Showing posts with label Animal Control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animal Control. Show all posts

Friday, November 21, 2014

Gloucester, Virginia: Steve Baranek Wasting Your Tax Dollars?

The question we are asking:  Is Steve Baranek, Chief Animal Control officer for Gloucester County wasting our tax dollars?  The reason we are asking this is because as of today, Novermber 21st, 2014 we have filed a complaint that he appears to have been conducting personal business while on county employment time.  The date in question is July 26th, 2014 where Steve was seen at the Tractor Supply yard sale in the Gloucester County Courthouse Area.  We have a picture of him at that event.

  Why was he at a yard sale?  Now Tractor Supply does provide their parking lot during most of the year for animal swap meets and an occasional yard sale where no animals are present.  On July 26th, 2014 the event in the Tractor Supply parking lot was a yard sale without any animals present.  Why was he even there?  He was in full uniform and driving a county vehicle just like the one pictured above.  Why is the county paying him to shop at a private event on private property?

Below is a copy of the complaint form we submitted and filed with the Director of Human Resources of Gloucester County local government.



Gloucester, Virginia Complaint Filing, Animal Control, Official 

In the above document there is a picture of Steven Baranek.  In the background one can see there are no animals at this event.  The complaint we filed with county officials and Human Resources is 2 pages as opposed to the one page above.  I added a true signature to the copy filed with Gloucester County to make the complaint official.  Why are Gloucester residents being expected to pay for county government employees to go shopping while on duty?  This is no different than if he was shopping inside Wal Mart while on duty.  This is an outrage for every resident in Gloucester who pays any form of taxes including shopping in any of the local stores.  It's an outrage to anyone who comes to Gloucester and shops as some of those tax dollars fund this kind of behavior as well.

  If you find this kind of behavior disturbing, please email the Board of Supervisors and tell them about it.

BoS@gloucesterva.info  is the email address to the Board of Supervisors of Gloucester.  Let them know you DO NOT CONSENT to this kind of behavior by county employees wasting your tax dollars.  

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Gloucester, VA Animal Control Ordinances vs State and Federal Laws and Codes

We have completed going through all of the Gloucester County, Virginia ordinances as they relate to and are covered under Animal Control.  What we have found are numerous violations in a number of local ordinances.

  Gloucester Animal Control Ordinance 3-18 is our biggest complaint, however, it is not our only complaint.  We have a real problem with Gloucester County officials just making up ordinances in violation of both state as well as federal codes, and or laws.

It is outrageous that county officials have gotten away with this for so long and it's time to put a stop to it all.   Here is what we found posted in a SlideShare container to keep the site compact but still very usable.



Gloucester, Virginia Animal Control Ordinances With Notes, 10 2014 from Chuck Thompson

The above is the complete Animal Control ordinances for Gloucester County as of November 2nd, 2014 as they currently stand.  We have highlighted areas we found to be illegal or highly questionable, in yellow.  Our notes follow the yellow highlighted sections with a salmon colored highlighting over the notes.  We point out that we can not find any corresponding state codes and argue to have these illegal codes removed from the books.

  A copy of the above has already been sent to the Board of Supervisors for this upcoming meeting to be held at the Colonial Courthouse in the Courthouse circle on Wednesday evening.  That meeting starts at 7:00 PM.

  Our biggest contention is the very highly illegal ordinance 3-18.  We have done all the research on this ordinance and it's proposed changes and have sent all the findings to the Board of Supervisors asking that no form of ordinance 3-18 show up on the books as it not only violates state codes, it also violates Federal Laws too.

Sec. 3-18. Animals in enclosed vehicles.

(a) It shall be unlawful to leave any animal in a vehicle without the
benefit of air conditioning when the outside temperature reaches
eighty (80) degrees Fahrenheit or greater.

(b) Any person who confines an animal in an unattended vehicle so as
to cause the animal to suffer from heat stress, shall be guilty of a
Class 1 misdemeanor. The animal control officer or other officer
shall have the authority to remove any animal found left in an
enclosed a vehicle that appears to be suffering from heat stress.
The animal shall be provided immediate veterinary care. The
animal owner or custodian shall be responsible for all expenses
incurred during the removal of the animal or its subsequent
treatment and impoundment.

(c) In the event that the person responsible for the violation cannot be
ascertained, the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by
Chapter 6 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall constitute in
evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered owner
was the person who committed the violation."

