As we have discussed in other blog posts, animal control authorities want people who are being raided to sign over animals to them. No one should ever do this, as we explained in this entry to the blog. However it happens, because the person is under stress and duress.
If you are a rescue organization or a foster for a rescue organization, there is another level of protection you should employ: the animals in a foster home are not the property of the foster, they are the property of the rescue. Therefore a foster home does not have the ownership rights required to legally sign animals over. Only the rescue organization itself can sign animals over.
To make this clear, a rescue should have a signed foster agreement with all foster homes spelling out that fostered animals are the property of the rescue organization, not the foster. This agreement should also stipulate that the foster does not have authorization to dispose of or sign over ownership of the animals to any person or other organization. To account for normal adoption activity, the agreement might also state that the only way the foster can transfer ownership of fostered animals is through the normal adoption process with an adoption application and all the adoption application processing that the rescue normally performs to complete adoptions.
Also if a foster is keeping animals privately for any other third parties, there needs to be similar agreements with them available to show that he or she is not the owner of those animals and does not have authority to sign them over.
With these agreements in place, if a foster is raided and is asked to sign over animals, the foster can simply say that the animals aren't his or her property to sign over and that the authorities will have to talk to the board of directors of the rescue to get animals signed over. This can take some of the personal pressure off the foster in the high stress situation, so it protects the foster as well as the rescue. The board of directors would naturally refuse to sign animals over to animal control, and could get its own legal representation to advocate for the animals and work to get its property returned in the event of a seizure.
If a foster does sign the animals over, either because he or she is tricked or pressured, the presence of this signed agreement will give the rescue a stronger case to invalidate the surrender of the animals, on the grounds that they weren't the property of the person who signed the surrender agreement.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Friday, May 9, 2014
If you remember nothing else, remember these two pieces of advice
If animal control comes knocking at your door, or calling, or asking for a friendly visit, there is a lot of complicated law and lots of specific advice we could give. But there are two key, very important things to remember, that if you forget everything else, remember these... they will keep your animals alive until you can get legal help.
1. Do not let any authorities into your house, kennel, cattery, etc without a warrant -- the phrase to remember is: "I do not consent to any searches, please leave my property now."
2. If they get into your house, either with a warrant or by talking their way in, and want to remove animals... do not sign animals over to any authorities!
This advice is simple but so many rescuers who are targeted do not follow it. Remember the above as your guiding principles in dealing with authorities. We will elaborate on each one below.
1. Do not let any authorities into your house, shelter, kennel, cattery, etc. unless they have a warrant (and be careful even if they do)
If animal control has a warrant you have to let them in. If they do not, you don't. Don't agree to friendly visits to "just check up on things." If they come to your house, don't even stand in an open doorway and talk to them. Come out onto the porch, close the door behind you (and lock it if you can) and talk with them outside. If they do not have a warrant they will likely try to talk their way in using tricky phrasing where "no" means "yes"... for example "Do you mind if I just check and make sure everything is OK"? If you answer "no," you just gave consent. If you answer "yes" to that question, they will attempt to interpret that as consent by immediately re-asking the question to make it so yes means yes... for example they may follow up a "yes" answer with something along the lines of "So it's OK that I check and make sure everything is OK"?
The temptation is to be polite and cooperative and answer the questions asked. This is how they trick you. No matter how they phrase or couch the request, your answer should always be these exact words: "I do not consent to any searches. Please leave my property now." This cannot be intentionally misinterpreted.
There is plenty of other important advice about keeping them from peeking into your property or your animal enclosures which I won't repeat because it's here. Please go to this link and familiarize yourself with the specific advice it provides. It also includes advice on handling visits from authorities with warrants.
2. Do not sign over any animals to authorities
This seems like simple advice but here is where they really apply the trickery and pressure. We are familiar with several "friendly visits" in NC that turned into raids in which animal control convinced intelligent rescuers to sign over the animals to them. Do not sign over animals! When you sign over the animals, that gives animal control the right to kill them immediately, without any holding period or any evidentiary rights. They want you to sign the animals over for one reason only: because it makes their jobs easier. They will say and do anything to convince you. But verbal promises they make have no legal force and cannot be relied upon. Here are some tactics they may use.
