by Jim Beers

There is perhaps no other area of American jurisprudence, with the possible exception of “Endangered” Species and Wilderness, that was begun with high-sounding and almost moral goals that soon morphed into increasingly evil results than the Animal “Rights”/Animal Welfare body of laws and regulations at all three (federal, state, local) levels of government. I want to go beyond the apparent effects of:

- Increased costs of medical testing.
- Negative effects on state wildlife programs.
- Negative effects on dog owners and dog trainers.
- Increased costs for livestock/dairy operators.
- Unmanaged wild horse and predator populations.
- Increased costs to private horse owners.
- Attempts to prevent furbearer management and the use of fur and hides.
- Uncontrolled seal, cormorant, coyote, gull, etc. depredations.
- Hidden agendas and actions on matters like gun control and banning hunting.
- Subversion of federal and state natural resource agencies, Departments and academic institutions.
- Alliances with environmental extremists from wolf and grizzly bear protection to lead bullet and lead fishing tackle bans as ways to make such sports more difficult, more expensive and more hazardous.
- Teachers and media indoctrinating the young with lies, propaganda and misinformation about wild and domestic animals and especially their interface with humans and human society.
- Federal overreach into the area of animal ownership and Constitutional rights of property owners, especially while disregarding federal responsibilities like the importation of dangerous and destructive animals such as pythons and Asian carp.
- State government disregard for dog owners, livestock operators, and rural residents’ legitimate rights and concerns.
- The hypocrisy of remaining silent for many years about protected government wolves killing thousands of dogs (watchdogs, hunting dogs, herding dogs, pets, show dogs, hound dogs, service dogs, etc.) and then creating a public outcry when hunters request authority to use dogs to hunt wolves because it would be “inhumane”.
- Federal, state and local costs of programs, employees and operations.
- Increasing police powers and ruthlessness (no-knock warrants/unreturned seizures/incarcerations and threats/etc.) by enforcers of animal laws and regulations.

I ask you to consider the following true scenario.

March 2012

A lady, almost as old as me (I am 73) lives with an elderly and sick man in upstate New York. She has run a kennel on her wooded acreage since 1985. She has kennel runs with houses and dogs that are mostly beloved remnants of the kennel business. While two have either a deformed leg or a deformed paw, the dogs are all healthy, well-cared for and loved. The dogs she keeps over the local limit were grandfathered in with the Zoning Commission in 1985 and her dogs are neither visible, noisy or a nuisance to others.

Although the anonymous allegation was not a criminal offense, the police broke into her property, cutting a chain and knocking down a posted wooden gate and 4x4 post at the top of her driveway. The officer proceeded to execute multiple illegal searches with other police and civilians prior to obtaining a highly defective search warrant. (This search warrant alone is enough to throw the case out.)

What was happening was, an animal rights’ extremist police officer broke into the property under false pretenses, without probable cause or a warrant and destroyed her life. After doing (multiple) illegal searches, he claimed she had two dogs that were injured with broken legs and refused to take them to a veterinarian. This five year-old dog was happy, very active and healthy, but born with a deformed leg. He wasn't in any pain or suffering from anything. He just looked different. Although the dog was examined by a vet the first day he was unlawfully seized, without her knowledge or permission or court order, four days after he was unlawfully seized, another vet amputated his leg to the shoulder and provided other services. The vet lied and claimed she no longer owned the dog and he could do whatever he wanted. He then lied again and said it was an emergency. They mutilated the dog. They said he almost died because he retained fluid under the incision. The female was also a five year-old happy, active and healthy dog.

She wasn't in any pain or suffering from anything. She was born with two deformed toes where the nails grew vertically. The officer wrote in the papers that she (and all the other dogs) were emaciated, filthy with feces and urine, dog run muddy, feces and urine all over, dogs have no houses, etc. He said she was in so much pain she limped all the time because she couldn't put any pressure on her paw. Pictures belie all of these lies. She too was examined by a vet the first day she was unlawfully seized, and without the owners’ knowledge or permission or court order, four days after she was unlawfully seized, the second vet mutilated her by amputating her paw.

