Most animal seizure/forfeiture cases begin with Trespassing and end with Conversion. They start with activists who have recruited law enforcement to aid them in invading one's privacy and home, often dragging the media along and allowing them to also freely traipse into your home. This was the topic of my blog entry To Trespass or Not to Trespass a few weeks ago. The trespassing is followed by a media blitz by the activists to smear the animal owners publicly and attempt to shame them into silence. That is usually followed by summary judicial proceedings to rubber stamp thieving of the animals and other property by the government from the true owners. And THAT is often followed by criminal charges that the government swore it would bring if only the owner gave up their property without a fuss. The owner having done so, the government then proceeds with criminal charges ANYWAY. The whole bloody thing is an absolute abomination of "justice".
The case against the owners of AlphaTex Kennels in west Texas is no less of an abomination but they have refused to be shamed, give up their animals, and crawl off in silence. They have found some great lawyers to assist them too. Everyone in an animal seizure/forfeiture case most certainly needs to rally the troops because there is inevitably some lunatic like "Daizy" willing to start a hate group like Animal lovers against AlphaTex Kennels within minutes of the media blitz. People like Daizy don't care about fairness or a fair process. They summarily "convict" and proceed to spew their hate instantly; no need to wait for facts. Fortunately, we live in a country where the dictatorial Daizy types haven't won out yet. We can and MUST fight back against their desire for Star Chamber treatment of these cases.
Last year, the owners of AlphaTex Kennels spoke out publicly in defense of all our rights to own animals without excessive government interference. No doubt in my mind that doing so is exactly what put them on the Animal Rights Fanatic (ARF) "target list" and led to the recent seizure of their animals. They spoke out for us and now it is time for us to support them, both in their defense in state court and in support of their already filed federal case which will attempt to regain our rights being so blithely ignored should we dare to "own" animals in defiance of the ARF wishes.
Some of the documents in the AlphaTex federal case are now readily available.
- Complaint: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByA4izQLD4H7MDhhNmQ4ZWYtNzhjYS00NDJkLWIwY2MtOWU2OGM0MDM3OGVk
- Brief: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByA4izQLD4H7Zjc1OTI4YjQtYTg5Ny00YTkxLWFkNjgtZjJjOTE2YjY2Njlh
- Order Denying TRO: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByA4izQLD4H7ZWU4NDE4NWUtNDI1Ny00ZGM2LTg2N2MtYTc0Zjc3ODRhZmQ4
I would especially like to draw your attention to page 5 of the order where the federal judge refers to Don Feare as a "prosecutor" and makes reference to the potential of a "valid conviction". These 2 terms taken together persuade me that the federal judge has not yet wrapped his head even around the fact that this is SUPPOSED to be a CIVIL case. That these cases are indeed more criminal than civil AND often followed by further criminal proceedings is one of the very important issues that needs to be sorted out by the courts as criminal cases should and do come with special protections from Constitutions while these cases tend to be summarily decided and then used to bootstrap the later criminal cases.
Jessica Casenave is a young lawyer assisting Paul Holloway in representing the Smiths, owners of AlphaTex Kennels. Contributions to fund the case against Floyd County, TX (and in support of all owners and their rights) can be sent to: Jessica@caprocklawyer.com through PayPal.com
Please send contributions through as a "gift" and note AlphaTex on them.
Small donations do add up so please don't hesitate to help even if you can only afford to make a small contribution.
These cases are expensive; well beyond the means of just about any individual. As usual, the attorneys are trying to cover OUT OF POCKET costs and aren't ensured they will be paid at all for their services. For all our sakes, we NEED to contribute and help put a stop to these summary proceedings that deprive owners of their most fundamental rights and property.
PS: The Gracia case is still pending on appeal. Legal process can be slow but we're beginning to make a dent. The animal owners and lawyers need to hear from us both in voice and dollars. Freedom is never free.
The owners of AlphaTex dared to speak out, to use their free speech to defend our rights. That is something we should all be able to do without fear that our property, our animals, will be seized and summarily forfeited to the government to be given to strangers who will profit greatly from them.