They may promise to make sure the animals get to no-kill rescues. This promise is usually not kept. In over 2/3 of the raids/visits we are aware of, the person signed the animals over after being assured they would go to no-kill rescues, and then majority (or all) of the the signed-over animals were dead before the next morning! Once you sign, no verbal promise made to you by anyone has any legal force. To get you to sign over animals, animal control authorities consider it a routine part of their toolkit to make promises they have no intention of keeping.
They may threaten you with massive fines or boarding costs if you don't sign. They will say that if you don't sign you will have to pay some outrageously unaffordable sum for the animals' upkeep until your case is finished, which can be months. But what they aren't telling you is that they cannot charge you this money until a court hearing determines that the assessment is legal and how much. So you don't have to sign right away, but they'll make you think you do because their goal is to get your signature while you are still in shock and distress and before you can think clearly about what's happening to you and your animals. If you don't sign right then and there, you can always sign later if the hearing goes badly (assuming it happens at all). By not signing, you keep the animals alive for at least the 72 hour legal holding period, and in the meantime you can get legal help arranged which may keep them alive longer or even get them out. By not signing you buy time to get a lawyer who can at the very least negotiate on equal ground with animal control, instead of in duress as they have you now. In fact the only case we know of in which all of the seized animals actually went to rescues was when an attorney got involved.
They may promise to go easy on you if you sign. Do not believe this promise unless it is in writing. In every single case we know of, the person was still charged after signing and their animals were killed. The animal control officer on site does not have authority to make plea deals but they can make you think they can. Once they've raided you and taken your animals, likely with news coverage involved, they have to have a charge and a conviction to justify what they have done. So don't be fooled. They will not go easy, no matter what they promise in the heat of the moment to get you to sign.
So how can you refuse to sign in the heat of the moment under intense pressure from authorities who seem to have all the power in the situation? Many people don't want to or can't openly defy authority in a pressure packed situation like this. You're likely stressed, depressed, and in disbelief that this is happening to you and your animals. So if you don't want to or can't directly defy their request, deflect. Say "I need my attorney to look over any papers before I sign them." They will likely try to pressure you by saying you have to sign now or never, or otherwise try to convince you to give in and sign. They will try to make you feel like you are being unreasonable, but what could be more reasonable than just wanting your attorney to check out such an important paper before you sign? By deflecting to needing your attorney to review the paper you avoid directly defying them and also put them on notice that you either have or will have an attorney and will not be just rolling over.
1. Do not let any authorities into your house, kennel, cattery, etc without a warrant -- the phrase to remember is: "I do not consent to any searches, please leave my property now."
2. If they get into your house, either with a warrant or by talking their way in, and want to remove animals... do not sign animals over to any authorities!
This advice is simple but so many rescuers who are targeted do not follow it. Remember the above as your guiding principles in dealing with authorities. We will elaborate on each one below.
1. Do not let any authorities into your house, shelter, kennel, cattery, etc. unless they have a warrant (and be careful even if they do)
If animal control has a warrant you have to let them in. If they do not, you don't. Don't agree to friendly visits to "just check up on things." If they come to your house, don't even stand in an open doorway and talk to them. Come out onto the porch, close the door behind you (and lock it if you can) and talk with them outside. If they do not have a warrant they will likely try to talk their way in using tricky phrasing where "no" means "yes"... for example "Do you mind if I just check and make sure everything is OK"? If you answer "no," you just gave consent. If you answer "yes" to that question, they will attempt to interpret that as consent by immediately re-asking the question to make it so yes means yes... for example they may follow up a "yes" answer with something along the lines of "So it's OK that I check and make sure everything is OK"?
The temptation is to be polite and cooperative and answer the questions asked. This is how they trick you. No matter how they phrase or couch the request, your answer should always be these exact words: "I do not consent to any searches. Please leave my property now." This cannot be intentionally misinterpreted.
There is plenty of other important advice about keeping them from peeking into your property or your animal enclosures which I won't repeat because it's here. Please go to this link and familiarize yourself with the specific advice it provides. It also includes advice on handling visits from authorities with warrants.
