Update On Georgia Sanctuary
Legal Animals at BestFriends.org has posted an in depth article about the Canine Angels story on their site. Its too long to publish the complete article but I would definitely encourage you to click over and read the whole piece.
June 2, 2006 : 12:00 AM
Special to The Legal Animal
Photo: Beasley, one of the dogs at Canine Angels who is facing an uncertain fate. All dogs at Canine Angels are looking for immediate homes.As the clock ticks down for a Georgia animal sanctuary scheduled to close on Saturday, a well-known author and animal rescuer has stepped in, in a last-minute attempt to prevent the state Department of Agriculture from seizing approximately 150 dogs.
Canine Angels Rescues and Referrals, Inc. is set to close Saturday under the terms of a May 9 consent agreement with the state, which ended a two-year investigation into conditions at the sanctuary. The state has declared that it will enter the property Friday and begin to offer the remaining dogs free of charge as-is without warranty, or guarantee of condition on a first-come basis.”
But Jim Willis has other plans.
Author of the widely-circulated essay How Could You?”, and the bestselling book “Pieces of My Heart,” Willis claims that he has adopted all of the sanctuaries remaining dogs himself. He says the property is now being run as a satellite placement effort of his Tiergarten Sanctuary Trust, and that he will take responsibility for finding the animals good homes.
If the Department of Agriculture shows up Friday, they aren’t taking any of his” dogs, Willis declares.
About all the Department of Agriculture can have then is a cup of coffee and a doughnut. They certainly cant have any of my dogs,” Willis says. They’ll be met by friendly Canine Angels supporters and the legal documentation that those dogs are mine and I and my agents will be making all decisions about them.”
If department officials come onto the property and try to take the dogs, Willis says supporters will call law enforcement to have them arrested for trespassing and theft.
Willis says he has several lawyers working on the case, who have concluded that Canine Angels had the legal right to transfer the ownership of the dogs to him under the terms of the May 9 agreement. He also says the agriculture department doesn’t have jurisdiction over the sanctuary, and he doesn’t need a license to adopt out the rest of the dogs.
Read the rest of the article at the Best Friends site.