The above is the proposed new ordinance 3-18. It's original form was not legal and this new re write is even more illegal than it's predecessor.  We have posted those reasons on here many times already.  What we have not posted on here is Federal laws.  We have heard arguments being claimed that Animal Control isn't considering horse trailers as vehicles.  Well under the definition of federal law, horse trailers are considered vehicles.

CFR Title 41;  §102-34.35  

Motor vehicle means any vehicle, self propelled or drawn by mechanical power, designed and operated principally for highway transportation of property or passengers, but does not include a military design motor vehicle or vehicles not covered by this part (see §102-34.20).

That is the definition of a vehicle under federal law.  So it does include a horse trailer as a vehicle.  Animal Control's statements do not override federal law.

Further, we did research under title 49 of federal laws to see if the federal government requires air conditioning for transportation of people or animals.  There are no requirements and anyone who wants to question this, please, here are the links to check out for yourself.


Yes, we even looked up the transportation of migrant works as it is only reasonable that these laws would be more stringent.  Air conditioning is not required under federal laws.

  Local ordinances can not supersede state laws that can not supersede federal laws.  Animal Control ordinance 3-18 seeks to supersede both state and federal laws.  That is simply outrageous.

Today, Sunday November 2nd, 2014, we received a phone call from a friend who told us about a meeting of concerned animal owners in the county, the meeting of which was held at Anna's Pizza in the courthouse area.  Some of the people at this meeting are not going to be able to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting this coming Wednesday.


We have sent a copy of this petition to the Board of Supervisors and we recommend that everyone who is concerned about this and other illegal ordinances contact the Board as soon as possible before Wednesday Night's meeting.

BoS@gloucesterva.info is their email address.

Friday, October 31, 2014

Special Thank You To Glo Quips And Gazzette Journal

We want to take a moment to thank both Glo Quips as well as the Gloucester Mathews Gazette Journal for helping get the news out about Gloucester Animal Control Ordinances that are up for public hearing as they are about to be changed.

  One in particular we believe to be very illegal.  That code, 3-18, has been covered on this site multiple times.  We put together a flyer and started to distribute it through various means and we contacted both of the above papers as well as WXGM, who to the best of our knowledge has not covered the issue, and the Daily Press who also, to the best of our knowledge has not yet covered it.  It's not to say that the Daily Press will not cover the matter, but they have already had several days with the information sent to them.

  We are asking as many people who can, to come to the Board of Supervisors meeting being held this coming Wednesday Evening starting at 7:00 PM at the Gloucester Courthouse Circle, old colonial courthouse building to speak out against proposed ordinance 3-18.  There are so many issues with it.  For one, by asking county law enforcement to enforce this ordinance potentially puts them at risk for being maimed or even killed performing the duties covered under this ordinance.

  Another issue is that the county seeks to create requirements on manufacturers that not even the Federal government makes.  Air Conditioned vehicles.  If you do not have air conditioning in your vehicle, when temperatures reach 80 degrees or higher, and you leave an animal in a vehicle, you risk becoming a criminal for the rest of your life.

  The way this ordinance is being re worded, the back of pick up trucks, horse trailers and other vehicles will be required to have air conditioning in order to transport any animal for any reason when the temperature reaches 80 degrees or higher outside.  Animal Control could have deputies sitting at the local vets businesses just waiting for you or at the local feed stores such as Tractor Supply or Southern States.

Sec. 3-18. Animals in enclosed vehicles.

(a) It shall be unlawful to leave any animal in a vehicle without the
benefit of air conditioning when the outside temperature reaches
eighty (80) degrees Fahrenheit or greater.

(b) Any person who confines an animal in an unattended vehicle so as
to cause the animal to suffer from heat stress, shall be guilty of a
Class 1 misdemeanor. The animal control officer or other officer
shall have the authority to remove any animal found left in an
enclosed vehicle that appears to be suffering from heat stress.
The animal shall be provided immediate veterinary care. The
animal owner or custodian shall be responsible for all expenses
incurred during the removal of the animal or its subsequent
treatment and impoundment.

(c) In the event that the person responsible for the violation cannot be
ascertained, the registered owner of the vehicle, as required by
Chapter 6 of Title 46.2 of the Code of Virginia, shall constitute in
evidence a prima facie presumption that such registered owner
was the person who committed the violation." 


Now look at the above picture.  Gloucester says they can charge you up to $2,000.00 and put in you jail or both.  Plus, they say they have the legal right to break into your vehicle by whatever means and take your pet.  (Who knows what else may end up missing if they do this).  

