Animal Activists Nationwide Call on City Leaders for Help

City Council members in Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Fontana and San Bernardino are receiving emails from residents worldwide, asking them to take a stance against animal abuse and maltreatment. In the wake of the arrest of animal rights activist and San Bernardino City Animal Shelter volunteer Maria Sanchez on April 2, animal rights activists at the local, national and international levels are now demanding leaders in these cities to put a stop to the shelter’s alleged squalid conditions and to the “retaliation killings” of sick dogs allegedly being carried out by shelter employees. It’s because the cities of Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda and Fontana contract animal services through the City of San Bernardino that activists are now looking at the mayors and city council members in these areas for support, explained Colton City Council Member David Toro. “We’ve gotten emails from people living here, to across the U.S., from Canada and even England,” Toro said. “The majority of them are…asking for us to help give the animals a chance. Some are inappropriately worded, others are very articulate, and others offer solutions.” The emails began after news of Sanchez’s April 2 arrest was published on a local news outlet website. (View videotape of the April 2 confrontation above.) Sanchez, who videotapes dogs and posts them to YouTube and Facebook in hopes to find them permanent homes, was arrested by San Bernardino City police on charges of trespass and assault on a peace officer. She spoke out against her arrest, which she called illegal, at the April 7 San Bernardino City Council meeting. (To read more about what happened at this meeting, visit http://sanbernardino.citynewsgroup.com/articles/3069cef69851a6be1506f406f42e064d.) Toro, who has described himself as an animal advocate, said, “(This issue) is close to my heart. These people who are reaching out are trying to get improvement (in the shelters), and they’re looking to these elected officials for hope. That’s why we’ve received so many mass emails, because there are solutions. There are proven methods that are cost-effective, so we need to look at these programs and put them into place here.” By the end of the day Tuesday, April 8, comments from other leaders in the cities which contract animal services from the City of San Bernardino were not received. Public members who spoke out at the April 7 San Bernardino City Council Meeting called on changes to be made to the shelter’s staff and to the shelter itself, alleging animal abuse, neglect and cruelty. Marla Tauscher, a lawyer who specializes in animal law, said at that meeting, “What’s going on there is unbelievable. …What’s going on there is a bunch of concrete violations of law.” Dora Mayes, who works with the Animal Alliance Foundation of San Bernardino, discussed having seen some workers “hose dogs down while they’re in their kennels,” and handle dogs so roughly she was “surprised they didn’t rip (the dogs’) tracheas out.” “It’s that bad,” Mayes said. “And when it’s that bad, it’s time the people there are evaluated.” Messages left by the City News for comment from animal shelter management were not returned by the end of the day Tuesday, April 8. Currently animal advocates like Sanchez are continuing to ask for support from other animal advocates around the world, with posts on social media websites like Facebook, listing the email addresses of city leaders in the cities of San Bernardino, Colton, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda and Fontana and asking residents to continue emailing these leaders for support.