In 2015, Virginia Law Enforcement Once Again Embrace Terrorism

This week, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has announced the formation of the nation's first "Animal Law" unit that will function as part of the AG's office and spend as he says, "a portion of their time, as needed" to engage in prosecuting animal law cases in the state and will train local law enforcement on how to go after Virginia residents.  This fluff and mirrors sounds good but this group always existed informally.  Herring is just giving a little payback for the animal rights campaign donations he got.  The problem is, none of the people involved in this have any credentials in the animal field. In other words, they don't know jack about animals but they are going to use your own taxpayer money to come after you.

Leading this new state taxpayer funded group of vigilantes is animal rights extremist Michelle Welch who has no documented education in animals.  She does have a lot of fake puffery like being the "Vice President" of the Virginia Animal Fighting Taskforce.  It's fancy sounding but it means nothing.  This "task force" is a private company that was founded by high school dropout John Goodwin.  The John Goodwin.   The former member of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and convicted criminal with a record in five states.  That guy.  Turns out, he was exposed in a Wisconsin court in 2007 as a fake expert in dog fighting.  He was forced to admit, he's never seen a dog fight in his life.   What you should be really afraid of is the fact that this fake group is training law enforcement officers in their twisted views as to what constitutes animal fighting. 

"My goal is the abolition of all animal agriculture."

John "J.P." Goodwin, Manager of Animal Fighting Issues, HSUS

As the first act of this group, they will be partnering with Welch's pals at HSUS to send "fact sheets" to all Virginia's pet stores on the rights of consumers. The Humane Society of the United States, or HSUS as it's known is the worlds largest animal rights organization. What they are not, is an umbrella group for America's pet shelters. They in fact operate no pet shelters of any kind and never have. They are simply a group of Washington DC based lawyers who lobby for an all animal free vegan society.  They know nothing about pet stores and the breeders who supply them. 

While Virginia celebrates its animal rights domination, HSUS has taken a number of hits in other states in 2014.  Virginia based Feld Entertainment won a RICO Act lawsuit against them in federal court forcing them to a settlement.  HSUS and their buddies including the ASPCA and the Animal Welfare Institute had to pay the Ringling Bros circus $15.75 million and $9 million respectively after animal rights activists lied about how Ringling cares for their elephants.   Additionally Charity Navigator issued a donor advisory against the HSUS.

Aiding and abetting this new action is HSUS's new Virginia lobbyist, Matthew Gray.  Gray is a Virginia good ol' boy who has connection in the Republican Party and in the Virginia law enforcement field. What he doesn't have is any documented education in animals. His entire background is in "public safety" and running a large charity that is not animal related.

From his former bio: "Matt has significant experience in grassroots organizing and fundraising, having served as Director of Development for the Republican Party of Virginia." Again, he knows zippo about animals but he's got connections in the good ol' boy network to help whitewash HSUS's failing image.

As I have written about extensively in my first book, Staring the Dragon in the Eye: The Hidden Victims of Animal Extremists, and again in an article in 2013, Virginia is for No Animals Left, Virginia Animal Control Officers receive almost no credible training in animals.  As I wrote about previously, law enforcement nation wide receives their training from convicted criminals, exposed quacks, and sexual perverts.  What they don't receive is any proper training on animals from true animal experts.

Now Mark Herring is right.  Virginia law enforcement officers do need training in animal law, just not from this circle jerk.  To show what I mean, consider the following cases that I covered in my recent book, The Art of Terror:  Inside the Animal Rights Movement:

In Frederick County, Virginia, the Sheriff and his pals raided a purebred Arabian horse breeder who was an equine certified veterinarian.  The victim in this case was a  horse expert.  They used the Henneke Body Scale against the victim to declare that she was abusing animals.  The problem is, Dr. Henneke has issued a public statement refuting the use of the Henneke Scale in ANY animal cruelty or neglect case.  Additionally, the Frederick County Prosecutor used a West Virginia veterinarian as a witness to testify against the defendant in this case.   This witness was later sanctioned by the Virginia Board of Veterinary Medicine for illegally practicing medicine in Virginia without a permit.  That's the prosecution's witness!  

