Archive for October, 2009

Court:

We fought the Court to drop the charges as the NJ Fish & Game searched the property before acquiring a search warrant.  They didn’t know if they had any evidence to get a search warrant, so they had to look before asking for one.  They caging area is 250 feet back from the main road in the woods.  There are trees surrounding the caging area.  It is not visible from the road and there are no trespassing signs posted around the property.  Judge Neustader from Superior Court denied the motion to dismiss because of the “Open Field Doctrine” which was set up for Drug Lords running methane labs.  As I understand it, in the western part of the country somewhere there was a 500 acre property with a ranch house.  There was also a building in the middle of the property with 5 or 6 fences around it and no trespassing signs.

A fly over was done and suspicion of a methane lab resulted.  The fly over was done because the law that went into effect at that time stated that a suspicious structure had to be within naked eye site from a public road.  There were no visual accessories allowed to aid in any visual contact.  Law enforcement went past the signs and fences and arrested everyone involved with the methane lab.

This law has now been applied to allow trespassing in my case.  There was no fly over done by NJ Fish & Game over the caging structure.  If they had flown over they would have only seen a roof surrounded by trees, nothing suspicious.  The judge’s rule allows them to continue with the unlawful acts that they have been practicing for years.

How does this affect you?  This ruling now allows any law enforcement to search without a search warrant any “curtlidge” or building unattached to your main house such as a shed etc. if they felt there is any suspicious behavior.  If you fight it they will reference my case and you will lose.  This is another violation of every Americans Rights which has been implemented by this ruling.

The first court date after Superior Court was in Egg Harbor Township, and the negotiations went on so long court was postponed; then postponed again.  The State Attorney General had a lawyer named John Hill representing their office.  He has tried so hard to keep the media out.  The Attorney General’s Office does not want the public to know what is going on.

The last court case was heard on February 14, 2006.  All witnesses were sent out of the court to avoid everyone hearing each other’s testimony.  All of the conservation officers contradicted themselves.  All of them made up their reports between November of 2005 to January of 2006.  Don Bonica wrote his version on February 10th, 2006.  The incident happened October of 2004. Why does it take that long to write a report, and how accurate are they after all that time.  They were still legally allowed to submit them in court.  Their star witness Jay Beale (the man which starved the cat to death) admitted in court that the notes he was using to testify against me were written by Mike Massey the arresting conservation officer.  When we moved for a miss-trial it was denied.

The next court date will be May 2nd in Egg Harbor Township at 9:00am.

I am facing possible imprisonment and $60,000.00 in fines.  So is the landlord which with his kind heart allowed me to build the cage on his property.  Fines and imprisonment for helping God’s injured creatures.  If any money is collected it goes right to NJ Fish & Game directly.  They have a 10 million dollar budget with only 7 million coming in.  They make most of their money from hunting licenses.  That supports their salaries, vehicles, and pensions.  Last year they actually tapped into the state tax fund’s “public money”.  That money was used to help promote the bear hunt so they could sell more hunting licenses.  The people up north didn’t want any hunting in their back yards and are knowledgeable on the fact that black bear don’t harm the public.  No one oversees NJ Fish & Game.  They are like the IRS and do what they want.  The DEP is supposed to have a say over them, but they cannot control them either.

Now you can see the conflict of interest for NJ Fish & Game to oversee animal rehabilitators.  It’s all about money, no conservation.  In the past decade rehabilitators all over the state have had their animals taken.  They were shut down and their animals killed.  Out of approximately 100 rehabilitators in this state there are only about 25 left.  Some are state appointed and tied in with them.  They are the ones who are allowed to keep their permits without harassment.

The conservation officer who mishandled the birds was not a conservation officer.  I later found out he is rehabilitator tied in with the State of NJ.  Don Bonica from Toms River, NJ.  He killed every healthy bird he acquired from my caging area, and the state allows his activities to continue, legally, and licensed by them.

I am hoping that the next court date my preceptor who has many years experience can appear on my behalf.  She now has cancer and has been undergoing chemotherapy.  Her illness may not allow her to appear.
There are many other horror stories of rehabilitators.  There is a group which plans to get some of the stories on-line in the next few months.

To learn more on what is happening with the rehabilitators in our state, go to www.AnimalRA.org

Let’s pray that what is morally and legally right triumphs over the immoral, unethical treatment of those who try to suppress and profit off of those who sacrifice themselves to do good on this earth.

And, those who don’t appreciate their neighbors helping others (especially when it has no effect on the neighbor) to learn to mind their own business and tend to their own lives without trying to hurt others.

Please notify your local politicians, Assembly and Senators, and let them know that NJ Fish & Game have a great conflict of interest in imposing any authority on any Animal Rehabilitators in this State.

We continue to help our wildlife within the law’s requirements, as we always have.

They live because of your support!

Please become a supporting Member of the Animal Rehabilitators Alliance and help us help them!

Thank You for your support,
Marybeth Bennett
Animal Rehabilitators Alliance

Technorati Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife

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Continuing on, the story goes like this:

On Saturday 10/30/04 I was on my way to work at 8:15am (I was working at an Appliance Retailer at this time, I had given up optical for the time being) when I received a cell call from my husband telling me bad news.  Mike Massey from NJ Fish & Game had been pounding on the door so hard that my husband thought his knuckles were going through the door.  He didn’t want to answer the door with such a hostile person at the front of it, but he did.  Massey informed him that Fish & Game knew about the caging area and that there was a problem.

I told my husband that I was on my way to a meeting at work, and would leave briefly after the meeting to take care of any concerns.  At 8:45am I received a call from a friend stating that Fish & Game had a search warrant, and was on their way to the property.  I immediately left work and headed home to switch cars, and headed to the caging area.