  Also, they state right there in the ordinance, the animal only needs to appear to be suffering.  Who is to make the determination that the animal is actually potentially suffering?  A deputy who is also an officer of the court who will testify against you in court and you will need a lawyer who is also an officer of the court.  Those cards are stacked against you so you will not win even if you show your pet was never in any danger.  And you get a criminal record.

  There is no corresponding state code that we have been able to find despite looking all over for it.  Since there appears to be no corresponding state code, that makes this ordinance illegal based on the Dillon Rule.  

  This is anarchistic.  Anyone traveling into the area has no idea of Gloucester's ordinances.  Other localities do not have this ordinance as they know it's illegal, so it has not been an issue in other areas a traveler has already been through.  But they come here and park their car and leave their pet in the vehicle while the temperature is only nearing 80 degrees, animal control gets a call from a plant who snoops parking lots, and wham, instant victim to milk.  A speed trap.

  There are already codes on the state books that cover cruelty to animals.  If Gloucester wants this to be legal, they need to get it through on the state level.  Now we are not against the safety of animals, but let's keep within the laws of the state as required.  Stop making up anarchistic ordinances just for milking unsuspecting victims.  So we are asking everyone to stand up against this and let the Board of Supervisors know that you do not consent to this.  It's a violation of our rights and freedoms. 

If you can not attend the meeting, email the Board of Supervisors and let them know before this upcoming meeting.

BoS@gloucesterva.info 

There are also other illegal ordinances on the books here in Gloucester as well.  We will be posting the entire list very soon.



Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Ex Gloucester, Animal Control Deputy, Kristine James, Sounds Off On Facebook

Ex Gloucester Animal Control Officer sounds off on Facebook.  She deleted the post soon after making it, but not before it was copied.

  The following is what was stated.

"Kristine James
4 hrs
I am going to post this now, as I am no longer with an Animal Control dept. ...
You people are freaking nuts!!! Animal raids. Do you know what they are? Really? They are searches conducted by warrants, ONLY after suspected animal abuse, cruelty, etc. If you are mistreating your animal and you think you are above the law by doing so, you are wrong. YOU are doing wrong by treating your animal as you see fit. Filthy conditions, at home medical treatment, insufficient water/food/shelter. You are the problem, not the law. If you could have only seen what I have...The animals suffer, not you..their caretaker...oh boo hoo if you get a door notice, you automatically think, oh no! They are going to raid my home. Bull crap! I have seen and heard so many times from people that "they raided my home and threatened to kill me and my family". First off, get over yourself. I have never said anything of the sort, nor have anyone I have worked with. If you LOVED animals so much, they would be your first concern. You would care for them properly, and would do everything in compliance with the law. Obviously you're not, that's why you have this site. Put the blame where it belongs...on you! (so called animal lovers) I expect to be banned after this...no worries."

What Kristine James is not aware of is that local raids where people had their legal rights grossly violated happened before she was hired as an Animal Control deputy.  She is also clearly unaware of the fact that we have evidence on this site in great detail about such and are continuing to investigate these issues.  We are also sitting on a bunch of evidence that we have not released and have had for several years.  We have audio recordings of live interviews with victims, we have court documents, legal papers and more all showing a very clear pattern.  We invite her to look at what we have online and show how the information is wrong.

  She makes the above disgusting comments based on a very limited time in one county working mostly part time in her duties with very little experience.  She was stating this to people all around the nation.  It is very clear she is not a Christian.  If she were, she would know and understand that God gave man dominion over all animals.  Today's man made laws give animals dominion over man.  An inversion of God's laws.  We are not stating that it is right to abuse animals, however, no animal has rights over any person.

  She also fails to understand that those who are no longer able to care for animals as they once were able to, have been forced into their present conditions through the economy.  Her socialist tyranny came through loud and clear however.  Glad she is gone from Animal Control and maybe her replacement will prove to be more understanding.  Her comments were posted in a group of animal owners who have had their own rights violated share their stories and try to help out others as well as spread the word on what is really going on out there.

Kristine James is one of the owners at Buying It Used here in Gloucester.  The store that when they first opened their doors, looked like a Gloucester County government warehouse sale center, which by local ordinance is illegal.  We can't say that this was the case, but we did find evidence to highly suggest such and posted here on this site.  So the comments do not really surprise us.  Now she can legally turn Buying It Used into a Gloucester County government warehouse sales center.  But can you trust her?  We will shop somewhere else thanks.