When the police finally got the search warrant (after seeing what it should say) it authorized not only the seizure of the two dogs that were outside with the alleged broken legs (their purported probable cause), but also unlawfully authorized them to go through her entire house and take all the files on her dogs, an electric bill, etc. They took files they don’t acknowledge taking. They went through everything in her basement, kitchen, bedrooms, living room, etc. As the defective search warrant stated – they were looking for violations - things to create probable cause.

They acknowledged taking the rabies certificates, yet charged her for the dogs not having rabies shots. Then the Assistant District Attorney lied in court and told the judge the certificates had expired. She told the judge they expired in a few weeks and she had already made arrangements for a vet to come out and give new shots. They stopped and called the vet to confirm it – and then told him not to bother coming. As a result, the dogs never got their shots. There are dog houses in all the runs, yet she is charged for not having houses. Subsequent to the seizure of the two dogs, the police continued to trespass and execute warrantless searches, accompanied by civilians, police, and employees from the town and government agencies.

Adult Protective Services, accompanied by four officers, came without authority or complaint and used threats and intimidation in an attempt to get her to sign all her dogs over to the police. They also tried to intimidate her 85 year-old companion to go with them and they would take him to the emergency room.

She was unlawfully thrown in jail a few times. On June 1, 2012, in county jail, she sustained multiple injuries (causing serious medical problems, a traumatic brain injury, and severe claustrophobia).

She vows she will not let the police get away with this. She even has a TV news video recorded from a helicopter that shows the runs are huge, clean and dry, full of dog houses, etc. The two judges that went along with the lies and also refused to appoint an attorney for her have since recused themselves.

All of this was almost 3 years ago now. She is sick, traumatized and has been treated unconscionably by animal right’s laws and zealotry that is as unjust and disgraceful as any human rights violations under a dictatorship. The America that was founded on HUMAN liberty and freedom has descended into a dark night of pagan animal worship as a tool for police state oppression in the name of dictator “wannabees”. Here is some more of this tragedy, in her own words:

