Oral arguments have been set in the final court showdown against Lafayette Parish for their refusal to provide us with the documents regarding its horrendous “Roicy Horror Show” shelter. It is at 9 AM May 14th at Lafayette, LA district courthouse located at 800 South Buchanan Avenue, in the courtroom of Judge Herman Clause. This lawsuit is the Roe v Wade of holding government-run horror animal shelters accountable to laws and regulations which are intended to protect impounded dogs and cats. We have reason to believe that Lafayette Parish has been violating numerous state, federal and local laws, regulations, and ordinances. Last year a dozen of us were forced to sue the parish when it refused to comply with the Louisiana Public Records Law and refused to produce the documents that would either prove or disprove our belief. They have also refused to produce them in court. The court arguments on Wednesday May 14 will be to compel them to produce the documents.
Last week, in a telephone conference preliminary court session, the judge threatened to order the parish to produce 40,000 documents on May 14th, even though we are not seeking more than 1000. The parish has threatened to appeal if the judge carries out his threat. THIS IS THE BIGGEST LEGAL SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHERN ANIMAL ADVOCACY SINCE GEORGIA WAS SUED FOR VIOLATING ITS OWN STATE LAW BY RE-ISSUING GAS CHAMBER LICENSES IN MARCH 2007. These two lawsuits are the ONLY two animal control reform advocacy lawsuits in the entire south and midwest. There is only one other such law suit in the nation other than these two, where two animal rescuers and Nathan Winograd have sued Los Angeles animal control.
If we do not show up in court to show the judge that citizens DO care about cities and towns flagrantly violating existing animal laws meant to protect animals in municipal animal control shelters, WHO WILL? As the three dozen people who showed up at our previous oral arguments saw, it was their presence which swayed the two judges who heard three Motions in one day. And yes, we DID win all three motions. We need everyone to show up again.
We have been told that there will be media this time, so PLEASE, PLEASE come to stand up for the dogs and cats who cannot be there and who will be gassed that very day. As an added bonus for everyone, we have scheduled the Maddie’s Fund meeting to start right after oral arguments are over at 5 PM, in the public library meeting room down the block from the courthouse. It is located at 301 West Congress street. People are coming from Texas, all over Louisiana, Georgia, MS, NC, and SC. Four of us are flying in from NYC and elsewhere at our own expense to help kick-start Louisiana and the surrounding states to reform their animal control services. We are giving our maximum effort in this once in a lifetime chance to give you monetary and other empowerments and resources for the next 7-10 years with several million dollars in rescue and adoption subsidies thru the Maddie’s Fund.
LET’S TAKE TWO STEPS IN ONE DAY BY SHOWING ONE OF THE “WORST OF THE WORST” OPERATED ANIMAL CONTROL POUNDS IN THE SOUTH THAT THEY CANNOT KEEP UP THEIR DIRTY DEEDS IN A FREE, OPEN, AND LAWFUL SOCIETY, AND BY GETTING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR 7-10 YEARS FROM THE MADDIES FUND TO FLOW INTO THE REGION TO SUPPORT YOUR RESCUE EFFORTS.
If can make these two advancements come about as a result of Katrina we will finally have fulfilled our obligations to our four legged friends who perished in such a tortuous manner. Below is the News Release which will be sent to the media. I would LOVE to have a confirmation if you are going to come to one or both events on May 14th.
Faithfully yours,
Garo Alexanian
Katrina Lifeline Programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Fran Borges
Breaux Bridge, LA
337-288-6604
Ten Louisiana residents’ challenge to Parish’s refusal to provide documents goes to court
LAFAYETTE, LA (May 10, 2008) After one year of refusals to provide copies of any documents whatsoever to concerned Louisiana citizens about the horrible administration of Lafayette’s municipally operated animal pound, on Wednesday May 14 at 9 AM Lafayette Parish has to account in court for their failure to abide by the Louisiana Records Access Law.
In a telephone conference court session Judge Herman Clause threatened to order Lafayette Parish to produce 40,000 documents at the oral arguments on May 14th. The Louisiana petitioners have claimed that the Parish will not be able to produce 40,000 responsive documents to their Records Access request and will instead produce non-requested documents because the Parish has not created, maintained nor kept the legally required documents. The Parish attorney has threatened to appeal if Judge Herman Clause issues such an order on May 14th, setting up a showdown in the six month old law suit.
The law suit is available for download at
http://www.companionanimalnetworktv.org/Lafayette%20Law%20Suit.html