The above picture is of a projector marked as property of Gloucester County, Petsworth District school and on the shelf of Buying It Used.
Gloucester County Ordinance strictly forbids county employees from even purchasing used equipment from the county.  So how did it get there?


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Monday, October 27, 2014

Gloucester, VA County Government Document Shows Illegal Ordinance AC 3-18




Gloucester, Public Hearing, Nov. 2014 from Chuck Thompson

All you have to do is go to page 6 in the document above.  We downloaded this from the Gloucester County government website.  They show the illegal ordinance they want to force on everyone.  There are no state codes that match this making it a made up ordinance which is a blatant violation of the Dillon Rule.  The folks running this county have no regard for the rule of law yet they expect you to?  How does that work?

  Now one of the kickers in all of this is that the county attorney, Ted Wilmot, knows this is illegal, but he does not care.  He is just creating an income opportunity for the county.  That's how the county views it.  Never mind the fact that they are going to turn innocent victims into criminals.

  Let's go even further, the county is purposefully putting Animal Control and potentially, the sheriff's deputies at life threatening risk if they are forced to enforce this illegal law.  If someone breaks a window on a vehicle, there could be a big dog in the vehicle who is not going to like this violation and may maim or even kill someone.  We the tax payers are the ones who will have to foot that bill as well.

  Now where is the local media on any of this?  Anyone think they do not know about it?  Sure they do.  They are complicate in all of this through their silence and they wonder why their following keeps dropping?  They no longer report any real news.  They become just as guilty for victims created by this illegal ordinance if they refuse to report on this.

  The Board of Supervisors took an oath of office before they could start on their jobs, now we see what they think of that oath.  It meant nothing to them if they allow this kind of garbage.




We are putting up this video to remind the three new board members what they said when they were running for these Board of Supervisors posts.




County Attorney, Ted Wilmot has been known to lie to the Board of Supervisors in the past, this video is a very interesting study on that.  Ted has worked very hard ever since with his body language but still has many tells.  Sorry, at this point, Ted Wilmot needs to be fired for cause trying to push through illegal ordinances that will wreck total havoc everywhere, even with county employees.


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Saturday, October 25, 2014

Help Fight Against Illegal Gloucester, Virginia Ordinances

Help fight against Gloucester, Virginia illegal ordinances.  Attend the next Gloucester, Board of Supervisors meeting being held, November 5th, 2014 at the Colonial Courthouse, Courthouse Circle starting at 7:00 PM.  Up for discussion are Animal Control Ordinances and some are downright illegal.  With the stroke of a pen, you could become a criminal overnight.

  One of the biggest issues coming up that will violate everyone's rights is ordinance 3-18.  And it looks like the Board of Supervisors want to continue this illegal ordinance in violation of state codes, the Dillon Rule, Federal Laws and the 4th Amendment of the Bill of Rights, a part of the US Constitution.

  

Gloucester, VA Animal Control Ordinance Review Flyer from Chuck Thompson

The specific ordinance we are talking about is in the container above.  What it means to everyone is that you will NOT be able to transport an animal in any form of vehicle without the benefit of air conditioning when temperatures near 80 degrees and or go higher.  That means horse trailers, animal trailers, the back of pick-up trucks and more.  If these do not have air conditioning, you may be found in violation of this insane local ordinance that has no counterpart in state code as required by state law.  Plus, you are subject to having your vehicle broken into and personal property removed without any warrants needing to be issued.

  It's theft.  Plus, not only can they charge you for the violations, they also will charge you for vet bills and storage and care of your animal(s).  And you have no recourse for the damage they do to your property.  To go even further, you get a criminal record.  How is that going to help your career?  Costs could easily reach thousands of dollars to you.  Do you have that extra money to spare?

  What county officials are doing is down right criminal.  But they are saying you are the criminal.  How does that work?

  We are "NOT" against the safety of any animal, however, we are against violations to our rights, state codes, federal laws and the Bill of Rights to our US Constitution.   It's time to stand up for our rights and NOT allow county officials to get away with this.  What can you do?

  Print the form flyer above and distribute it everywhere throughout the county.  Send it to everyone you know who owns an animal.  Email the above PDF to everyone you know.  Attend the BoS meeting as listed above and speak out.  It's time to stop the corruption and the insanity.  Tweet this story, Post it on Facebook, Google Plus this story, post it on LinkedIn and other social networks.  Spread the word everywhere.  Together we can stop this.


