The Special
Investigations Unit (SIU) functions as the investigative
arm of LCA. The SIU team is focused on validating
information, detecting suspect activity, and exposing the
illegal or unethical activities and reporting them to
local, state and federal authorities for prosecution or
other disposition.
The information obtained in our investigations will be
used in developing campaigns, public education and
outreach, and in drafting legislation that would bring
lasting changes for the animals.
Precedent
Setting Cockfighting Victory!
Ex-Sheriff Sentenced to 19 months in prison!
December 18, 2009 CLICK HERE
FOR INFO
Last Chance For Animals is widely known for investigations that
have exposed horrible cruelty and misuse of animals everywhere.
From exposing illegal companion animal consumption, the mass
slaughter of deer by the National Parks Services at Gettysburg,
to the first ever conviction of USDA licensed B dealers leading
to maximum prison terms for three people, LCA is committed to
bringing these issues to the forefront and effecting change for
the animals.
Our investigations may include any of the following activities:
Data
Analysis
Interviews
Research
Surveillance
Undercover Operations
Working with law enforcement
The scope of LCA's investigations includes, but is not limited
to:
Circus
cruelty
Pet
theft / B Dealers
Pound
Seizure
Puppy
mills
Vivisection
Recent Investigations
Lake Elsinore
Investigation
On June 19th 2009 an LCA SIU investigator accompanied The
Director of Animal Friends of the Valley, Willa Bagwell and
their humane officers to a residence in a quiet neighborhood in
Lake Elsinore, CA. Based on our complaint and investigation, the
Animal Friends of the Valley raided the individual’s home and
seized 34 dogs and puppies and transported them to their
shelter.
LCA’s Special Investigations Unit had been hunting for this
distributor for months. The distributor specialized in “designer
breeds” of puppies that sold for up to $2,500 retail. But
because the individual operated under the radar and without any
local County or USDA licensing, she was difficult to uncover.
Back in September of 2008, during our investigation into the
origins of puppies sold in Los Angeles pet stores, LCA had
received information of an individual who had a long history of
selling sick puppies to various “boutiques.” This kind of pet
store caters to a high-end clientele with many well known
celebrities amongst their customers. The puppies are advertised
and sold as originating from loving homes and supposedly hand
raised. However, what we discovered at the residence in Lake
Elsinore was the antithesis of what the customers had been told.
As you can see by the video evidence, the yard looked more like
a garbage dump. It was a mine field of dog and rat feces in
amongst beer bottles and garbage. There was clutter strewn
about. Broken down vehicles and appliances were some of the
items set haphazardly around the property.
Once the raid had been executed we learned that the individual
was the middle-man for this dubious enterprise. The puppies
distributed were bred in the surrounding area. The distributor
would then take possession of them when they were only a couple
weeks old and raise them until they were sent off to pet stores
in the Southland. Though the distributor denied breeding dogs,
we found a couple of 2 day old pugs with their mother on the
premises. We had uncovered a filthy breeding facility. There
were basset hounds, pugs, Japanese Chins, a Rottweiler, cocker
spaniels and terriers, living in cages or cramped, wretched
conditions.
The Lake Elsinore Fire Department responded to the scene as did
the local Sheriff. The distributor was told they would be
charged with numerous violations of the California Animal
welfare act. Animal Friends of the Valleys had to bring in
additional staff in order to process the 34 puppies/dogs that
were rescued from the deplorable conditions at the residence.
The puppies were taken by the professional staff at Animals
friends where they received proper medical care and meals.
Unfortunately several puppies were harboring the European Parvo
virus and eventually succumbed to the disease despite the heroic
efforts of Animal friends of the Valleys to save them.
Because of the investigative efforts of LCA several puppies were
given the chance of enjoying a normal life. With your support we
will continue to expose the callous greedy citizens amongst us
who think nothing of making money off the suffering of innocent
animals. LCA needs your support to go after these criminals no
matter where they live. Nobody is too big or too small for LCA’s
SIU. This facility was in a middle class neighborhood in
Southern California. There is a Church on one side and the
library is directly across the street. This can and does happen
anywhere, maybe even next door to you. Cruelty is cruelty,
whether it is a mill with 600 dogs or a backyard slumlord
breeder. Please contact us if you
know of a puppy mill operation that is breaking the law.