2. Do not sign over any animals to authorities
This seems like simple advice but here is where they really apply the trickery and pressure. We are familiar with several "friendly visits" in NC that turned into raids in which animal control convinced intelligent rescuers to sign over the animals to them. Do not sign over animals! When you sign over the animals, that gives animal control the right to kill them immediately, without any holding period or any evidentiary rights. They want you to sign the animals over for one reason only: because it makes their jobs easier. They will say and do anything to convince you. But verbal promises they make have no legal force and cannot be relied upon. Here are some tactics they may use.
They may promise to make sure the animals get to no-kill rescues. This promise is usually not kept. In over 2/3 of the raids/visits we are aware of, the person signed the animals over after being assured they would go to no-kill rescues, and then majority (or all) of the the signed-over animals were dead before the next morning! Once you sign, no verbal promise made to you by anyone has any legal force. To get you to sign over animals, animal control authorities consider it a routine part of their toolkit to make promises they have no intention of keeping.
They may threaten you with massive fines or boarding costs if you don't sign. They will say that if you don't sign you will have to pay some outrageously unaffordable sum for the animals' upkeep until your case is finished, which can be months. But what they aren't telling you is that they cannot charge you this money until a court hearing determines that the assessment is legal and how much. So you don't have to sign right away, but they'll make you think you do because their goal is to get your signature while you are still in shock and distress and before you can think clearly about what's happening to you and your animals. If you don't sign right then and there, you can always sign later if the hearing goes badly (assuming it happens at all). By not signing, you keep the animals alive for at least the 72 hour legal holding period, and in the meantime you can get legal help arranged which may keep them alive longer or even get them out. By not signing you buy time to get a lawyer who can at the very least negotiate on equal ground with animal control, instead of in duress as they have you now. In fact the only case we know of in which all of the seized animals actually went to rescues was when an attorney got involved.
They may promise to go easy on you if you sign. Do not believe this promise unless it is in writing. In every single case we know of, the person was still charged after signing and their animals were killed. The animal control officer on site does not have authority to make plea deals but they can make you think they can. Once they've raided you and taken your animals, likely with news coverage involved, they have to have a charge and a conviction to justify what they have done. So don't be fooled. They will not go easy, no matter what they promise in the heat of the moment to get you to sign.
So how can you refuse to sign in the heat of the moment under intense pressure from authorities who seem to have all the power in the situation? Many people don't want to or can't openly defy authority in a pressure packed situation like this. You're likely stressed, depressed, and in disbelief that this is happening to you and your animals. So if you don't want to or can't directly defy their request, deflect. Say "I need my attorney to look over any papers before I sign them." They will likely try to pressure you by saying you have to sign now or never, or otherwise try to convince you to give in and sign. They will try to make you feel like you are being unreasonable, but what could be more reasonable than just wanting your attorney to check out such an important paper before you sign? By deflecting to needing your attorney to review the paper you avoid directly defying them and also put them on notice that you either have or will have an attorney and will not be just rolling over.
Friday is raid day in NC
If you are a rescue or a rescue foster with lots of animals, you should be aware animal control authorities in NC like to stage their raids on Friday evenings.
There are several strategic reasons they do this and you need to be prepared. The main advantage to this timing is that it will be very difficult for you to contact a lawyer until Monday, and if you have one it will be very difficult for that lawyer to take any legal action to help you. That means they will have all weekend to pressure you and/or kill your animals.
There's not much you can do, as they will choose the timing of their raids. But you can at least be as prepared as possible to mitigate the damage.
If you are someone who may be vulnerable to animal control raids (and if you have a lot of animals on your property this is the case, even if you know your conditions are good and legal) you should have an attorney already. And you should have a way to contact that attorney outside normal business hours and that attorney should be willing to respond to you then. Ideally this attorney will have the contact information for police and animal control supervisors in your jurisdiction. Even more ideally this attorney would be prepared to take immediate legal action to protect you and your animals.
We know that's asking a lot of an attorney and is not free. But there are dedicated animal loving attorneys out there that you can work with. We know it may be hard to find one, but you should be looking for one NOW, because if you think it's hard to find that attorney now, wait until you are in duress and stress after being raided.
But also, be wary on Friday evenings. Do not let your guard down. You are particularly vulnerable if you are winding down from a tough week and looking to relax, and then animal control calls about a "friendly visit" or knocks on your door.
There are several strategic reasons they do this and you need to be prepared. The main advantage to this timing is that it will be very difficult for you to contact a lawyer until Monday, and if you have one it will be very difficult for that lawyer to take any legal action to help you. That means they will have all weekend to pressure you and/or kill your animals.