Friday, October 24, 2014

Gloucester, VA Animal Control and the Bena Feral Cats

As it should; the issue pertaining to the feral cats in BenaVirginia seems to be resolving itself without action by the Gloucester Board of Supervisors.  The most logical approach to such an issue is education, effective communication and public relation skills.  When a representative of animal control responds to such complaints it would be more productive if they act as a positive representative of the County, an educator and a mediator.  Presenting themselves as intimidating law enforcement officers who render inaccurate definitions of law only serves to cause confusion, animosity, distrust, paranoia and continuation or escalation of the issue at hand.
 
Upon first contact; the responding animal control officer should have spoken to all of the parties involved and provided the owner of the property/cats with handouts containing information on applicable law, the potential risks involved and options to mitigate the issue.  A time limit for the owner to contain the cats she claimed ownership of should have been established.  The animal control officer should have obtained permission from the owner to capture the cats she did not claim.  Animal control could have then turned the unclaimed cats over to the private entity the tax payers of Gloucester already pay to assume responsibility of abandoned cats and other animals.
 
Animal control readily utilizes private people and organizations when they conduct seizures; why did it take so long for private people and organizations to get involved in the feral cat issue? 
 
Animal control personnel are not law enforcement officers.  They are law officers with a very limited domain.  § 3.2-6555 of the Code of Virginia provides the following on the powers of animal control officers:  

When in uniform or upon displaying a badge or other credentials of office, animal control officers and deputy animal control officers shall have the power to issue a summons or obtain a felony warrant as necessary, providing the execution of such warrant shall be carried out by any law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101, to any person found in the act of violating any such law or any ordinance enacted pursuant to such law of the locality where the animal control officer or deputy animal control officer is employed.
 
The following is the applicable definition found in § 9.1-101:
 
" Law-enforcement officer " means any full-time or part-time employee of a police department or sheriff's office which is a part of or administered by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof, and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the penal, traffic or highway laws of the Commonwealth, and shall include any (i) special agent of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control; (ii) police agent appointed under the provisions of § 56-353; (iii) officer of the Virginia Marine Police; (iv) conservation police officer who is a full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; (v) investigator who is a full-time sworn member of the security division of the Virginia Lottery; (vi) conservation officer of the Department of Conservation and Recreation commissioned pursuant to § 10.1-115; (vii) full-time sworn member of the enforcement division of the Department of Motor Vehicles appointed pursuant to § 46.2-217; (viii) animal protection police officer employed under § 15.2-632; or (ix) campus police officer appointed under Chapter 17 (§ 23-232 et seq.) of Title 23. Part-time employees are those compensated officers who are not full-time employees as defined by the employing police department or sheriff's office.
 
§ 9.1-101, (viii) includes animal protection police officers employed under the following:
 
§ 15.2-632. Department of public safety.
The department of public safety if and when established shall be under the supervision of a director of public safety appointed by the county manager. Such department shall consist of the following divisions:

1. Division of police, in charge of a chief of police and consisting of such other police officers and personnel as may be appointed, including an animal protection police officer who shall have all of the powers of an animal control officer conferred by general law and one or more deputy animal protection police officers to assist the animal protection police officer in the performance of his duties. In addition, the animal protection police officer and his deputies shall have all of the powers vested in law-enforcement officers as defined in § 9.1-101, provided they have met the minimum qualifications and have been certified under §§ 15.2-1705 and 15.2-1706.

2. Division of fire protection, in charge of a fire chief and consisting of such fire fighters, and other personnel as may be appointed.
 
Gloucester CountyVirginia does not have an animal protection police officer, therefore under Commonwealth law, Gloucester’s animal control officers must rely on law enforcement to perform criminal enforcement.  During the October 21, 2014 Board meeting Animal Control Officer Steve Baranek stated he would prosecute anyone caught shooting a companion animal.  Animal control officers do not have the power to prosecute.  In all essence they serve only as complainant or witness in criminal proceedings.  Arrogant statements such as the one Officer Baranek publicly made only further exemplifies the misunderstanding of duties and powers and the lack of public relation skills that exists in Gloucester’s Animal Control Department.  Government employees are not paid to provide arrogance and intimidation, they are paid to provide Public Service.  Had the Animal Control Department been operating properly the issue of the feral cats would not have wasted the Board of Supervisor’s and County staff’s time.
 
Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.
Gloucester Point


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