In August of 2005, an LCA SIU undercover investigator met with
Agents from the FBI, OIG and a US Attorney in Virginia to
discuss our cockfighting investigation into the “Little Boxwood
Sportsman Club” in Stanley, VA.
At “Boxwood” our investigator had witnessed illegal gambling and
other activities associated with organized animal cruelty. Based
on his report, the authorities opened a joint criminal
investigation into Boxwood in conjunction with LCA, the FBI and
the Virginia OIG. Our operative, working with undercover agents
from these agencies, infiltrated Boxwood posing as gamblers and
cock fighters.
Boxwood, one of the oldest names in cockfighting in the country,
had been around for nearly 70 years. “The cockpit” attracted
people from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New
Jersey, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
West Virginia and Virginia. Even a congressman from California
was known to visit the pit. In order to attend, all one had to
do was purchase a “membership” at the gate from the Virginia
Gamefowl Breeders Association [through this case, the VGBA was
disbanded]. For a nominal fee, one could purchase a membership
and any individual could gamble on the fights or fight chickens
themselves. It was common for families with young children to
make a day of the events there.
Over the next 18 months LCA’s undercover operative made 39 trips
to the infamous pit. Cockfighting is a cruel, gruesome event.
Our investigator witnessed roosters whose bodies had been
slashed by razor sharp “gaffs,” resulting in severe injuries if
not immediate death. He said, “On numerous occasions I saw birds
with perforated air sacs, bleeding and struggling to breathe.”
The fights at Boxwood would last 3 to 5 minutes in the main
cage. If a bird survived in that arena, it would be tossed into
the “drag pit” to finish their fight to the death.
During the investigation, LCA’s operative wondered why the
activities at Boxwood had not been stopped by the Page County
Sheriff’s Department. To get to Boxwood, our investigator had
driven past a deputy sheriff’s residence, right down the street
from the cockfighting ring. Eventually one of the agencies
investigators recorded the “cockpits” organizers describing how
he bribed the local Sheriff to continue their operation. In the
secretly recorded conversation, a local resident, Albert Taylor
[later convicted] described as a long time local member of the
Republican Party, mentions the police protection to several
cockpit organizers and the undercover agent: “The only thing
Presgraves told me is his position hasn’t changed. We don’t have
to worry about the Sheriff investigating or shutting down the
pit. I’m sure if he [Sheriff Presgraves] don’t get pressure too…
I’m sure if he gets any pressure, we’ll know unless somebody
hangs onto his fu**in’ elbow.” Taylor added, “[to protect
Boxwood] I’ll make a donation… and he can put that in his
coffers.”
Former Page County Sheriff
Daniel Presgraves
The information and undercover video of bird fighting and
illegal gambling conducted at Boxwood that was obtained by LCA
and State and Federal investigators, lead to a historic raid on
the facility on May 29, 2007. The operators of Boxwood were
arrested and charged with a myriad of crimes relating to animal
fighting and gambling.
Then on October 21, 2008, Sheriff Presgraves was indicted on 22
counts, including a racketeering charge that outlined the
alleged bribe and various other accusations, including the
sexual assault of female employees at the sheriff’s office. On
Friday, September 9, 2009, Presgraves [since resigned from the
Page County Sheriff’s Department] pleaded guilty in U.S.
District Court in Harrisonburg to the racketeering charge.
For the first time in United States history, the newly
legislated Animal Fighting Venture Prohibition Law (U.S. Code –
Title 7, Chapter 54, Section 2156) was utilized to win
convictions in this case and close down a long standing
institution that made its bread and butter from the systematic
abuse of animals. This law and the convictions of these
individuals, along with the work of LCA’s SIU in conjunction
with state local law enforcement will have far reaching effects
in the battle to save animal’s lives and change the way society
thinks about the ramifications of cruelty to animals, especially
when it comes to so-called “sport.”
LCA Investigates Illegal Puppy
Mills by Air
On
July 1, 2009 LCA’s SIU received a plea for help from a San
Bernadino County Humane Officer who had stumbled upon an illegal
dog breeding operation north of Hesperia, CA. She had seized
dozens of dogs from a sweltering “breed and feed” station after
receiving an anonymous tip from a Federal land surveyor. The
humane officer said the illegal kennel could only be accessed by
GPS coordinates and turned out to be adjacent to an abandoned
farm in the Mojave Desert. In her email to LCA, the officer
wrote:
“The conditions at the puppy mill were as bad as it gets… One
puppy was taking her last breath on sand that registered 133
degrees. Most of the dogs were purebreds, Doxie's, Llaso's,
Maltese etc. Some of them so badly matted their feet webbed
together. All the animals were seen by a vet. Some were so bad,
humane euthanasia was recommended by the vet.”