"Over the past decade, the Body Condition Scoring System for Horses (BCS) has become, in many if not most cases, the sole reason for seizure for neglect or abuse. The problem with this is that the BCS was not designed to reflect the health or well-being of the horse."
Dr. Henneke.

In Page County, the Sheriff invited in a California based vigilante squad run by guess what?  A high school dropout with no education in animals, to help him raid a dog breeder.  This group had no legal authority to come into Virginia and operate.  Many of the stolen dogs were then shipped out of Virginia for resale.  

In Virginia Beach, animal control brought a good Samaritan up on animal cruelty charges after she objected to their death rate at their shelter in a vicious form of payback.

Or how about Botetourt County, where a long time SPCA volunteer was brought up on animal cruelty charges because an animal rights veterinarian disagreed with her veterinarians diagnosis.  Get that?  She wasn't cruel to an animal.  She was treating the dog in accordance with what her vet told her to do.   In fact, this victim was so well loved in her community that local prosecutors refused to charge her.  But don't worry, Michelle Welch stepped in to rectify that and filed charges anyway. 

I will reiterate what I've said in the past.  Law enforcement needs to receive training on animal law from actual animal experts in their fields.  Until that finally happens, doubt and vigorously question every single case of "Animal Abuse" that you see prosecuted in Virginia.   Law enforcement has proven that they just can't be trusted when they throw their hats in with terrorists.  

Does a Virginia Sheriff Hang Out with Strippers?

Dear Virginia Legislators,

Happy "Independence" Day 2014!  I say that in quotes because Virginians have no independence.  Today we live under tyranny.  

In 2008, the Virginia state legislature passed an unconstitutional civil asset forfeiture law for animals.   Were you one of the ones that violated the United States and Virginia constitutions? If so, you should be ashamed of yourself. Thanks to your efforts, animal rights terrorists are operating state wide seizing and destroying animals and their owners lives, for ideology and profit. The sponsor of that illegal bill famously stated that "we have to pass it to see how it will be implemented." My, my how familiar those words ring. Perhaps it is because Nancy Pelosi copied them just a few years later.

Over the Fourth of July weekend while Americans everywhere celebrated Independence Day and LIBERTY, a Virginian lost their liberty.  As a member of the Virginia legislature, you are to blame. You brought about this situation when you passed a law stripping all Virginians of their constitutional rights to property.    In Page County during the Independence Holiday, Sheriff John B. Thomas, turned over the powers of his office to an out of state animal rights vigilante from the "Animal Rescue Corps."    This group, known as ARC, claims they "save" animals.   What they really do is conduct terrorism raids for profit. ARC does not operate an animal shelter.  They have no facilities.  They are simply a group of adrenaline junkies, led by a high school dropout, and backed by Hollywood money. They raid people for fun and kicks and because it gets their leader, Scotlund Haisley, better lap dances with strippers. Why is Sheriff Thomas hanging out with a man that destroys American lives just so he can get premier stripper services?

The Animal Rescue Corps is founded out of Fairfax, California, though they operate out of a east coast base in Washington, DC.   Crossing state lines into the Commonwealth of Virginia to conduct an animal raid is a violation of the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, no matter if Sheriff John "I hang with stripper's pals" Thomas invited them in or not.   As of 2012, Scotlund Haisley pays himself over $98,000 to lead these raids.  I wonder how much he's raking in today here in 2014?   The animals that Haisley steals are usually turned over to his pals who resell them through their non-profits while Haisley simply rakes in the profits from the raid itself and preens for the camera.  Back in the old fashioned crime days, these people were usually called "fences."  Today they are celebrated and lauded.  

This turn of events isn't surprising given how Sheriff Thomas is padding his office's budget with grants  and "equitable sharing" from the federal Civil Asset Forfeiture Fund and a grant from the USDA to buy two new patrol cars.   You may wonder why the USDA, the Department of Agriculture is funding law enforcement nationwide when that's not their job or mission.   It comes as no surprise to me, since this agency is already buying sub-machine guns to go after that felonious lettuce menacing our nation.    