When I arrived there were several game wardens on the property.  They had taken the screws out of the front door to enter the cage because they didn’t have a key for the lock I had on the door.  As I approached, I saw them chasing the birds through the caging area trying to capture them to transport.  I saw a black truck with the back open with cardboard boxes and heard sounds of birds banging to get out.  The boxes were small like liquor store boxes, and the large birds could not stand up in them.

I told them they were being too rough with the birds and did not have proper ways to transfer birds and that they would injure them.  They should let me get the birds for them.  I witnessed a conservation officer holding one of the Red Tail Hawks by its feet like a chicken.  The hawk was fighting and the man was trying to control it, and there was blood running down the hawk’s head.  As I moved towards the caging area three conservation officers blocked my way with their hands on their guns and told me if I go in there they will cuff me and arrest me.  I was mortified.  I told them that the birds knew who I was and trusted me and that I could get them without injury.  They refused to let me help.  I ran around the officers to the left of the cage, I knew if I went into the cage they would arrest me, and I couldn’t leave those precious birds. 

I cried for one of the birds I named Lancelot, (Lancelot was a Red Tail Hawk with a blind eye, non releasable, he was a lecture bird) but the officers had taken him out.  They would not allow me to see him.  I know he could hear me yelling for him.
The officer in the cage yelled at me stating I wasn’t a vet and had no training.  I stated I had trained under their trainer Joanne Balliet in Tabernacle NJ, and another rehabilitator that ran a center and who had over 25 years experience.  I am knowledgeable on all bird injuries and I know each bird individually.  I can tell their progress and accomplishments and know when they can be released.  (I was only rehabilitating non-regulated species at this time, the others were transferred at the earliest convenience).  He said he was an expert and handled plenty of birds and he knew what he was doing and I didn’t.  I continued to tell him to be gentle with the birds, he was brutally grabbing them, mishandling them and injuring them.

The man collecting the birds couldn’t understand what nerve damage was on a bird, which feathers would not stay intact and therefore the bird’s appearance was not perfect.  It would never be perfect.  This bird would need to be zoo placed.  He then proceeded to contain a vulture.  The bird was high up with its talons in the mesh screen on top of the smaller cage built inside to separate species.  The man I thought was a conservation officer tried to jump up and grab its tail to pull it down.  I screamed “Don’t you grab its tail to pull it down, you will break its back, never handle a bird like that.”  He looked at me nastily, and told his partner to get a net.  They netted the birds head and part of the shoulders (it was a large bird) and then they pushed him off of the side of the cage.  As the bird fell it flailed trying to stop itself from falling, then this man thrust his shoulder into the bird’s wing slamming it to a wooden post.  I was surprised the bird’s wing didn’t break. I continued to scream, “You’re going to break its wing stop being so brutal, you don’t know what you’re doing.” The entire time I was crying, it was the worst feeling being helpless.  I watched the birds trying to flee in terror, looking at me for help and I couldn’t.

My husband arrived in the middle of the vulture endeavor.  It was very upsetting for him to watch this happen to me.  He understood my dedication to the birds, and knew the helplessness I felt in being forced to watch them violently contain the birds.  The idea of what they were going to do to them once they had them was overwhelming.

I was asked for my ID and read my Miranda rights.  I asked where they were taking them, and they stated Don Bonica in Toms River.  He was a rehabilitator that was tied in with the state.  I told them I knew for a fact he took passerines (small birds like robins, blue jays, etc) and fed them to his raptors, and that he would kill all of the birds, and then make up some excuse of how they died or why he had to kill them.

One of the conservation officers assure me that none of the hawks would be killed, possibly only the smaller birds which he thought were not important.  I asked where Mr. Messy was, he was a lecture bird for educational purposes for children and adults.  The bird was a handicapped crow, the children loved seeing him, not only did it teach them about a species they could recognize on a daily basis, but it taught a lesson of being handicapped, and that was all part of life.  They accepted, and loved Mr. Messy.  They officer told me I couldn’t have a lecture bird (I had a special permit for education for him which the state refused to renew along with my State Permit).  The officer also told me that the handicapped bird had no right to live and would be put down.

I tried to phone my lawyer at the property, but did not get through, I could only leave a message.  He probably couldn’t understand me after all of that crying anyway.

After my Miranda Rights were read they told me I had to sign the paper on which he read me my rights.  I refused.  He again told me I had to sign it, I told him I didn’t have to sign anything and would not!  Then the officer told me to step over to him and explain to him the situation.  I said, “What situation?”  He said, “What this is all about, you need to tell me about it.”  I said, “I don’t have to tell you anything, I have done nothing wrong, and I’m not talking to you.”  He said condescending, “So are you exercising your right?” I said, “You’re damn straight.”  He said, “What do you have to say?”  I said, “Nothing!”.  He said, “So, you’re going to remain silent.”  I said, “Yup!”

The owner of the property showed up and spoke to one of the conservation officers and asked their rank and who they were.  He and my husband were asking questions on how Fish & Game would take care of the birds now.  Would they drive injured wild birds to rehabilitation centers since there was no one in our area?  He said no.  When asked what to do with the injured animals I was told to leave them out to die.  What a great lesson to teach our children.

The officer also expressed his opinion of how they refuse to help Seagulls.  He felt as though there were too many and they were not important.  Little does this nonintellectual conservation officer realize that all types of Gulls are important.  They are part of God’s cleanup crew, along with vultures and other scavengers.  What does he think our beaches would look like without them?  Every creature on this earth has its place and function ecologically on this planet.  Without these animals we wouldn’t be able to survive on this planet.  When they are all gone, we will be next.

We’re going to be wrapping up this story in my next post … hopefully you can see the importance of me getting this story out to people everywhere!

Check back in a couple days for the conclusion!

Technorati Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife

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