Shelter Reform Action Committee
A coalition of animal advocate organizations and concerned citizens
P.O. Box 268 · NY, NY 10028 · (212) 886-3700 · info@ShelterReform.org
visit our website: http://www.ShelterReform.org

P R E S S R E L E A S E
contact: Gary Kaskel (212) 876-0090
Barbara Stagno (914) 693-6559

Police Smother Dogs in Stifling Patrol Car Trunk
Animal advocates' protests that "standard procedure"
is inhumane fall on deaf ears -- lawsuit promised

8/5/99 -- Despite her desperate pleas and protestations, Ruby Thomas' two dogs were placed in the trunk of a police car in Brooklyn last Wednesday, July 28, to transport them to the Center for Animal Control (CACC) in Manhattan when her juvenile son was suspected of dog fighting. The son was not charged or cited, but the two dogs arrived at the CACC dead from asphyxiation after their trip in the closed trunk during last week's heat wave.

"I pleaded with them not to put my dogs, India and Tank, in the trunk when I heard what they planned to do," said Thomas. "It was ninety degrees out even though it was nine o'clock at night. I said, they'll die in there. Please let me take them in my car or pay for a taxi." But, according to Thomas, Police Officer Tacorante insisted it was "standard procedure"and there was "nothing to worry about."

Worse still, Ms. Thomas was told matter-of-factly by the CACC worker who broke the news to her that her dogs were dead on arrival that "it happens all the time."

Ironically, animal advocates from the Shelter Reform Action Committee (SRAC) had been requesting appointments to discuss this and other related inhumane animal policies with Yolanda Jiminez, Deputy Police Commissioner in charge of Community Affairs. Jiminez, also the chair of CACC's board of directors, refused to respond to SRAC's request and a complaint to her boss, Commissioner Howard Safir, was met with the same treatment.

When SRAC called Det. Judith Broiselle who is in charge of the police Canine Apprehension Unit and asked her if there were any policies on animal transport in severe weather, Det. Broiselle refused to answer and hung up.

SRAC co-chair, Gary Kaskel says that, "Police brass have shown a callous indifference to life and a Giuliani-style disrespect for the public they are supposed to serve. That officers should have disregarded Ms. Thomas' pleas and insisted on shutting those dogs in the trunk of a police car, claiming they were following 'standard procedure' smacks of the same immoral excuses offered by German officers during the World War II who were 'only following orders'. It may be a different scale, but it's the same mindset. It's simply a disgrace."

Necropsy reports obtained through the ASPCA reveal that the dogs had hemorrhaged through their mouths, stomach and intestines and their lungs were filled with fluid. "Those dogs died a horrible death," said Barbara Stagno, northeast director for In Defense of Animals, (IDA). "Everyone knows what it's like to endure even 90 seconds in the interior of a sweltering hot car. India and Tank were locked in the stifling trunk of a car during a heat wave and literally suffocated and broiled to death. The City must address this outrage immediately and implement a new and humane policy to transport dogs. This is simply unacceptable. If anyone else did this to their dog, they would be charged with animal cruelty, now a felony in New York State since new legislation was passed in July. Just because police are responsible for this, working under a contemptible policy, doesn't make it permissible."

"This would not have happened," said United Action for Animals President Julie Van Ness, "if the police had called animal control to transport the animals in a proper vehicle. But the Mayor refuses to fund 24 hour animal rescue service. It's really tragic and irresponsible."

SRAC has pledged to sponsor a lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Thomas, seeking to enjoin the police from continuing this policy. Other animal protection groups, including IDA and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have pledged to support this effort.

# # #

contact numbers:

Ruby Thomas - 718-789-2584 or 718-789-6048
79th Precinct C.O. Anthony Maniaci - 718-636-6611
Dep. Police Commissioner Yolanda Jiminez - 212-374-5323
Det. Judith Broiselle - 718-352-9252
Commissioner Howard Safir - 212-374-5410
CACC Exec. Dir. Marilyn Blohm - 212-442-2059

---