UPDATE 4/11/03 on the Montana Collies

Statement by AWCA President Jean Levitt

*Permission to crosspost*

 Jean Be Back – Part V By Jean Levitt

Trial days in Shelby were spent in the courthouse – a large yellow brick building on a hill overlooking the town.  I furiously took notes in the courtroom, trying to write down every word of testimony.  There was no court reporter, and tape recorders were not permitted in the courtroom.

On breaks, we, the spectators, became acquainted.  A gentleman who frequently sat in front of me was the husband of a devoted Camp Collie volunteer.  They were third generation wheat farmers, plowing 6,000 acres a year.  Their farm was so vast, they flew about in a private plane.

Another spectator – a petite, energetic woman – also a volunteer at Camp Collie, worked in the courthouse.  She had been a member of the jury pool, having been dismissed immediately, because she had already made up her mind as to guilt or innocence of the defendants.

One gentleman, a cattleman, told me it would have been better if the animals had been euthanized.  Responding to my gasp of horror, he hastened to explain.  He had helped unload the animals from the truck.  “Ya don’t treat dogs like that!” he thundered, pounding his fist on the back of the chair.  He stated emphatically that humane death is better than enduring what those animals had been put through during the trip down from Alaska.

Much discussion took place among the townspeople waiting for the trial to resume regarding the 4-H barn which houses the majority of the dogs, and the surrounding grounds where the dogs are exercised.  Oddly, no mention of the serious giardia problem and the various internal parasites affecting the dogs was allowed to be brought up during the trial.  The judge had sustained an objection by the defense attorney when a witness for the prosecution mentioned the serious hookworm infestation problem the dogs brought with them from Alaska.  (Dr. Hardee Clark told me in his 23 years practicing veterinary medicine in Montana, he had never seen a case of hookworm until he examined the dogs from the truck.)  The townspeople worried about lingering contamination from the dogs when they were finally removed from the building.

Several spectators drove down from Canada to attend the trial each day.  Most of them volunteered at Camp Collie when they weren’t in the courtroom.  Only one pool TV camera was permitted in court, and one still photographer.  Various TV and newspaper reporters were distributed about the room.

This trial was supposed to last two days.  When it carried into the second week, many of us from out of town had to hurriedly make arrangements to extend our stay in Shelby.  The gravity of this case was unprecedented in Justice court.  The trial cut deeply into the conscienceness of the Montana people.  This is cattle and horse country.  Most people I met were involved with animals in one way or the other.  The majority had dogs and cats as pets.  Everyone was outraged at the condition of the animals when they were unloaded from the truck.  Many of the spectators had actually helped unload the truck.  I heard dozens of eyewitness accounts relating the peeling away of row after row, layer after layer, of crates filled with degraded, dying collies.

There was no laughter in the courthouse.  There was a purposeful aura of going through the judicial process, putting lives on hold for the time being.  These spectators volunteered to care for the animals when they could, took pride in the progress the animals were making, donated money to the Shelby fund, and brought supplies from their farms and homes to help provide for these helpless, uninvited guests.  I admired these people, and I was proud to be among them.

Evenings I spent transcribing my notes of the day into an update for you on the AWCA website.  On the last day of the trial, after closing arguments, we all left the courthouse only long enough to eat dinner.  Kay Bullard, professional groomer and poodle and German shepherd exhibitor, joined me for dinner at Pattys Place.  We left Kay’s cell phone number with a clerk, who promised to call everyone if the verdict came in before we returned.  The judge came into Pattys Place and picked up a stack of white Styrofoam dinners-to-go, presumably meals for the jurors.  Someone joked that their tax dollars were going right down the jury’s gullet.

Back in the courtroom, the spectators chatted quietly, and began worrying about the length of time it was taking the jury to reach a verdict.  When the judge announced a mistrial we were all stunned.  How could that be?  It was unthinkable that the jurors would misunderstand the judge’s instructions...but that is what happened.

To be continued...

Calmly,

Jean Levitt, President AWCA

Lisa King, AWCA Director AWCA Rescue

Officers and Members of AWCA

If you would like to assist AWCA with this rescue effort, you may send a check to:

                                                Bethany Burke

                                                AWCA Treasurer

                                                2807 Lee Trevino Court

                                                Shalimar, FL 32579

Make the check out to AWCA and in the memo area note:  collie rescue-medical, collie rescue-stainless steel, or collie rescue-general.