamation. (This attempt also failed.)

Their Motions to Quash records always resulted in their being ordered to give them to us.

The Pound Manager stated two citizens visiting the pound gave her a signed note that I had "acted in a racist manner toward (them)." These "phantom" citizens were never produced by the defense nor were their affidavits, so they could not be deposed. Their "note" was also never produced.

No videotape from the surveillance system was ever presented by the defense showing me entering the pound, signing in, going into the kennels and being "loud, argumentative and disruptive". No "sign in" sheet with my signature was presented. No videotape was ever presented showing me doing any of the things I was accused of doing. The incriminating videotape was destroyed because it would have verified I was denied admission as soon as I opened the door and proved their accusations about my behavior were lies.

During their depositions, none of the defendants nor their clique could remember who I was supposedly arguing with, what was said, nor what it was about. During her deposition, the Pound Manager perjured herself by insisting I was never barred from entering the pound and that I had to be removed because of my disruptive behavior. My attorney then asked her, "If a tape recording existed that could prove none of what you're saying is true, would it change your statements?" The Pound Manager responded: "No!" The tape was then entered as evidence.

Defense Attorneys John Gibney and William Broaddus behaved in a disgraceful and unprofessional manner. In deposition, Broaddus threw papers across the table at me, raised his voice and banged his fist on the table. (The papers were letters I had written to the City Manager asking for help with the pound problems. Hoping for a response, I included my name, address and phone number. Broaddus' argument: "Why shouldn't Romanello have given out your address when you gave it out yourself?" Broaddus' tirades brought me to tears and put me into cardiac arrhythmias. (Staff reported that the Pound Manager returned to the pound laughing and mimicking me crying.) Amazingly, the following day Broaddus quietly apologized to me during a break in deposition and said his daughter also suffered from arrhythmias. I was mistaken to think he was sincere.

Gibney's tactic was to harass me whenever he saw me in a public setting, e.g. yelling out to me and waving frantically from across the crowded Federal Court lobby, "Good morning Ms. McAfee." Though I ignored him, he persisted with this juvenile, antagonistic behavior. In a courthouse elevator with others, he pointed at me and stated: "Stay out of trouble will you Ms. McAfee!" Sneaky as he was, he never did this when my husband was present.

Defense attorneys subpoenaed my medical records. (This is legal in our system). During a deposition, Gibney threw the records down the table, angrily stating, "There's nothing; there's nothing in here!" Only then did I realize they hoped to find some embarrassing information to use as leverage to make me give up my lawsuits.

Lesson Learned: This was my husband's and my first experience with a lawsuit. We learned that the process has nothing to do with justice, but everything to do with who's left standing after the fight and who has enough money to keep fighting. Thankfully, we had the money and the wherewithal to keep fighting, unlike many individuals who wouldn't and would helplessly suffer the consequences. The more they did to us, the more determined we became. Emotionally and intellectually, however, it was shocking to us to see how unprofessional the attorneys were and how flagrantly city officials squandered taxpayers' money.

Because the Federal First Amendment case was progressing faster than the State defamation case (Judge Williams' Court is known as "the Rocket Docket"), and because we were paying for two lawsuits simultaneously (at times, $15,000 per month), my attorney recommended "non-suiting" the State case as a way to save money. Erroneously, he thought we had one year to re-file the State case when, in fact, we had only six months. My attorney, therefore, missed the Statute of Limitations when it came time to re-file the State case. (We did not non-suit the case because the Pound Manager believed me to be a racist.)

By Eileen McAfee

Uncovering a Culture of Cruelty and Callous Indifference

The City of Richmond, Virginia Pound was plagued with animal abuse problems for many years due to ignorant and cruel managers with no qualifications to care for animals or supervise personnel. In most instances, one became the "Pound Manager" as punishment for infractions committed while working in another department within the City. Instead of being fired, the individual was simply transferred over to the pound as punishment. As with all the pounds with which I've been involved, managers were given free reign to take care of the "problems" (living and breathing beings), with little or no oversight by any higher authority — no Board of Directors, no Advisory Board and certainly no City/County Administrator with any knowledge or interest in animal care. As long as managers continued to assure their supervisors that all was well, everyone was happy. As long as the public never questioned the nearly one million tax dollars per year spent on operating the Richmond Pound, never visited the facility, or raised any questions about the deplorable conditions in which the animals were housed if they did visit, all appeared well.