• I had no lawyer the entire time they did all the damage to me. The judge REFUSED to appoint one. I attended all appearances alone, standing in front of the judge while he and the ADA did everything to me that was either contrary to law or misapplication of law, and even fabricated a statute number and phony text. I told the judge on the record that I had the right to an attorney and he replied, "And I have a right to move this case forward." And he did.
  By denying me an attorney, the judge denied me (among other things) the right to file pre-trial motions (NYS Criminal Procedure Law §255) within 45 days of an arraignment that would have resulted in a dismissal of the case as a matter of law and thus return of the dogs.
• Dismissal of the case would have prevented all the damages, including, but not limited to, the physical and emotional injuries to myself and my companion, death of dogs and litters of puppies in their charge, damage to my property, loss of income and now facing loss of my home and becoming homeless.
  On the record, I told the court what they were doing was contrary to law and illegal. The ADA replied that he didn't care. He was going to get all my dogs no matter what.
• Two highly defective search warrants. The second one was authorized April 29, 2012, when no application for that warrant existed at that time. The application wasn't signed and sworn-to until the following day.
• The perjury is endless. In various documents and testimony (they appear in the March 6, 2012 and April 30, 2012 Applications for Search Warrants, a deposition, testimony June 15, 2012 - Security Bond Hearing, and Motion to Dismiss hearing in 2013), the officer provides different versions of what happened after he broke into the property.
• All are fabricated and all still describe illegal searches.
• Officers killed a newborn puppy, and then later unlawfully seized the very young 12 remaining pups. That's $26,000 that was to go towards my property taxes. I am now going to lose my home and property.
  The judge unlawfully authorized an animal rights veterinarian (the same who illegally mutilated the two dogs) to come here, examine all my dogs, and look for signs of wrong-doing and create probable cause – a witch hunt.
  Search warrants with no probable cause were granted for applications that stated his request to search the entire property, house and buildings to look for violations – a fishing expedition.
• Without statutory authority and contrary to law, the judge unlawfully authorized the police and civilians to come to my property every day to maintain my dogs. There was no probable cause and there were no charges. (Note: The judge in the new court stated he reviewed the file and the first judge had no authority to do the things he did to me. But then this judge turned corrupt as well.)
• These people brought other people to let them see all my dogs and pick out what dogs they wanted to have. The police refused to remove them from my property.
• My property and driveway were destroyed by these people with their trucks and trailers.
• They destroyed the dog runs with misuse of wood shavings, tarps and hay.
• Without statutory authority and no probable cause, the judge authorized the seizure of all my dogs on April 29, 2012. I was a breeder for 43 years, a legal business at that location for 28 years.
• Instead of removing males from runs where females were in heat, these people allowed the dogs to breed. I was not allowed to move the dogs – I was told I would get arrested. I have photos of dogs “tied”.
• One day, a young girl showed up with no other volunteers or police. She called the head of the rescue and said one of my dogs was pregnant and would drop her puppies any moment. The police and woman arrived with no court order to remove the dog. The following day, four police officers came with a court order. I repeatedly told them the dog wasn’t pregnant – just in full weight (a little fat). I had to explain how dogs only get pregnant when they’re in heat, and this house dog had not been in heat or bred and was not pregnant. Plus, the dog had been checked by their vet ten days before while they were seizing pregnant dogs at that time. They left without the dog despite the court order.
• There were other incidents that showed these people had no clue about the breed, let alone management of a large facility. One was giving the dogs tennis balls before leaving for the day. They left before the fights ensued and balls were chewed to shreds and swallowed.
• Another was removing a male from a two-male run for no logical reason, and then putting him back with the other male a few days later. I kept telling the officer to stop them because the dogs will kill each other. The officer said “They are the experts. We’ll see tomorrow if any of the dogs got killed.” Due to aggressive posturing, they realized they had to remove the dog … and then were unable to get him out.
• The judge illegally authorized an Order of Protection. The following day, they fabricated charges of contempt of the Order (I have a witness and photographic proof they’re lying), and I was sent to County jail June 1, 2012, contrary to law by the judge's brother (also a judge) without my having an attorney, arraignment or hearing, where I subsequently sustained multiple injuries, a traumatic brain injury and severe claustrophobia. In August, 2013, another judge threw out the Order of Protection in its entirety without a hearing for being misapplication of law. Decision dated August 30, 2013.
• The DA’s office misused tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars by illegally representing the not-for-profit organizations that removed my dogs.
• Ten days after they removed a dog, she allegedly suddenly went into renal failure. Without my permission, the judge ordered the dog be euthanized and cremated. I was prevented from getting a second opinion on her condition and prognosis and once euthanized, I was unable to get an autopsy or have her body to bury her.
• I was physically assaulted twice (and sustained injuries) and the police refused to press charges.