There's not much you can do, as they will choose the timing of their raids. But you can at least be as prepared as possible to mitigate the damage.
If you are someone who may be vulnerable to animal control raids (and if you have a lot of animals on your property this is the case, even if you know your conditions are good and legal) you should have an attorney already. And you should have a way to contact that attorney outside normal business hours and that attorney should be willing to respond to you then. Ideally this attorney will have the contact information for police and animal control supervisors in your jurisdiction. Even more ideally this attorney would be prepared to take immediate legal action to protect you and your animals.
We know that's asking a lot of an attorney and is not free. But there are dedicated animal loving attorneys out there that you can work with. We know it may be hard to find one, but you should be looking for one NOW, because if you think it's hard to find that attorney now, wait until you are in duress and stress after being raided.
But also, be wary on Friday evenings. Do not let your guard down. You are particularly vulnerable if you are winding down from a tough week and looking to relax, and then animal control calls about a "friendly visit" or knocks on your door.
Your animals have been seized, now what?
First let's assume you followed the advice in this post and did not sign the animals over to the authorities: http://protectncrescues.blogspot.com/2014/05/if-you-remember-nothing-else-remember.html
If you don't sign the animals away and they are seized anyway, what next? You need an attorney, hopefully one with some knowledge of NC animal control laws and regulations.
The first thing your attorney needs to do is contact the animal control supervisor of the city or county that raided you, and the director of the shelter where your animals were taken, and emphasize that you have not consented to the seizure, that you retain all your legal rights to the animals, and that all holding periods and evidence requirements must be observed.
Second, let's assume you did not follow our advice and you did sign the animals over. This could be because you were flustered or tricked, or you didn't have our advice and are finding this after the seizure. Either way, time is of the essence. In our experience, when animals are signed over the killing starts as soon as the seized animals arrive at the shelter. It is urgent that you or preferably your attorney contact any authorities you can find and tell them you signed under duress and are revoking the surrender. They may say it can't be revoked because "it's already been turned in" or some similar excuse, but you must get on the record as soon as possible as attempting to revoke the surrender. People to contact are: the officer who took your surrender document, his or her supervisor, the staff at the animal shelter, the local police chief or sheriff... anyone you can find. They will probably be hard to get to which is why you need an attorney who knows the authorities in your area.
In either case, get your attorney familiar with Chapter 19A of the North Carolina General Statutes. This is the law that governs the disposition of seized animals. Also ask your attorney to contact us for further strategic advice. We are willing to give this advice free of charge to an attorney defending from an animal seizure, but we do not want to publish it here where animal control authorities might see it and be able to anticipate your next move.
We are at marianna.r.burt@gmail.com
If you don't sign the animals away and they are seized anyway, what next? You need an attorney, hopefully one with some knowledge of NC animal control laws and regulations.
The first thing your attorney needs to do is contact the animal control supervisor of the city or county that raided you, and the director of the shelter where your animals were taken, and emphasize that you have not consented to the seizure, that you retain all your legal rights to the animals, and that all holding periods and evidence requirements must be observed.
Second, let's assume you did not follow our advice and you did sign the animals over. This could be because you were flustered or tricked, or you didn't have our advice and are finding this after the seizure. Either way, time is of the essence. In our experience, when animals are signed over the killing starts as soon as the seized animals arrive at the shelter. It is urgent that you or preferably your attorney contact any authorities you can find and tell them you signed under duress and are revoking the surrender. They may say it can't be revoked because "it's already been turned in" or some similar excuse, but you must get on the record as soon as possible as attempting to revoke the surrender. People to contact are: the officer who took your surrender document, his or her supervisor, the staff at the animal shelter, the local police chief or sheriff... anyone you can find. They will probably be hard to get to which is why you need an attorney who knows the authorities in your area.
In either case, get your attorney familiar with Chapter 19A of the North Carolina General Statutes. This is the law that governs the disposition of seized animals. Also ask your attorney to contact us for further strategic advice. We are willing to give this advice free of charge to an attorney defending from an animal seizure, but we do not want to publish it here where animal control authorities might see it and be able to anticipate your next move.
We are at marianna.r.burt@gmail.com
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