UPDATE: 

An Unexpected Massacre -
Why humans continue to let them down

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

The end of this week was suppose to be all about celebrating our rescued animals. The Dog Bowl, a crazy event that welcomes 800+ people (and is "hosted" by our senior, rescued dogs) would be on Sunday. Good friends, and long-time Pasado's Safe Haven supporters (and a few Katrina rescuers) would fly-in to help, and just have fun.

And then the call came in.

Two guys, who formed a road survey crew, found the unthinkable. Measuring the land and lanes and easements that fell away from the country road, they saw a dead animal. On closer inspection, it was a duck. But something caught their eye.

Beyond, about twenty feet down a slope that ended in a swamp, a pile of dead animals had been discarded. They ventured closer. There was a dog. A sweet, helpless dog. He lay on pygmy goats. So many. It rained on them, as if it were the final insult. A box had also been dumped - full of the remains of more animals.

They called Pasado's.

Pasado's Safe Haven receives no less than thirty cruelty calls per week. Our Humane Investigator, Kim K., responds to each call. Frankly, some are “nothing” meaning an animal may be old (vs. starving and thin) or the case is related to human differences, such as neighbor or spousal disputes.)

Many cases require Kim to investigate over a period of weeks or months. Undercover video may be shot and collected to provide an “eyewitness” account to cruelty or neglect. Once all evidence is collected, we turn over all information to authorities. We have
successfully worked with many prosecutors over the years.
 

Some cases require immediate response by authorities. When serious cases are uncovered in-person by Kim, she calls a licensed veterinarian (specializing in the practice related to the specific animal – bovine, canine, etc.) and calls local authorities. Many times, the authorities allow us to collect all videotape, photos, collect all the animals (dead or alive) and any other evidence. Animal control typically does not have the resources to respond to all calls. And they do NO long-term investigations or undercover collection of evidence in Washington State. Pasado's aids in supporting their efforts and pays for all investigation expenses including veterinary examinations, necropsies, laboratory data collection. We receive no governmental funding.
 

The smell permeated the air.
 

Kim called Dr. Dana next. Dr. D is an amazing human being. I cannot say there is anyone like her. Compassionate. Gentle. But with a spine of steel. And if someone has hurt an animal, she's the veterinarian you want on your side to help.  Dr. Dana said she was on her way.

Kim then called Sgt. Morris,  of King County Animal Control.  She let him know what we had found and where.  She also told Sgt. Morris that we had called our vet, and that we would like to have necropsies (animal autopsy) done to determine the cause of death to the animals.  He stated that it would be fine for us to have necropsies done.  She asked Sgt. Morris if we needed to leave everything until he arrived, or if we could remove animals for necropsy before he arrived.  Sgt. Morris said that “it will be fine to remove what you need, as long as we have pictures of the scene before you move anything.”  I arrived soon afterwards, and videotaped the scene. Byron and Kim had to lift the lifeless head of the dog, for me to zoom in. If this case went to court, we needed good "site" evidence.
 

Upon arrival, Dr. Dana quickly assessed that the animals weren't shot in the head. Their necks, not broken. There was no apparent wound, anywhere. Had they suffered a
prolonged death? Was it poison?

It was heartbreaking. The dog was a boy, and like the others, had been dumped probably within the last twenty-four hours. He had been a beautiful animal. Dr. Dana said he was maybe five-years-old.

Then I filmed the goats, one-by-one, and I will never forget the baby. It must have been only a week old. Pygmy goats are tiny, and newborns, can be held in your hands. This little baby, never had a chance. She died, with her mother.

I swallowed hard, and fought back tears. I have seen so many horrible cases of cruelty and neglect over the years, but this case hurt. Because it could have been avoided.

Last Fall, in another local small town, two ponies had been off-loaded and walked off the road and into a wooded area. One was shot, while the other must have flinched and tried to run. The second was shot, too. Both were left, like garbage. After we brought media into the case, the owner came forward. But because she apologized, animal control never filed charges. And we knew, that opened the door for many to do the same thing. We predicted it. And this day, standing in the rain, I was documenting it on videotape. If it weren't for the two surveyors, we would never have met these innocent animals, now in a better place.
 

Dr. Dana was ready to wrap up her initial
examination, and discussed which animals she would choose to necropsy and send through pathology tests. Although we suspected rat poison or something as sinister, we needed proof. Then she found a piece of evidence that literally led us to the owner of the
animals. (We cannot share details.) Almost at the same time, a man who was driving by stopped and asked what we were doing. He pulled off the road and walked down to where the animals lay. He immediately identified who the owner was. Our report to authorities will include all of this pertinent information, as well as our photos and videotape.

As Dr Dana departed, and we committed to getting the animals to her quickly to avoid even more decomposition.  A bit later King County Animal Control's Sgt. Morris arrived. He was who Kim spoke with earlier. The media was there, shooting the activity. And then we were told that animal control wanted the bodies.

We couldn't understand why we were told one thing, just an hour or so before, and now, while cameras were rolling, animal control wanted to conduct the necropsies. We were also concerned. A case that gained national attention involving the scalding of a puppy (in this same jurisdiction) revealed that animal control didn't even own refrigeration equipment necessary to store animals in animal cruelty cases. Pasado's offered to buy them what they needed. This prompted us to ask the sergeant if they had the necessary forensic coolers to keep all these animals. His response was "they'd call us if it gets to that point". How long might the remains have to
decay before we'd get that call?

While we would normally collect each animal in a separate bag and tag it appropriately, the sergeant asked for our help to pile up all the animals on top of each other in the back of his van. As the cameras documented, it was a pathetic heap that would never be tolerated in human forensic gathering.

King County Animal Control is under fire based on a report that has incensed people in and outside the agency, for entirely different reasons. (See story here.) To us, it's about serving the animals the way taxpayers, who pay for their services, would expect.

We still had a long day back at the sanctuary. Wet. Cold. Most of us finally showered off the smell of death late in the evening. When we sat down to watch the news, Al Dams, the KCAC administrator, berated Pasado's for getting in the way of the investigation.

That, was our thanks. Were they seeking a new excuse for the next failed investigation?