The
humane officer (who had to remain anonymous) was very concerned
that there were other “breed and feed” makeshift kennels in the
same high desert area. Knowing how vast and inaccessible much of
the land is, she knew the only way to check for other dogs in
the area was to fly over them and photograph possible locations
that could then be investigated on the ground. The officer and
others had pleaded with other animal welfare groups to help, but
no one was able to respond to her.
Another concerned animal lover, aware of the situation, wrote in
an email forwarded to LCA:
“…The temperature that day was 106 and the ground temperature
exceeded 120 degrees where the dogs were lying. The water for
the puppies was green with algae and too hot to drink. Some dogs
were found dead and the conditions beyond belief. She and with
the help of the deputies were able to round up more than 120
puppies, small breeds... Due to the thousands of miles of desert
and remote locations, the humane officer and the Humane Society
need assistance by air in flying over the desert area. As a
former law enforcement officer (now retired) I contacted our
local Sheriff's Dept and inquired about the use of their
helicopter or fixed wing airplane for a few hours to fly over
the desert locations. As you well know with a governmental
agency - the process moves very slowly and obviously time is of
the essence as we are now in summer in the Southern California
deserts where the temperatures routinely reach up to 120
degrees. I have not heard whether the Sheriff's dept will be
able to assist and this situation cannot wait.”
LCA’s
SIU and Chris DeRose immediately swung into action. The humane
officer was interviewed by our Director of Investigations and
stated that if there were any other dogs out there in the
desert, it would probably be within a ten mile radius of the
original location. With the approach of an oppressive summer,
time was of the essence in insuring that there were no more
secret locations of dogs in this vast area.
Chris knew of a pilot, Bonny Schumaker, who works for NASA and
might assist us with a flyover of the area. SIU contacted Bonny
and she was more than glad to. Bonny agreed to fly us over the
area so SIU could photograph any more suspicious structures that
we could immediately follow up with on the ground.
On July 5th, with Bonny at the stick, investigators from LCA’s
SIU took off on July 5th from El Monte Airport. We flew over the
San Gabriel Mountains and deep into the Mojave Desert, northeast
of Hesperia. It was only from the air, looking down that one
could grasp the near impossibility of the task at hand. The area
in question was vast, remote, dry as a bone and accessible only
by dirt roads or trails. On top of that the area in question is
near a military base so the lowest we could fly was 6,500 feet.
As Bonny circled, the team photographed and videotaped as many
structures where dogs could be kept as we could. This gave us
some idea of the scope and the lay of the land for our follow up
by car and on foot.
The following day, LCA’s SIU drove to the locations we had
surveyed from Bonny’s Cessna. Even with the aerial surveillance,
the task of locating some of the abandoned structures was
daunting. As the temperature pushed over 100 degrees, the SIU
team went from structure to structure, crossing them off the
list of possible locations for an illegal dog breeder. While in
the field we stumbled upon a Ranger with Bureau of Land
Management. He hadn’t seen any other suspicious activity. We
located and interviewed the ranch owner who we were told knew
the desert in that ten mile radius better than anyone. He
assured us that the individual who had been keeping dogs had
been run off and there were no more dogs out there. We drove
from structure to structure and thoroughly investigated each
one. We also returned to where the dogs had been originally
seized to make sure the breeders were not back in business.
Fortunately, with the help of an aerial surveillance, LCA did
not find any other illegal breeders or suffering dogs in the
area in question. LCA was able to assure the humane officer that
we did everything we could to verify that the dogs she had
seized were the only ones out there for the time being. Of
course, the battle continues to fight legal and illegal dog
breeding operations wherever they may be.
Puppy Mill Investigations
Undercover Photograph of Yorkshire Terrier at World Kennel, April 29th 2009.
In May 2008, as a result of LCA’s SIU investigation, World Kennel was ordered to
reduce the population of dogs in their breeding facility from 402 to 100.
Today, their current population of dogs is about 135. This photograph represents
the life of just one of those dogs inside this Southern California "puppy mill."