The Richmond Animal Pound admits approximately 4,000 animals per year.

Were it not for the courage of two very brave Animal Control Officers (ACOs) who took their story to the media (after having tried in vain for many months to improve the pound by working through City Administration), we never would have known about the true horrors occurring on a daily basis at our tax-supported facility. (Ultimately, over 50 news stories focused on the pound's problems.)

The initial TV story broke with the news that three dogs were found to be still alive in the euthanasia room among a pile of dead dogs after having been "euthanized" the previous day. Two of the dogs were comatose, but a third dog, a Cocker Spaniel, was conscious, wobbly and shaking.

Thus began a lengthy, expensive, three-year effort by concerned citizens and caring pound employees to improve conditions at the pound which ultimately concluded with the filing of lawsuits in State and Federal Court by my husband and me against the City, the Pound Manager, and her cohort Deputy Administrator Anthony Romanello.

The following is a partial list of problems created by numerous, unqualified pound managers:

• Euthanasia was performed incompetently and inhumanely.


• Adoption rates were extremely low; euthanasia rates extremely high.


• Newborn puppies, housed in adult cages, fell from them to the floor and died.


• Newborn puppies also fell into open drains and drowned.


• Puppies were suffocated by their Mothers when housed in too-small cages.


• Conditions were filthy (cages, food and water bowls, entire kennel areas).


• Food and water were withheld from animals to lessen the need to clean.


• Inadequate amounts of food was ordered (per an internal audit).


• Improperly stored food contained mites.


• Clogged drains allowed sewage to be backed up into the kennel, attracting mosquitoes and flies.


• Sick and injured animals received little or no veterinary care.


• Equipment and supplies were inappropriate and inadequate.


• Sick and healthy animals were housed together.


• The staff was untrained and inexperienced.


• Extremely sick, very young (less than four weeks old), motherless kittens went without food and water for over twenty hours, received no medication, yet were not euthanized to end their suffering.


• Dogs broke their front legs when forced to jump from upper tier cages to the floor.


• Animals were transported and handled in a rough and brutal manner.


• Dying animals were left to suffer and die in their cages, without medical care or humane euthanasia. Animals with injuries received no pain medication.


• Illness and death were rampant due to inadequate and improper cleaning practices.


• Dogs were left soaking wet on cold cement cage floors after their cages were hosed.


• Pit bulls were "squared off" by inmates to fight in the kennels.


• Dogs of value were hidden from their owners who came to look for them.


• Truckloads of pit bulls were routinely removed from the pound .


• Cats and dogs were housed in the same room (terrifying for the cats).


• Most cat cages had no liners (newspaper). Feces and urine accumulated in the cages..


• The Isolation Room containing very young, sick and dying animals was cold and drafty while the kennel area was often over 80 degrees.


• Staff put all the phone lines on "Hold" so they could watch television.


• Records were falsified. (A kennel worker testified in federal court that she was ordered by the Pound Manager to falsify records.)


• The pound was repeatedly and inexplicably closed (owners could not search for their lost pets), yet the "clock" did not stop ticking for their approaching date with death.


• The public was treated with disdain when calling or visiting the pound for help.


• Rescuers, thwarted in their efforts to help, stopped going to the pound.


• A "clique" of four like-minded individuals and headed by the Pound Manager, ran the facility.


• Non-clique employees were routinely falsely accused of infractions (including theft) and fired
  
• High employee turnover resulted in the use of untrained, uncaring day workers and prison laborers for animal care. (During the Pound Manager's 18-month "reign", there was a 200 percent turnover in staff at a cost to taxpayers of $78K. The Pound Manager was a high school graduate with no managerial experience, was paid $50K per year and provided with an all-expenses-paid City vehicle which she drove for her own personal use as well. When she was ultimately removed from her position, she failed to return the vehicle for eight months.

• "Heart-sticking" of conscious animals was banned (but staff continued to do it).


• The whistleblowers were removed from their jobs and ultimately fired.


• Deputy Administrator Anthony Romanello was named the Pound Manager's supervisor. He knew absolutely nothing about animals and had no pets.


• Additional phone lines were installed (which were then also placed on "Hold").


• During an after-hours, well-attended, public meeting with City officials, the Pound Manager attempted to have our cars towed from the parking lot. The police responded, but refused to tow any cars. (Unbeknownst to us at the time, this was just the beginning of her efforts to rid the pound of public scrutiny.)

