Please Urge a Full Investigation of Bird Abuse Case

May 18, 2004

Please Urge a Full Investigation of Bird Abuse Case"I'm scared through all this that what they did to my animals will be forgotten." - Pam Quintier, the birds' guardian, quoted in the News-Press,May 13, 2004

http://www.news-press.com/news/local_state/040513geese.html Earlier this week, three teenagers (in custody but not named by the police due to their ages of 15 and 13) took a 12-year-old African goose namedWilma and a blind duck named Blind Duck from their pen in a backyard in Fort MyersShores, Florida. They allegedly stuffed the birds into a portable toilet, lit some pond fronds underneath, and burned the birds to death. These youths faceanimal cruelty charges if the law enforcement investigation now underway provides enough evidence to go to court.Immediately upon reading the May 13 article in the Fort Myers newspaper, the News-Press ("3 youths face animal cruelty charges: Teens linked to 8other Fort Myers fires" by Sarah Lundy),

UPC President Karen Davis contacted the Lee County (FL) Sheriff's Office and the Juvenile Court and wrote letters to the Sheriff, the newspaper, and the juvenile justice division urging a full investigation.WHAT CAN I DO?Please write a polite letter to the Lee County Sheriff's Office and urge that a thorough investigation of the animal cruelty charges against the threeteenagers be conducted with a view to prosecution if the evidence warrants going to court. The investigation is expected to take three weeks.Sheriff Rodney ShoapLee County Sheriff's Office14750 Six Mile Cypress ParkwayFort Myers, FL 33912Phone: 239-477-1200Fax: 239-477-1345United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit

organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl.www.upc-online.org

SBC - Internet access at a great low price.