• I have a CD recording of the call made to the Police Department dispatcher with a complaint of a large amount of dogs. Nothing is said that there's anything wrong with the dogs - just a large amount. The DA failed to provide the CD with Discovery (Brady) material. (He finally produced it at the Motion to Dismiss hearing.) I am not mentioned at all. At the very end, at the conclusion of the conversation, the caller makes a precautionary statement mentioning me for the first time stating the reason I have a lot of dogs is because I was raped by two State Troopers. NOTE: I have never in my life been raped.
• I filed Notices of Claim.
• All my dogs and puppies were unlawfully removed by June 1, 2012. No probable cause.
• I have photographs of them dragging the dogs along the ground like sleds because the dogs wouldn’t walk with them. One dog was so traumatized; she lost control of her bowels as she was being dragged. I have those pictures as well.
• On June 12, 2012, prior to the commencement of an unlawful Security Bond hearing, I was removed from court by ambulance due to problems associated with the injuries I sustained when I was unlawfully sent to county jail. As I was being wheeled out on the stretcher, I was handed a piece of paper with a name and phone number and told I have now been appointed an attorney.
• I met the attorney just prior to the case being called on June 15, 2012. He told the judge that the court did not send him a complete file, that we had just met and not discussed the case; he is not familiar with this type of law and has never done such a case before. He asked for an adjournment. The judge REFUSED the adjournment, thereby preventing him from submitting a procedural reply brief to the unlawfully submitted Petition drafted by the District Attorney’s office. The lawyer, having no knowledge of the case or law was obviously unable to cross-examine the DA’s witnesses. I did pass him a paper with a question to ask the vet that was, “Is it possible the dogs were born deformed and were not injured with broken legs as accused?” The vet replied, “Yes.”
• After all the due process and constitutional rights violations were done to me, and after all the damage was done to me, the dogs and my property, the two judges recused themselves from the case.
• The case was transferred to another court where there is a major conflict of interest and the new judge refuses to recuse himself and agree to a change of venue. (One of the defendants on my Notice of Claim is the municipal counsel and previous judge of the new court.)
• The judge issued a bench warrant because I had to go to the Emergency Room under doctor’s orders because I had passed out. (One of the medical problems from the June 1, 2012 injuries is I pass out frequently.) He said I was a liar and doesn’t believe I am sick – despite the letters submitted from my doctor. I was forced to make appearances under the threat of a bench warrant and had to come to court even though I had been hospitalized, had surgery and hadn’t had the stitches removed yet. Another time, I had to be walked out of the courthouse by a court officer (she held me up and supported me so I wouldn’t fall), and had to go straight to the emergency room.
• The attorney appointed by the original court used this as an opportunity to withdraw from the case.
• The new judge appointed his friend from Legal Aid. The judge worked at Legal Aid for 20 years prior to becoming a judge.
• Lawyer is incompetent and ineffective – more like an accomplice to the prosecutor.
• In 26 months, I have never met with him to discuss the details of the case that occurred prior to his appointment in the new court. He met with me for one hour prior to drafting the Motion to Dismiss and we discussed the illegal searches prior to obtaining a search warrant. He didn't want to discuss all the many other causes that existed to dismiss the case. The Motion to Dismiss he submitted to the court includes no causes to dismiss at all! He never mentioned the illegal searches. He made up a cause yet didn’t develop it in the motion. I asked the judge to submit an amended motion and he refused to allow it. Motion was obviously denied. Had the motion included all the causes (as mandated by CPL), the case would have had to be dismissed as a matter of law.
• I have not heard from the lawyer in 12 months.
• Marsden Motion – although it is drafted, I have not submitted it because I am too sick to attend a hearing. I am attaching it as an exhibit only for the purpose for you to see how incompetent and ineffective the lawyer is. (see exhibit 5 – Marsden Motion)
• The lawyer refused to meet with me to discuss what happened prior to his being appointed. I complained to the judge and he said it was OK because he’s a good lawyer.
• The lawyer never met with me to discuss the upcoming trial. He said he doesn’t have to because he knows how he’s going to defend the case. (Not familiar with what happened. No witnesses. No investigations. Nothing. Nada.) I complained to the judge that the lawyer refuses to meet with me to discuss the case and prepare for trial. The judge said that’s OK because he’s a good lawyer.
• Jury selection and trial was to begin January 13, 2014. I passed out again the night before. The doctor (specialist) ordered me to go to the Emergency Room because we don’t know why I keep passing out. I immediately emailed the lawyer so he would see it in the morning. I explained what happened and told him I probably wouldn’t be able to make it to court that afternoon. When I came home from the hospital, there was an email from the lawyer that the judge issued another bench warrant and won’t remove it unless I get admitted to the hospital.
• I haven’t heard from my lawyer since --- it’s been 12 months.
• I mailed a note to the lawyer February 2014 telling him if he can’t reach me by email, I am either at doctor appointments or in the hospital under my name or my companion’s. My companion (85 years old) was diagnosed with brain cancer and I stay with him at the hospital 24/7 while he’s undergoing chemotherapy and observation. I never received a reply.
• I have proof of everything I say.