• The media and the City were inundated with calls and letters.


• A Veterinarian volunteered to train staff in humane euthanasia.


• A group of five^* women, including me, provided the following free services:
  • Animal Care: Cleaned the kennels, washed bowls, washed animals, purchased new bowls, walked dogs, set up and manned adoption stands throughout the city to help place animals.
  
  
  • "Paws for Pets": With the help of WTVR-6, created this weekly television show in which I showcased animals available for adoption. (WTVR-6 provided this valuable public service to the City at no cost — the equivalent of $720 thousand a year of air time.)
  
  
  • Veterinary Care: Sterilization, immunizations and medical care for all ill and sick animals transferred to us (50 animals a month)/
  
  
  • Public Relations: Offered to obtain training for staff through a Richmond corporation known for their superior customer service. (The City rejected this offer.)
  
  
  • Community Outreach: 1. Held an "Open House" at the pound; fliers, formal invitations to City officials, refreshments and decorations were paid for by us. We helped clean the lobby, the yard, the kennels and the animals. (Not a single City official attended the event). 2. We successfully encouraged rescuers who had previously tried to help the City improve the pound, to join our efforts. (Some, who had been banned, refused to return, however.) 3. Held a "Blessing of the Animals" at the pound. 4. Arranged for media publicity for all these positive events to show the City in the best light and to help the animals find homes.
  
  
  • Staff Relations: Tried to meet and work together with pound management; gave Christmas gifts to all staff City government relations: 1. I was appointed to act as the liaison between the City and the public, to bring to the City all questions and concerns about the pound's progress and to bring answers and explanations to the public. I met weekly with officials. 2. Created an Advisory Board with the City to oversee the operation of the pound.

(^*Our group of five grew to hundreds of supporters due to media publicity.)

One very positive step the City took was to eventually hire the Veterinarian who had volunteered her time. During her tenure, euthanasia was performed humanely; she also trained and certified a member of the "clique" in all aspects of euthanasia and the humane handling of animals.

Within a few months, it became clear that the City's goal was to get rid of us through the following demoralizing and heart-breaking actions by the Pound Manager and her "lieutenants," as well as Romanello and the City Attorney's Office:

• The liaison position was eliminated.


• The Advisory Board was disbanded.


• Pinkerton security guards were hired — an example of the Pound Manager's bunker mentality, as though the animals were prisoners.
• All doors leading to the kennels were locked and had to be unlocked by the guards. Paper covered the windows to some of the animals' rooms and these doors were locked as well. These unlucky animals were completely out of sight for observation (if they needed help), from potential adopters, and from their owners who came to the pound looking for them. They were doomed. After five days they simply went from isolation to their death.


• Animals for whom we expressed an interest in transferring were killed.


• Two dogs being held for a rescuer were killed after she was seen accepting dog collars from me. (She was so distraught she never returned to the pound.)


• All staff members seen as friendly to us were transferred or fired. (The Pound Manager's "catch-all" explanation for their removal was "insubordination".)


• Hidden surveillance equipment was installed in the pound by a City of Richmond police officer, who was a boyfriend of a clique member. A monitor was placed in the Pound Manager's office so she could see if staff spoke to us. No sign was posted informing the public they were under surveillance. This was illegal. (A sign was posted after media coverage exposed the subterfuge).


• The pound was closed for one week during installation of this equipment, preventing adopters, rescuers and owners from rescuing/retrieving animals. Additional "holding time" was not given to the animals and they were killed on schedule.


• The "clique" changed our last names to ones that were vile and profane.


• The veterinarian was denied access to animals' records. This prevented her from determining if she was being asked to euthanize animals prematurely.


• The veterinarian was fired for "insubordination" when she refused to euthanize a healthy Mother dog and her three healthy remaining puppies — after her other three had fallen into an open drain and drowned.



The Pound Manager then telephoned the manager of a private, well-run shelter and told her: a) the veterinarian had quit; b) the mother dog and her puppies were sick, and c) they all needed to be euthanized. Not knowing the Pound Manager, and believing her, the manager of the other shelter agreed to help and the four dogs were euthanized. When the truth became known to the shelter manager, she was quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch as withdrawing any future offers to help the City because she had been deceived.


