Target: Tony Golik, Clark County, WA Prosecuting Attorney
Goal: Prosecute case involving dogs allegedly abandoned in sweltering hot car to fullest extent.
A troubling pattern has emerged in one Washington state county. Multiple animal cruelty cases have resulted in light charges or even lighter punishments. When a man in the town of Vancouver allegedly set a house ablaze with multiple dogs inside, he faced only second-degree cruelty charges. In a separate case, an off-duty deputy who had filed complaints about the barking of a neighbor’s dog and reportedly had made threats against the canine admitted to shooting and killing the animal. The dog’s owner cast doubt on the deputy’s assertion of self-defense. Authorities announced no charges would be filed before the investigation was even complete. And when a German Shepherd was found abandoned and starved to death, the dog’s owner pled guilty to the abandonment. His “sentence” to these cruelty charges began and ended with a 30-day work detail.
In the most recent case, two dogs were reportedly rescued from an overheating car on a very hot day. Although reportedly experiencing respiratory distress, the dogs fortunately got help before the worst could happen. The woman responsible for the dogs was charged with animal cruelty, but once again only second-degree cruelty.
Sign the petition below to demand prosecutors take a different course this time that ensures a just outcome.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Prosecutor Golik,
“No animal cruelty on our watch”: this line was uttered following the reported rescue of two dogs from an overheated vehicle in Vancouver. Yet recent history suggests otherwise. Charges were seemingly immediately taken off the table following an off-duty deputy’s admitted fatal shooting of his neighbor’s dog. A man who confessed to abandoning his dog – leaving the animal to a horrific fate of starvation – was punished with a month on a work crew. And a man who allegedly ensnared two innocent dogs in his reported revenge arson scheme faced mere second-degree cruelty charges.
The woman at the center of the aforementioned vehicle overheating case is facing the same light charges. Where is the justice for these innocents? You must take a stronger and more decisive legal stance with this latest case. Do not let Vancouver gain the notorious distinction as the place where animals suffer and die because of reckless indifference.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Vitalina Parpalak
