July - August 2008 Notes

August 18, 2008

To:  Elizabeth C Pannill/TX/APHIS/USDA@USDA                                          08/18/2008 09:00 PM 
cc

Subject
Status of Two Animals

Greetings Dr. Pannill:

Do you happen to know how Jake (White Crowned Mangabey) is doing?  He used to live at Leslie Road--first in a large enclosure, then was moved to the "quarantine cages," moved once more to an enclosure next to the Patas monkeys and eventually moved to Talley Road, where he was placed in temporary quarantine cage.  Terri Minchew told a tour in 2006 that Jake was going to be sent to a sanctuary that had other White Crowned Mangabeys.  Do you know if he was relocated to a new home; is still living at Talley (and if so, what is his condition); or has passed away?

Also, do you happen to know how Sabu (lion from Nevada) is doing?  He used to live at Leslie Road (near the juvenile lions) and then was moved to Talley Road to live in an enclosure with juveniles.  According to Terri Minchew this year, the WAO plans to build an enclosure for the "lion pride" and so I was wondering if he is still living at Talley Road or has passed away?

Since it has been over two years since I filed my initial complaint, I was hoping to receive some sort of closure on these animals since they are the basis of my original complaint and are always in my thoughts.  Anything you can provide to help alleviate my concern for these animals would be greatly appreciated.  

Kindest Regards,

Kristina Brunner

"Elizabeth.C.Pannill@usda.gov" <Elizabeth.C.Pannill@usda.gov> wrote:

I no longer can go to Talley Road - that is until the case is resolved  .
Last time I saw Jake he was fine. 

August 19, 2008

Kristina Brunner <kbrunner

To

Elizabeth.C.Pannill@usda.gov

08/19/08 at 3:23 PM

Greetings Dr. Pannill:

I had hoped there would be some word on the animals' condition, as I believe it has been over a year since I've received word on their health condition.  I guess I'll just have to wait until the case is finally over.

I'm saddened to read you still cannot go to the Talley Road property.  With all the deaths at the Leslie Road property (tigers, lions, cougars, servals, monkeys), it makes me wonder what is happening at the unregulated property.

Could you tell me how Tag (large tiger) and Tarzan (small lion) died at the Leslie Road property?  Tours have received conflicting information regarding their demise and I'd really like to know the truth regarding their death. 

Thanks for your quick response and I hope you are not getting too much rain!  It's been raining on and off here, which of course means, an increased amount of mosquitoes buzzing around...oh joy...take care -

Kind regards,

Kristina Brunner

August 31, 2008

----- Original Message -----

From: susan

To: kbrunner

Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 8:13 PM

Subject: Update St. John Parish Animal Shelter &SPCA

Kristina,

I hope all is going well.  

Can you please send to me a current link that I can forward to my contact for the LASPCA in regards to the investigation and WAO.  Animals have already been placed in her care.

Thank you,
Susan

Update St. John Parish Animal Shelter &SPCA
by myladyinred, 8/31/08 17:46 ET
Aug 31 The 24 dogs and 14 cats from St. John Parish Animal Shelter were
taken to the Louisiana SPCA in New Orleans, where they will join
animals there for transport to shelters in Texas. In addition, the
ASPCA coordinated a transfer of animals from Acadia Parish, where 23
dogs and cats will likely soon be on their way to the Wild Animal
Orphanage in San Antonio, Texas. Members of the ASPCA disaster response
team are at the site of the Louisiana Mega Shelter in Shreveport, where
more than 180 animals belonging to evacuees have arrived and are being
cared for; homeless animals in shelters are being transferred to
agencies outside of the areas at risk of the hurricane. One of the
ASPCA's disaster response trailers is also on site, and the ASPCA's
partner agency, the Saranac Technical Rescue Team, is en route.

From: Kristina Brunner
To: Susan
Sent: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 7:40 pm
Subject: Re: Update St. John Parish Animal Shelter &SPCA

Greetings Susan:

 

I hope this e-mail finds you well.

 

Were you able to confirm whether or not the Acadia Parish actually sent the dogs and cats to the WAO and if the shelter plans to ship the animals back to LA or will they remain in San Antonio?  Do you know if these were shelter surplus animals or if they were actual pets w/owners?  We've tried to contact the shelter, but apparently there is some problem with the telephone lines -

 

Kind Regards,

 

Kristina

 

 On Wed, 9/3/08, Susan wrote:

From: Susan
Subject: Re: Update St. John Parish Animal Shelter &SPCA
To: kbrunner
Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 9:06 PM

Hi Kristina,

I have not been able to confirm whether or not they were actually sent and if so, if they were returned.  I suspect if they did go, they were not owned and were available for adoption which ultimately means they would not be coming back.  When I saw the post that animals were being sent to WAO I immediately contacted one of the folks from the ASPCA that I have contact with to share with her what I knew first hand from Katrina.  Snip from the email I sent below. 

I wanted to forward to you the link below regarding The Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio Texas.  Post Katrina the St. Bernard Parish Shelter worked directly with this facility in regards to the animals they received from Camp Lucky and Rebel Field.  It was an absolute nightmare, some of the workers witnessed the rescued cats literally being dumped into the streets upon arrival.  Several of our dogs escaped and were never seen again, one dog in particular was ill due to the transport, a volunteer was told to take the dog to the vet to me euthanized.  She instead secretly brought the dog to the local Humane Society and ultimately we were able to reunite this particular dog with it's owner.  This is just a small sampling of what we experienced  More than two dozen owners were identified but sadly we were never able to reunite. 

Any other animals sent to this facility will be put in harms way.  Carol Asvestas is only interested in the potential funding she can receive when offering to help with our natural disasters.  She's a shady character who also been arrested on more than one occasion, mug shot attached. 

Everything I have shared with you in this email can be confirmed with Kristina Brunner, former WAO Vice President and Treasurer.  Please consider sharing this information with the powers that be.  It will ultimately save lives.

Thank you,
Susan


Link here...http://rexano.com/wao.htm

Kristina Brunner 

To

Susan

09/04/08 at 8:09 AM

Thank you so much for getting the word out, Susan -- It breaks my heart the shelter animals have been moved to such a place that does not have their best interests at heart.  The WAO is not a dog and cat adoption shelter and I greatly fear for the animals' lives.    I have notified the USDA of the situation and was assured an investigator would be sent to the facility to check on their status.  The USDA/APHIS is watching the WAO carefully, making frequent visits, and I'm hoping to put the dogs and cats on their radar--other than that, I don't know how I can save them from the WAO's "care."   After what happened three years ago, I feel like the nightmare is starting up all over again -- so again, thanks for getting the word out--I may not be able to stop animals from going to the facility, but I can slow the numbers sent -   Kristina