My new friend tried get an interview with Mr. Neill, but Mr. Neill declined. What he did manage to get, however, was a copy of the original complaint made by Mr. Neill, the one both he and his photographer insisted he had never made, even though in court, Liana Teague of Hernando County Animal Control, said he had.
Mr Neil...who never set foot in my house, my barn, or my cattery, and who conducted our brief interview while standing on my lawn or while seated at a picnic table by my driveway, said this to AC on September 16, 2009, when he called the number that I had so foolishly given him:
"The complaint stated that a number of the animals are emaciated, do not have proper shelter and water. The areas where animals are kept have large amounts of feces and urine, and the stench is overwhelming. The rescue and its owners/operators are having difficulty feeding and caring for these animals due to financial hardships."
WOW...Mr. Neill who is supposed to be reporting the news, instead, CREATES it!!!
Enter Mr. Tossona, and you have the perfect storm. What is interesting to note, is that Tossona's report after the first visit, jives with what I have already said here in my story. He writes about he grass being too high, the bird cages needing cleaning, the kennels being stacked in the garage, and the sebaceous cyst on the donkey's leg. He has concerns about the mare, and this was when I handed him the card from my Vet, if he had any question about either of them...but he does not call until the 23rd. That the mare's true age of 30 never manages to be taken into account by the newspaper, the people in the courtroom, or even by the Vet who euthanizes her, is really beyond me, because certainly Tossona was given the opportunity to verify this.
Most important of all on this visit, though, is that Tossona states that no animals were found to be in immediate distress. They all had shelter, food, and water. Why does he return the next day, the day he gets my husband to sign the bogus "Order of Care" that is clearly meant for my signature?
Elsewhere in the report, it is mentioned that when they (AC) were there on September 25, they met my Vet who was vaccinating all of the animals, as well as treating a couple of them for skin issues.
Why was this fact never mentioned again, causing the dogs to be vaccinated yet another time after they were seized just weeks later?
Why is it mentioned on October 20, that the cats with skin issues had not been treated at all, when in fact they had been back on the 25th of September, when AC had been present while all of the animals were evaluated (in their own words) and treated by a Vet?
Why is Pace lying, saying the cages are again stacked when this had been corrected, and was never mentioned in any visit subsequent to the first visit on September 16th?
Why does Logan Neill repeatedly write that my animals were malnourished when the report never says anything of the kind, in fact it mentions that there was food several times? Why did he write that we were uncooperative, when each visit in the record starts with the mention that we either greeted AC, or opened the gate for them and let them go wherever they pleased?
Why did both AC and Neill say in the newspaper and in court that we refused food, when the report clearly says that we accepted free hay from AC on the 17th of September? Note how by then we are being referred to as suspects by AC Officer John Tossona.
Why were these blatantly false allegations deliberately perpetuated by Logan Neill, picked up by other publications like Hernando News Source, which published on October 22nd that "multiple animals were found to be neglected or cruelly treated in the initial inspection of the property", when no such thing had ever been written in the initial report? Why did no one ever take the time to determine the veracity of these claims?
How does a situation that is somewhat still manageable on the 16th of September, spiral so out of control to the point where I am turned into a monster and thrown at the mercy of a kangaroo courtroom, while Logan Neill writes that my animals are eating their own feces? The answer is that this was a completely fabricated lie, a story concocted for the mutual benefit of a handful of ruthless people...completely at the expense of innocent and defenseless citizens and animals who did nothing at all but happen to be there.
I have since learned that Brooksville is one of the most corrupt Counties in Florida. The police training is minimal, with no kind of psychological evaluation at all. There is an atmosphere of secrecy and a history of Good Ol' Boy racism and corruption.
The Sheriff's office owns the County jail, and they are now trying to officially take over Animal Control as well, which has merged with Zoning. Liana Teague has been laterally promoted to a position for which she has no experience, even though the University of Florida conducted an investigation into the practices at AC in Brooksville, and found ample evidence of serial animal cruelty and neglect.
That is how they roll, apparently, in Hernando County. If I had to drive 2000 miles to feel safe, then so be it. Who knows what would have happened next if I had stayed?
