Very touchin, HOWE HOWER SHELTER / RESCUE
DOG LOVERS operate above the law, AIN'T IT??

Vindicated family sues SPCA

    * By RICHARD BURGESS
    * Advocate Acadiana bureau
    * Published: Oct 15, 2009 - Page: 1BA

LAFAYETTE — A father and son acquitted last year on dogfighting
charges filed a lawsuit Wednesday for restitution from the animal
welfare group that killed their prized pit bulls.

Floyd J. Boudreaux and his son, Guy Boudreaux, are also seeking
damages from the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals for mental distress and loss of income from the sale of the
pit bulls’ offspring.

A judge last year acquitted the father and son on dogfighting charges,
citing a lack of evidence.

But the 57 “Eli” pit bulls that State Police had seized from their
home in a 2005 raid had long since been euthanized by the SPCA.

The Boudreaux’s attorney, Richard Dalton, said the Boudreaux family
had bred the internationally known “Eli” bloodline of pit bulls for
more than 100 years and the destroyed dogs were valued at about
$300,000.

He said that figure does not include the price the dog breeders could
fetch from future offspring. Testimony at the Boudreaux’s trial last
year raised questions about who authorized the killings.

State law allows for the killing of suspected fighting dogs under
certain conditions, but there are provisions for dog owners to
challenge euthanasia and to post a cash bond to pay for the cost of
boarding the animals pending trial.

The state trooper who investigated the case testified at the
Boudreaux’s criminal trial that he believed the SPCA would house the
animals and did not know the dogs would be euthanized.

A representative from the SPCA testified that no one person at the
nonprofit animal welfare group made the decision to kill the animals
but that there was a general assumption that the dogs would be
euthanized.

Dalton said the killing of all 57 of the Boudreaux’s dogs has
effectively ended the family’s legacy of breeding the “Eli” bloodline.

He said the raid and subsequent killing of the dogs was so distressing
to Floyd Boudreaux that he “had a heart attack five days after it
happened.”

A telephone message at the SPCA’s New Orleans’ office was not returned
Wednesday afternoon.

The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Fabian Mumme, 62, of New Orleans, was found guilty on Dec. 8,
of aggravated animal cruelty following a 2007 incident where he
was arrested for killing his dog with an axe on his Lakeview property.

Ana Zorrilla, Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals' CEO, said the organization is "deeply disappointed"
in the sentence in view of both the horrific nature of the crime
and the charge of aggravated animal cruelty.

"In this case, the sentence definitely does not fit the crime," Zorrilla
said.

Mumme was originally charged with municipal cruelty at the
time of his arrest, but the LA/SPCA appealed to the courts
to have the charge increased to aggravated animal cruelty.
 Aggravated animal cruelty in Louisiana traditionally carries
a fine of $5,000 to $25,000 and/or imprisonment for one to
10 years.

Zorrilla said the LA/SPCA had also hoped to have Mumme
 barred from ever owning another animal.

The organization was also disappointed, Zorrilla said, that
Mumme was not issued a fine or ordered to pay restitution
of any kind to the court.

"Our concern is that such a light sentence sends the message
 that treating animals cruelly is somehow a lesser crime," Zorrilla
said. "Sentencing often is the last step in seeking justice for the
victim and the victim in the case was Wolfie [Mumme's dog].

We can't help but feel that there was no justice for Wolfie in this case."

                      ------------------

From: AnimalConcerns.org <animalconce...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2009
Subject: (US) La. SPCA Unhappy With Sentencing Of Man Who Killed Dog

NEW ORLEANS -- A man found guilty of aggravated animal cruelty in
December was sentenced on Friday to a three-year suspended sentence
and three-year probation.
The sentences are to be served concurrently.

Fabian Mumme, 62, of New Orleans, was found guilty on Dec. 8, of
aggravated animal cruelty following a 2007 incident where he was
arrested for killing his dog with an axe on his Lakeview property.

Ana Zorrilla, Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals' CEO, said the organization is "deeply disappointed" in the
sentence in view of both the horrific nature of the crime and the
charge of aggravated animal cruelty.
--
full story:
http://www.wdsu.com/news/18450913/detail.html#-

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        HERE'S HOWER SHELTER / RESCUE
             DOG LOVERS HEELPIN DOGS:

Pit bull breeders sue SPCA
Claire Taylor . ctay...@theadvertiser.com . October 15, 2009

Two Youngsville men acquitted in 2008 of dogfighting charges
are suing the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals for euthanizing their pit bulls.

Scott attorney Richard Dalton filed the lawsuit in 15th Judicial
District Court on Wednesday on behalf of father and son Floyd
Boudreaux and Guy Boudreaux.

They are seeking an undisclosed amount for loss of property,
loss of income, and mental and emotional distress.

For about 100 years, the Boudreaux family bred American pit
bull terriers, creating an internationally known breed called the
Eli bloodline and the Boudreaux bloodline, Dalton said.

On March 11, 2005, the men were arrested and 57 dogs were
seized from their Youngsville home after a Louisiana State Police
investigation into alleged dogfighting.

They stood trial in October 2008 and were acquitted of all charges.

According to state law, upon acquittal, all items confiscated
from the Boudreauxs should be returned to them, Dalton said.

"But all the dogs are dead," he said.

"There's no more Boudreaux/Eli breed. The mom and pop direct
descendants that would not have been sold are dead. That's 100
years of breeding that's gone."

According to Louisiana Revised Statute 14:102.6, the law
enforcement officer making the arrest can lawfully take
possession of suspected fighting dogs and "cause them to
be humanely euthanized as soon as possible by a licensed
veterinarian or a qualified technician."

But the law further allows the owners to post a bond with the
court "within 15 days after receiving notice of such seizure..."

The Boudreauxs were arrested on a Friday, Dalton said. They
were in jail until Monday and were unable to post a bond on their
dogs until then.

By then, the dogs were dead, euthanized by the SPCA with
24 hours of being seized in the police raid, he said.

In testimony during their trial, Trooper Jacob Dickinson, a state
police investigator who headed the case, said the SPCA gave
investigators no prior notice before euthanizing the dogs.

The Boudreauxs maintain that they bred the pit bulls as pets and
show dogs, not for fighting. Family pets, including a champion pit
bull owned by a grandson and a pregnant dog, were seized and
euthanized, Dalton said.

SPCA CEO Ana Zorrilla could not be reached for comment.

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