St. Bernard Parish Animal killings update (Hurricane Katrina)

[idgiehkt]

I don't know if anyone is following this besides me but a law firm has agreed to take the case of one of the owners of the pets slaughtered at PGT Beauregard Middle School by St. Bernard Parish police officers after their owners were forced to leave them there.

I found this on the Pasado Safe Haven website today:

"August, 2006 Clark & Associates, a Gulf law firm, has agreed to take on the case of John Bozes. They plan to sue St. Bernard Sheriff Stephens, the Department, and two other officers on behalf of the loss of Angel Girl."

Here is Bozes posing with a picture of Angel Girl, as well as Bullet, who was also one of the dogs shot at that school.


The fact that they have mentioned the suit being brought against the officers tells me that their reliable witness must have held up. My impression is the LA A.G. is trying to run the statute of limitations down for a criminal case by being uncooperative but it's hard to know for sure what their motives are. John Bozes found out about his dog's fate by watching the report on CNN that Anderson Cooper did about this. Angel was one of the first cadavers they showed on that broadcast. I had found messages from someone working on his behalf to find the dogs on the Nola.com website dating from right after the families were all forced by police to abandon their pets and leave the school; this man really loved his dog and I am so glad that they are pursuing this. All in all around 30 or 40 animals were shot or otherwise killed by officers at three schools, they were shot in the body cavity and left to suffer, and many were shot multiple times at close range in places like the shoulder, knee, etc.... Angel and Bullet both were tethered when they were killed, so obviously they were not out of range and could have been shot in the head but apparently that was too kind for the officers to consider.
The whole history of the case is here (includes autopsy results of some of the animals):

http://www.pasadosafehaven.org/KATRINA/DOGSHOOTING/HISTORY.htm

pictures of the bodies of animals as found by rescuers are here:
http://www.20questions.tv/kare-animal-killings-in-st-bernard/

[peacebuzzard]

1. I will never get over the deep intense sadness for the animals of

Katrina. Never.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. I know - I feel the same way.

People can just be so horrible.

We had some kind of meeting on disaster planning here in Kansas City and they included planning for pets.

That is a step in the right direction. But the bottom line is that we all need to plan for ourselves and our pets.

A lot of people didn't fare much better in NO - a lot of people were just sort of left to die on their own.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I am glad that disgusting slaughter is not being forgotten.

Pasado Safe Haven did incredible work down there. Thank goodness they were there.

[idgiehkt]

4. yes, Pasado is a great organization

the Oregon Humane Society was actually at St. Bernard High before all the animals there were shot, I don't know why the animals at that school weren't removed unless there just was no where to take them too...I came across pictures once of living animals there with OHS workers removing the more agressive of the dogs. By the time the next group of rescuers showed up there were nothing but cadavers. As someone above stated, I will never get over it either. It was a holocaust, and it happened in my own country. Just when I though it couldn't get any worse, the photos of the tortured and murdered animals from the St. Bernard Parish schools hit the internet, and I will never be able to erase these images from my mind as long as I live.

[Solitaire]

5. I hope they...

go to jail for what they did. I know it's a long shot, but I'm still going to hope.

Perhaps a petition will come out about this.

And NO is still in a shambles.

Our Great President. Not.

Sol

[idgiehkt]

6. LA Times did a story on the civil suit several days ago

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pets9sep09,1,2847179.story?coll=la-headlines-nation&ctrack=1&cset=true

"The suit against the sheriff and his officers is being built on tips from pet owners, investigations by a Washington state-based animal welfare group and research by other local animal activists, Comiskey said.

At least four pet owners would be named as plaintiffs in the suit, Comiskey said, but it is possible several others would be added, and not just residents who had pets at the schools, the lawyer said. "These are people who care about their animals, and they were counting on law enforcement to do the right thing, and they didn't do the right thing," said Susan Michaels, co-founder of Pasado's Safe Haven in Sultan, Wash., which is funding the lawsuit.

Wildlife and Fisheries officials confirmed that agents had come across the animal deaths, and that there was evidence that some dogs had been shot. A spokeswoman with the attorney general's office confirmed a "formal investigation" but did not elaborate.

Pet owners and animal rights activists said they were frustrated at the slow pace of the state's inquiry, and believed there had been foot-dragging in the case because it involves animals and not people."

I am so glad they are doing this and it is getting more coverage. One of the animals killed belonged to a hearing impaired woman and was trained as an aid dog, but she was still forced to leave him behind.

[Solitaire]

7. thank you for the update, n/t

[Jamastiene]

8. I had heard something about the animals being shot, but never

knew they were actually collecting evidence. Good job on the part of those people. I hope they are able to prosecute the cold hearted bastards who shot American pets.