• After the veterinarian was removed, the trained and certified "clique" member resorted to mistreating the animals during euthanasia. This included handling them in a rough manner, tying a crude rope around their muzzles no matter how docile the animals were, and having staff "pin them to the floor with our bodies while he killed them" — a horrifying death for the animals and dangerous for staff. Staff described it as "a real rodeo."


• Although the pound was open from 10:00am to 5:00pm^*, "the clique" refused to complete paperwork for animals we were in the process of transferring as soon as the clock struck 4:30pm. Animals lined up by us to be rescued, were then returned to their cages. When we returned the next day to retrieve them, they were gone. The clique would not provide us with any information on their disposition. Caring staff told us the animals were killed and the records destroyed.

(^*Some rescuers could not get to the pound from their jobs before 4pm. Caring staff were deeply hurt by seeing animals who could have had a home, killed out of revenge.)

• Subsequent to my taking a picture of the drain into which newborn puppies had drowned, photography in the kennels was banned. (This is always a sign of a pound that has something to hide.)


• We were restricted from allowing animals we were transferring to relieve themselves in an area of the yard designated for this purpose, and were required to immediately put them in our cars. Knowing full well excited animals would naturally relieve themselves in our vehicles, this was just one of many mean-spirited efforts to dissuade us from continuing to come to the pound.


• An Assistant City Attorney telephoned the "Paws for Pets" television station manager and falsely accused me of "slamming the door in the face of an ACO [Animal Control Officer]" (clique member) who delivered a dog to the studio. The attorney stated the City would no longer provide me with animals for the show; demanded my removal from the show, to be replaced by the Pound Manager. Two TV reporters who were with me on the set at the time verified I never touched the door because I was holding a dog in my arms; they opened it for the ACO. Further, it was proved the door could not be "slammed," as it (like all the studio's doors), was on an air system that closed it slowly and quietly. So angered was the station manager by the City's actions, he canceled the show. Over the many months it had aired, several hundred animals found homes and thousands of tax dollars were saved when the City did not have to house them. Wanting to continue to help homeless animals, the station resumed the show one month later — sans City of Richmond animals. To date, it is still aired and is responsible for placing thousands of animals from other localities.
  
• We were restricted to a two-hour window in which were allowed to transfer animals from the pound — though the pound was open 40. The hours were selected by the Pound Manager and Romanello — Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10 and 11am — with no input from rescuers. This effectively prevented all employed rescuers from coming to the pound. (Special friends of the Pound Manager's were allowed to adopt animals with no restrictions.)
  
• When several of us continued to rescue at the specified time, additional restrictions were then imposed: 1. Only two people at a time were allowed in the kennels; 2. Our time in the kennels was restricted to 30 minutes. If members of the public were in the kennels, we had to wait in the Lobby. If 11 o'clock came and went, so be it — our time was up and we were told to leave. Animals who could have otherwise been rescued, died.


• We were prohibited from talking to members of the public in the pound and in the parking lot.


• We were prohibited from talking to each other in the pound, outside in the parking lot and prohibited from sitting in our cars in the parking lot to talk. (There was no parking on the street). It was impossible for us to determine which animals to rescue without talking to each other.


• The police were repeatedly called on us; for example, if we were seen talking in the parking lot instead of immediately getting into our cars and leaving; if we took too long loading ten to twelve dogs at a time into vans; and even once when we drove onto a public side street (and not a part of the pound property), to talk.


• We were prohibited from taking a copy of the pound's "newsletter" from the stack available for the public. (The newsletter regularly praised members of the clique.)


• Based on nominations by the Pound Manager, Anthony Romanello awarded each member of the clique with a $500 cash bonus "for going the extra mile". (A "newsletter" story). Taxpayers were appalled and the media reported it.


• Staff was prohibited from helping us load animals in our vehicles, though they were allowed to help other adopters.


• Anthony Romanello insisted we sign a "volunteer contract" if we were to continue to rescue animals from the pound. Among other restrictions, it prohibited us from talking to the media, authorized a check of our DMV records (though we drove no City vehicles), and made us agree to serve the pound "at the will of" the Pound Manager
  
• We received a court injunction delaying implementation of the volunteer contract. Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Stutts represented the City. When the media tried to speak to us after court, she said the judge had placed a "gag order" on the case. This was not true. (We had no attorney representing us at the time, but got the injunction on our own. Ultimately, deciding we had more rights and access to the facility as private citizens, we refused to sign the volunteer contract. In response, the City then attempted to privatize the pound to more easily ban citizens from the facility. Their attempt failed.


