DAW Meeting July 25, 2007
Presentation by the Los Angeles Animal Cruelty Task Force (CTF). The following is what was said.
There are 13 officer on the CTF. 5 teams consisting of one police officer and one animal control officer. There are two detectives.
People should call 911 in an animal cruelty emergency and the CTF will be contacted.
597A – violation of penal code – maliciously or intentionally hurting an animal.
597B – violation but has to do with neglect.
597 A can be treated as a felony or misdemeanor. Up to 3 years in jail as a felony. It is 365 days in jail as a misdemeanor.
Cases get sent to either the City Attorney or the DA
In Sunland, a man dragged a German shepherd behind his pickup truck. He was drunk and forgot he had tied the dog up to the truck. He dragged the dog for 5 miles. There were tons of calls to the police department by people in other vehicles who saw this happening. The dog was named Samson. He kept getting to his feet at every stop sign. Then was knocked down when the man drove again. The man had prior convictions for drunk driving. This happened in September 2006. The dog collapsed and died at the end of the five miles. The drunk man picked up the dead body of Samson and threw him into the trash.
Another story – roommate beat his roommate’s dog to death for pooping in the house.
When a person is on probation for animal cruelty, the person cannot own animals for the term of the probation. Discussion of the Michael Vick case.
85% of women and 63% of children who enter abuse centers discussed incidents of pet abuse.
71% of women in shelters say their abuser injured or killed their companion animal.
We need something in place to force human shelters to report animals in homes with potential abuse.
Children in 88% of homes with prosecutable animal cruelty cases reported being abused.
32% of pet owning domestic violence victims reported that one or more of their children hurt or killed a companion animal. Kids will identify with primary aggressor and act out and harm animals.
25.5% of physically abused children were cruel to animals.
13.2% of sexually abused children were cruel to animals.
Juveniles will be fingerprinted and photoed. Case will be presented to juvenile district attorney (psychological care is usually recommended).
Ted Bundy killed 37 women. His grandpa mutilated animals in front of him.
Jeffrey Dahmer killed 17 children and young men. He killed animals as a child. No one said anything.
Prevention – go into schools (task force would like to do this). There are kids in LA that go to cockfights and dog fights.
A lot of cockfighting in these areas: Sunland/Tujunga, North Hollywood, Rampart division. There is cockfighting in garages and businesses. Happens on horse properties and large lots a lot.
Task force is too small to have undercover officers. This is needed. People to pose as customers.
The dogfighting is largely done by gang members. There are trophies for cockfighting and magazines devoted to this. “Scratch Line”
Call CTF if you hear a lot of roosters.
Dog fighting can happen 24 / 7 but happens a lot at night and early morning. Any culture. They usually electrocute, stab, shoot dogs who lose fights.
Task Force could do free to good home ads if could get buffed up a bit. More officers needed.
In LA, cockfighting is mostly the Hispanic and Filipino culture. Often gambling too.
Arrest in South La – 17 pitbulls. 2 guys from Lousiana. One is a nurse (stole medicine). Get jobs in vet offices and steal medication…
Animal Sacrifice – people often call about this but when it is the Westside or the Valley, it often ends up being a coyote kill. Precise cuts = Animal Sacrifice (often message in blood or note).
Coyotes are not precise cuts and they often attack in the summer.
Wish list – increase # of officers to sufficiently do the job. Continue the program. This is the only task force in the country.
Many law enforcement officers don’t believe this is as important as murder, rape, robbery.
__________
Testimony from stakeholder Leslie Kenyon (assist DA) about McKernin termite. They tented house next door and killer her cat. There is nothing that says pest control companies have to give adjacent neighbors notice about toxic material use.
Legal precedent – case
Raphael Ramirez did the tenting.
Meeting adjourned.