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.