4/21/2011-
Pasado’s Safe Haven in coordination with the Washington State Crime Prevention Association (WSCPA) presented the 1st Annual Excellence in Animal Cruelty Investigation and Prosecution Award at the WSCPA Spring Conference.
This is a grant award of $2500 each to the law Enforcement Agency and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that is determined to have successfully completed the most significant investigation and prosecution of an animal cruelty case. The purpose is to raise awareness of animal cruelty and the links to violent crimes.
Pictured left to right with the 1st Annual Bucky Award - Stacie Martin, Pasado’s Safe Haven Director of Operations, Deputy Michael Vafeados, Jill Eastes, Lee & Eastes Tank Lines of Seattle, Matt McNaughton, Pasado’s Safe Haven CEO
Stacie Martin, Director of Operations for Pasado’s Safe Haven, presented the grant awards to Deputy Michael Vafeados of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and Mr. Paul Stern, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney.
There were five nominations for this award in 2010 but after careful review, the committee of citizens unanimously selected Deputy Vafeados and Prosecutor Paul Stern for their work on the “Bucky case”. Bucky, the dog, was brutally killed by his owner’s boyfriend. Enraged after a dispute with his girlfriend, Norman Sandrestzky beat Bucky to death with a hammer and a gun and tortured his body with a drill. Sandrestzky was sentenced to 90 days in jail, no animal contact for five years, and fines. Bucky is buried in his blanket at Pasado’s Safe Haven and his story is used to educate children and adults about the link between animal cruelty and family violence.
Bucky was brutally killed by his owner. People who hurt animals are fives time more likely to hurt a human.
Read Bucky’s story here.
The committee was impressed with Deputy Vafeados’ “diligent pursuit of information and evidence, as well as his knowledge of the link between family violence and animal cruelty, resulting in an arrest.”
Prosecutor Paul Stern skillfully prosecuted the case asking for and receiving a bail of $500,000 for the suspect. Stern continued to seek justice and protect the community by obtaining a strong sentence for the crime the judge called “a cowardly act”.
Many thanks to the firm of Lee & Eastes Tank Lines of Seattle, WA who made this award possible by donating the entire grant this year.
Pasado’s Safe Haven has already received a 2011 award nominee – Chief Dennis Taylor of Granite Falls, Snohomish County for his work on the recent case where 31 animals were found starved to death in a home. Read the story here.
Recommendations for the 2011 awards can be submitted to kimk@pasadosafehaven.org
Pasado’s Safe Haven offers rewards to seek out and prosecute those who have committed heinous acts of animal cruelty. Rescuing animals is only part of the answer- we want to insure that those who hurt animals will never do it again.