{"id":1703,"date":"2011-07-27T09:32:47","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T13:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/shouldnt-the-people-running-the-facilities-be-held-accountable-susan-leavens.html"},"modified":"2011-07-27T09:32:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-27T13:32:47","slug":"shouldnt-the-people-running-the-facilities-be-held-accountable-susan-leavens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/shouldnt-the-people-running-the-facilities-be-held-accountable-susan-leavens.html","title":{"rendered":"Shouldn’t the people running the facilities … be held accountable? —Susan Leavens"},"content":{"rendered":"Received yesterday. -jsq\n
\n\n<\/a>\nFrom: SUSAN LEAVENS\n
\nTo: gary.black@agr.georgia.gov\n
\nSent: Tue, July 26, 2011 2:31:16 PM\n
\nSubject: Your attention would be grateful in regaurds to the Lowndes\nCounty Animal Shelter\n

\nTo the Honorable Agriculture Commissioner Mr. Gary\nBlack,\n

\nJuly 26, 2011\n

\nI would like to introduce myself, my name is Susan Leavens I currently\nlive in Quitman Georgia and I am an employee with Lowndes County,\nformally as an animal control officer with Lowndes County Animal\nServices. In June of last year I turned in three statements to Pat\nSmith who is no longer with the animal protection division she is\ncurrently running the Thomasville Animal Control. After speaking with\nMs. Pat an advising her of the situations that have occurred and are\ncurrently occurring in the Lowndes County Shelter; she advised me to\nhave statements written by individuals that were willing and not afraid\nof retaliation. Two current employees myself and Ronnie Ganas wrote\nstatements, one previously employee Amanda Jordan. The issues were\nheard before Vinessa Sim-Green and several other animal protection\nemployees along with Ms Cora Potter. An administration hearing took\nplace an several “options” were offered to the Lowndes County\nManager Joe Prichard. These were things that would help the shelter run\nmore efficiently and perhaps come up to date with the Georgia Dept. of\nAg. standards; but the issues of animal cruelty, inhumane treatment and\npracticing veterinarian medicine (surgery by castration of a 2 young\nadult pot belly pigs). My concern is that the director was never\ncharged in any criminal court of law for her actions regarding the\nanimals at the shelter.\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

\nMr. Black, with all do respect I have written many citation in Lowndes\nCounty for animal cruelty over 500 I believe or more in the five years\nI have worked for Lowndes County as an animal control officer; I really\ndo not understand why Linda Patelski was not prosecuted by Georgia’s\nAnimal Protection Division. If we’re going to enforce animal\nprotection laws in Georgia shouldn’t the people running the\nfacilities that are licensed under the Georgia Department of\nAgriculture Animal Protection Division be held accountable for their\nactions of animal cruelty and inhumane treatment as well as the citizen\nof our great start of Georgia? I don’t want to have the illusion that\npeople licensed under GDA would be exempt from our laws of this great\nstate which each and every person is held accountable for.\n

\nMr. Black if this is the case and the licensees are not held\naccountable for any and all actions inside these licensed facilitys\nthen how can we hold the public accountable and thousands of dollars in\nfines and even jail time are imposed upon normal every day citizens.\n

\nI ask with the utmost respect that if you could find the time to look\ninto this situation I and many other citizens would be so grateful.\nPlease forgive me if I appear upset Sir, my intention is to only\neducate myself and others about this situation in Lowndes County and\nthank you for taking the time to read my letter.\n

\nRespectfully yours,\n

\nSusan Leavens\n

\nBelow are links to things you might be interested in seeing along with\nvideos of the county manager Joe Prichard, and attached is two\nstatements from myself and Officer Ronnie Ganas, Amanda Jordans is in\nanother open records but if you would like to read it it is also under\nthe first link below. “I was hurt while holding the loops stick”\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/i-was-hurt-from-holding-the-loop-stick-while-the-pig-pulled-jerked-and-squealed-out-of-pain-statemen.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/there-are-issues-at-the-animal-shelter-they-have-not-been-resolved.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/graphic-horse-case-susan-leavens.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/somebody-has-gotten-fired-at-the-animal-shelter.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/hold-for-safe-keeping-mother-and-puppys-born-at-the-shelter-susan-leavens.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/the-horse-from-the-shelter-ruby-susan-leavens.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/falsified-logs-at-the-animal-shelter.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/07\/missing-records-at-ga-dept-of-ag-animal-protection.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/06\/i-tried-following-the-chian-of-command-susan-leavens.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/06\/return-cameras-or-im-going-to-pursue-it-through-the-sheriffs-office-ashley-paulk-lcc-28-june-2011.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/06\/enforcement-is-still-an-issue-mechelle-sullivan-lcc-28-june-2011.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/06\/animal-shelter-open-records-from-susan-leavens.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/i-think-that-addresses-the-issues-joe-pritchard.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/vdt-incorporates-video-into-animal-shelter-tour-report.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/find-out-the-truth-about-allegations-of-animal-cruelty-and-abuse-jane-osborn.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/restudy-that-those-are-the-right-people.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/neglect-abuse-suffering-falsifying-documents-susan-leavins-lcc-24-may-2011.html<\/a>\n

\nhttp:\/\/lake.typepad.com\/on-the-lake-front\/2011\/05\/-county-animal-shelter-issues-joe-pritchard-lcc-work-session-23-may-2011.html<\/a>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Received yesterday. -jsq From: SUSAN LEAVENS To: gary.black@agr.georgia.gov Sent: Tue, July 26, 2011 2:31:16 PM Subject: Your attention would be grateful in regaurds to the Lowndes County Animal Shelter To the Honorable Agriculture Commissioner Mr. Gary Black, July 26, 2011 I would like to introduce myself, my name is Susan Leavens I currently live in […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[97,324,48,70,2,88],"tags":[1554,4040,4038,4042,2796,8701,1553,1906,136,8710,4039,7,3755,8734,4041,3721,4043],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-animals","category-code-enforcement","category-ethics","category-government","category-lowndes-county-commission","tag-abuse","tag-cruel","tag-department-of-agriculture","tag-falsifying-documents","tag-gary-black","tag-georgia","tag-inhumane","tag-injury","tag-joe-pritchard","tag-law","tag-linda-patelski","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-animal-shelter","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-suffering","tag-susan-leavens","tag-workplace"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-rt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}