• City Councilman John Conrad announced at a publicly televised council meeting that the local SPCA wanted nothing to do with those of us trying to improve conditions at the pound because they were "frightened" of us. Two weeks later, I presented the council with a letter from the executive director of the SPCA stating that neither she nor any of her board members had ever made such a statement. The Richmond Times Dispatch reported: "Conrad backed away from comments he made...stating he had false information when he made the allegations (which) he learned from an Assistant City Manager."


• The Pound Manager ordered me out of the pound after I had waited in the lobby over one hour^* to be admitted to the kennels, because she was "closing the facility". When I asked why, because it was only 11am (my only words), she angrily retorted: "I'm not going to stand here and argue with you! I'll have you removed!" There was no argument; she provided no explanation and I left the pound. We learned later she had a party and simply closed this public agency for the rest of the day. (^*It was not unusual to make us wait excessive amounts of time.)


• On another occasion, I was ordered out of the pound because I spoke to the Pound Manager on behalf of a citizen looking for his lost dog, after he was denied access to rooms containing animals deemed by her to be "off limits" to the public. The Pound Manager wouldn't look at me or answer me. I said I knew that she had lied in the past to citizens who were looking for their animals, telling them that the animals were not in the facility, when indeed they were, and asked her to let the current citizen look in the locked rooms for himself. She did not respond to this statement, but ordered the Pinkerton guard to "remove her!" The citizen and I immediately left. The citizen was so outraged at how he and I were treated, he gave me his phone number in case I needed his help.
  
• A rescuer was ordered out of the pound for speaking to a citizen by offering to take possession of his very sick dog that he was turning in. (We had already been prohibited from speaking to the public, but owner-surrendered animals, especially sick ones, were immediately euthanized and the rescuer was trying to save the dog's life. We learned from caring staff that the dog, who was too sick to walk, was brutally dragged through the kennel at the end of a catch pole and just as brutally euthanized.)


• When my husband and I saw the rescuer in the lobby, pale and shaken and unable to talk, I asked the Pinkerton guard who was accompanying us, what was wrong. The guard, who was always polite with us, said she would find out from the Pound Manager. She returned with the verdict: "She interfered with City business". When I asked the Guard if the Pound Manager would come out and speak to us, the guard returned with yet another proclamation: "The Pound Manager said you both have to leave also for 'interfering with public business.'" She apologized that this was the Pound Manager's order, not her own. We immediately left. As we walked to our car, two police cars drove up. They stated that the Pound Manager accused us of "trespassing". One Officer stated: "I know what's going on here with [the Pound Manager]." Shortly thereafter, he was fired. (The Pound Manager subsequently accused me of "cross-examining the guard" even though she was not present during my conversation with the guard, refused to be present, and the guard verified that neither my husband nor I had done this. In addition, I had a tape recording of the entire conversation.)

Because the incidents of my being removed were increasing and because I was told by Police that the Pound Manager had accused us of a crime (trespassing), the obvious next step would be my arrest if I returned to the pound. I was not willing to risk this and never returned. I saw what she and Anthony Romanello were capable of fabricating when they wanted to get rid of someone and it was frightening.

Wegmans cruelty -- and non-disclosure of cruelty -- has been going on for years.

Torturing and killing small animals for profit.

How hens suffer in battery cage operations, and the many ways they attempt to cope with life in obscenely small, crowded, dimly-lit wire cages.

An introduction to the various forms of chicken cruelty in the animal agriculture industry, and the contrast between modern, hybridized chickens' existence in factory farms and their jungle fowl cousins' life in the wild. How chickens' innate, natural behaviors -- still present in domesticated chickens just as in their ancestors -- are completely stifled in industrial farms.

Getting the word out about Wegmans Cruelty and the film that documents it, and other ways you can help battery-caged laying hens -- some of most mistreated and brutalized creatures on earth.

And judges won't be clueless about animal suffering

Or blind to compassion

Or willing participants in the atrocities and therefore unfit to judge them

And thank you, Adam Durand and Compassionate Consumers, for striving to bring us closer to that glorious and worth-sacrificing-for goal

Photos: Wegmans Cruelty