Three years of pure hell and still no resolution. Can this be the America I grew up in and served for decades? But the title of this piece referred to “Perverse Incentives”, so what does that mean?

Consider the recent man in Staten Island, NY that weighed around 350 lbs. and was arrested by four armed police officers for selling individual untaxed cigarettes. He later died but a great uncivil uproar erupted when accusations that the white police officers, under the direct control of a black female sergeant, used an illegal “chokehold” to subdue him. The police were castigated for such violent actions on such an “insignificant and non-violent” offense. But the police had been ordered by superiors up to and including the Mayor to strictly enforce this particular “petty offense”.

Why were they ordered to enforce “silly little offenses” with all the force at their command? Why is there no attempt to punish those who issue such orders or demand compliance with such policies? The answer is government creates its own “Perverse Incentive”.

Government (federal, state and local) loves “sin” taxes (alcohol, tobacco, etc.) Government has raised the taxes on tobacco to astronomical levels ostensibly to please the anti-smoking lobby but in the process has discovered what every blackmailer in the world realizes; “if they pay once, they’ll pay again: if they paid this much, they’ll pay even more the next time.” And just like blackmailers, the government lusts for more and more money to the point that they send armed and trained officers into the streets with the same orders they have for murderers and rapists: only the real “Incentive” just like British soldiers just before the Revolutionary War is to “COLLECT THE KING’S (or Mayor’s) EVER INCREASING TAXES”!

Consider also the Gas Tax Increases being touted throughout the US as I write but focus on Minnesota where I live.

- Gasoline is taxed in Minnesota BY THE GALLON. In other words when gas prices are high, you burn fewer gallons and therefore LESS TAX IS COLLECTED. When gas prices are low, you burn more gallons and MORE TAX IS COLLECTED.

- A sensible government would certainly work toward lower gas prices because: 1. they collect MORE TAXES, and 2. People travel more and businesses make more profit and consider new business opportunities due to reduced transportation costs thereby creating MORE TAXES.

- But Minnesota, like the current federal government has a strong socialist/environmentalist bent so they reject the foregoing scenario as they seek to pass a new additional SALES TAX on the sale of gasoline. This would be collected on the COST OF THE GASOLINE thereby INCREASING THE TAXES COLLECTED, THE HIGHER THE COST OF THE GASOLINE. So instead of working for lower gas prices and more citizen/business welfare, government would shift its goal toward HIGHER AND HIGHER PRICES FOR GASOLINE. A “Perverse Incentive” if ever there was one!

Can anyone envision the day when some guy by a traffic light in a trench coat whispers to a stopped driver. “PSSST buddy want to buy a quart of untaxed gasoline?” Will undercover officers leap from the bushes and grab the guy in the trench coat and call in a drone to take out the driver speeding away down the road? Will we blame those officers for doing what they are told and trained to do? Will we blame or go after the millionaire, retired Governor that passed the taxes with the “PERVERSE INCENTIVES”?

The animal rights outrage that began this article is all masked in that philosophy best displayed in those “Poor Puppy, Send Money” ads for “Humane” this and that. When we elevate animals above human health, Constitutional Rights and Protections and the just activities of American citizens (especially the old and helpless) we are a disgrace to our forefathers and our offspring. The lady in New York still has no lawyer, no money for her taxes, no dogs and no peace. Who is to blame?

The Animal Rights “Perverse Incentive” is for government to continue manufacturing these dramas that newspapers love so much for all the do-gooders to send money, support more police funding, pass more laws and write more regulations while grinding the old and helpless into the ground.
God help this innocent lady and God help us all.

Jim Beers
20 January 2015

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Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.

Jim Beers is available to speak or for consulting. You can receive future articles by sending a request with your e-mail address to: jimbeers7@comcast.net