But back to that federal asset forfeiture.  Sheriff John Thomas wrote a Memorandum of Understanding regarding these new federal asset forfeiture funds on December 13, 2013.  He stated, "There are no local tax dollars so there is no fiscal impact other than a potential General Fund savings to taxpayers."   Nice redirection.  He's right, these aren't "local tax dollars."  Instead, they consist of money taken away from taxpayers in other jurisdictions.  Not nice.  Not nice at all.  Money taken from "local" tax payers is also put into this federal fund and distributed across the nation to local law enforcement to ramp up their militarization.  But what does he want this money for?  Besides a brand new firing range, he wants new equipment for his sniper team.   Sniper team?   Why does Page County have a sniper team?  Have you seen Page County lately?   Page County is a depopulated back waters mountainous county with only 24,000 residents.  What the hell does the Sheriff need a sniper team for?   Are they hunting deer for him?  

This Independence Day, I demand that Sheriff Thomas and his animal rights pals respect American liberty, the rule of law, and due process for all.  Put down the guns, stop the militarization, and defund that sniper team.  You don't need it.  

Virginia Sheriff Invites Dirtbag Vigilante to Raid Citizen

Sheriff John B. Thomas of Page County has violated the Virginia and United States Constitutions, and the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act by inviting in a dirtbag animal rights activist into Page County, Virginia to raid a local citizen. Scotlund Haisey of the “Animal Rescue Corps” has never graduated high school and has no demonstrated education in animals or the law, yet he runs his own private SWAT Team stealing animals away from Americans for profit. What part of that is right or legal? 

Scotlund Haisley is featured in my upcoming book, The Art of Terror: Inside the Animal Rights Movement, for his illegal raids of pet breeders nationwide. Haisley is currently defending against a $5 million dollar lawsuit in South Dakota for his illegal raid of a dog breeder. This is just one article on his illegal raid activities and impersonation of law enforcement. In the South Dakota lawsuit it came out that Haisley likes to conduct raids for the thrills and kicks but also because it gets him better lap dances from strippers. Just what kind of company does the Page County Sheriff like to keep? Haisley was also accused of stealing two horses in Iowa. Getting better lap dances from strippers has nothing to do with proper care of animals. 

According to this article in the Daily News-Record, Haisley conducted this raid in Page County Virginia, yet he has no law enforcement authority, no education in evidence collection or the law, and is so uneducated he didn't learn to read until he was 16. Why did the Page County Sheriff allow an out of state private vigilante to conduct a law enforcement raid? In the article on his Virginia raid, Haisley said, "A lot of suffering ended here today."

You might think that is a GOOD thing, until you know the outcome of his raid of Lasandra Walter of Tennessee. Haisley raided her and stole all of her valuable exotic birds. He described her raid as, "These are the worst conditions for birds I've ever seen," except for the fact that he has no education in proper bird care to be making that statement. One of Haisley’s raid members was Beth Lindenau who runs The Bailey Foundation out of Maryland. The world exploded in horror when 40 dead animals were later found at Beth Lindenau’s house in Columbia, Maryland. There were 40 dead animals in cages and another 19 dead animals in the freezer. Electricity, heat, and water had been turned off and Lindenau walked away from the townhouse and was living elsewhere. She didn't give a damn about those animals. Some of those dead animals were probably the ones stolen from Lasandra Walters. Just how are they better off now? The birds owned by Lasandra Walter, an elderly cancer patient, were alive and well under her care. Under Haisley’s pals care, animals DIE. 

Lest you think I’m exaggerating about this case and point out that in the Page County Raid, the "state veterinarian" deemed the conditions deplorable, you should know that the Virginia State Veterinarians office was infiltrated by animal rights activists a long time ago. I discussed the infiltration of the Virginia State Veterinarians’ office by animal rights kooks in my last book, Staring the Dragon in the Eye: The Hidden Victims of Animal Extremists. 

What I want to know is, where are the actual licensed and educated animal professionals in the Page County Raid? Where are the actual professional law enforcement officers upholding the law? If conditions were so bad that they justified a raid of a private citizen, where is the professionalism on the part of the Sheriff's Office in conducting this case? Why did he have to go out of state to get a private vigilante team run by a man with a history of lawsuits to conduct the raid? 

It’s about time that Virginia citizens rise up and demand that their elected Sheriff’s obey the law and defend the Constitution before they come for your animals. Out of state vigilantes have no business conducting raids and seizures of Virginia property.