LCA'S SIU Takes Cesar Millan Undercover:
LCA’S SIU Investigator blog: “From Pet Store to Puppy Mill”
When Last Chance For Animals' Special Investigations Unit (SIU) began
looking into the practices of boutique pet stores in Los Angeles selling "designer"
dogs for up to $3,500, I would pose as a customer with Kim Sill (our stalwart
volunteer) and ask the sales person a simple question, "Where do your dogs come from?"
Invariably the answer was that the dogs came from a "local breeder" and the mother
and father dog live "on a ranch" – and this idyllic picture would be painted of
where the puppy came from. In a way it makes the customer feel good that
for the money they’re paying, they’re receiving something special. Smelling
a rat, we worked backwards and found the location of the dog's origins, the
idyllic “ranch” and drove out to take a look.
We found the “ranch” called World Kennel, 70 miles north of Los Angeles
in the Palmdale area. With a simple look over a high fence with some
binoculars and a video camera we discovered a breeding system where the parent of that
puppy in the window is kept in a cage or on concrete its whole life.
The noble “mother” portrayed by the salesperson was actually bred over and
over again from various sires and most likely had no idea how to
run on grass, or what a dog treat tastes like. We also discovered that the
breeding facility which normally would be approved to keep as much as
265 dogs six months earlier had recently exploded to a population of 403!
SIU kept World Kennel under surveillance and set out to discover several
more breeding facilities or “ranches,” as they like to say in the pet
stores, which were also breeding dogs in huge numbers. To our shock we
began to understand that somehow Los Angeles was becoming the puppy mill capital
of the West Coast. Last Chance for Animals had to do something about it.
As it turns out, so did Cesar Milan. When the producers of the Dog Whisperer
asked us to take Cesar out with us on our ongoing investigation, I was honored. When
the idea came up of getting Cesar inside a puppy mill, I was baffled. How do
you get the most recognizable dude associated with dogs into a dog factory? However,
if there's one thing Chris DeRose and our investigators are good at it, it's
getting people to let us in. While shooting outside a puppy mill in the desert,
we were approached by the owner. Chris DeRose convinced the owner that we were just
there to inspect and approve the dog factories and Cesar would help us to see that the
dogs there were happy. Within seconds, I was in a pick up truck with Cesar and the
owner, being driven to his kennel, making sure I had enough tape in my hidden camera to capture
my little version of history: Cesar Milan inside a puppy mill. While Cesar quipped with
the cagey owner, and toured the place, I tried to shoot the action with the camera
hidden in my shirt. Somehow our investigation into the practices of puppy mills in So.
California was resulting in getting the most recognizable authority on dogs to see
first hand the conditions that create these dogs’ chronic behaviors. It was awesome.
As we returned back to the crew who was wondering “what happened inside there?” I recalled
that we were getting the answer to that one simple question we’d asked 6 months
before: “Where do your dogs come from?” And the answer, through the
eyes of Cesar Milan, was simple... They come from puppy mills.
-- LCA's Director of Investigations
Cesar Millan: The Dog Whisperer and LCA’s SIU Bonus Undercover Footage
Cesar Millan is not affiliated with LCA. These clips are outtakes from NatGeo’s “Dog Whisperer: Inside Puppymills:
LCA and Antonovitch Lead Puppy Mill Reform Campaign
in Los Angeles County
After LCA’s SIU uncovered the desperate conditions for dogs at World Kennel, a breeding facility near Palmdale, CA that supplied several Los Angeles Puppy “boutiques,” LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovitch (R) invited LCA to spearhead a taskforce to solve the area’s previously unknown puppy mill problem. SIU swung into action overtly and covertly to bring to light “LA’s dirty little secret.” Armed with this video and our report, Mike Antonovitch proposed a motion to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s to review ordinances and legislations to effectively ban “Puppy Mills” in the County.
LCA’s
SIU conducted an undercover investigation into a rendering plant
in Southern California in May 2007.
For more information about rendering and our spay/neuter
campaign visit our campaign website.
Investigator Links
1.
CRISP
Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects
CRISP is a searchable database of federally funded biomedical
research.
2.
The Animal Welfare Act
The AWA is a federal law regulating the treatment of (some)
animals in
research facilities, entertainment industries, and those kept
for
companionship.
3. USDA Inspection Reports
Clicking on any of the links below provides you with information
on Dealers, Research, Exhibits & Transportations.
4.
Freedom of Information Act
FOIA is a federal act which allows the public to access the
records of
government agencies, including those that experiment on animals,
upon
request.
