Animal Control Officers Watched As Dogs Were Killed With Crude Jumper-Cable Device
August 13, 2001
Daphna Nachminovitch - 757-622-7382
Lee County, N.C. - In an August 10th letter to Lee County Assistant District Attorney Bill Huggins, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) urges the prosecution of convicted dogfighter Gaston Williamson and his partner, Leo Scully, for electrocuting 15 dogs ³by wetting and clipping what look like small jumper cables to the cheeks and back legs of the animals² on July 25. Such a crude method of euthanasia causes a full-blown heart attack in conscious animals.
Not only were the dogs cruelly killed in violation of North Carolina law, but Lee County Animal Control officers observed the electrocution and also shot 16 of the 31 dogs on the premises, despite offers from humane organizations to ³put the dogs to sleep² painlessly by the injection of a barbiturate at no cost to the county. Williamson sold 78 other pit bulls the court had given him leave to dispose of on July 19, after being convicted of dogfighting.
³Because it causes unjustifiable pain and suffering, electrocution is condemned not only by PETA, but by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and the American Humane Association (AHA). In § 130A-192 of the North Carolina General Statutes, North Carolina law refers to these three organizations as the authoritative bodies to ³approve² procedures used to put animals to death,² says PETAıs Daphna Nachminovitch.
PETA also sent the district attorney expert testimony from North Carolina veterinarian Dr. Evelyn Giefer, who writes, ³As the dogs were all restrained and able to be handled, there was nothing to prevent them from being removed to a suitable location where veterinarians or other trained personnel could administer the injections. Gunshot and electrocution were clearly unwarranted. There is something particularly horrendous about a system of justice that would allow someone already convicted of cruelty to animals to carry out these unspeakable deeds in the presence of animal control authorities.²
Lee County residents have asked PETA to ensure that Gaston Williamson and Leo Scully are prosecuted on 15 charges of animal cruelty'one for every dog they cruelly electrocuted. In an effort to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again, PETA is talking to the Lee County Health Department and hopes to improve training and standard operating procedures at Animal Control.
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