More than a year after PETA and the ASPCA teamed up to shut down Caboodle Ranch, Craig Grant’s FL cat sanctuary, a legal resolution appears to be near.
Under the deal with the state, the criminal charges against Grant will be dropped if he agrees to take his medication, pay costs to the state attorney’s office and is not arrested within the next 24 months.
Grant’s attorney says the agreement won’t prohibit Grant from owning cats.
“He’s allowed to have animals. He’s allowed to have up to whatever many cats the local County ordinances allow,” said [Mr. Grant’s attorney, David] Collins.
Some context here: ASPCA seized 700 cats and 2 dogs, including Mr. Grant’s personal pets, from Caboodle Ranch and disposed of them as they saw fit. Many were adopted during 3 mass adoption events. I don’t know what happened to the rest of the animals and I suspect the ASPCA will never provide those details.
The ASPCA pads its bank account with nearly $150 million in donations every year and yet had the audacity to file a suit against Mr. Grant seeking “reimbursement” of the $1 million it says was spent caring for the seized cats. How can an organization seek to be “reimbursed” for having spent funds on animal care when the money was donated by animal lovers who thought it would be used to help animals? Check out the ASPCA invoice for expenses which includes a staggering number of flights in and out of Jacksonville, hotel fees, food bills and the following line items:
- 267: $4920.42 for utensils, etc.
- 412: $2048.60 to change light bulbs
- 1173: $18 for vegan cupcakes for shelter workers
And then there are the consulting fees:
- 154: $2000 for 5 days of consultant fees to Katie Flood
- 310: $800 for 2 days of consultant fees for James Brenneman
- 914: $3200 for 2 weeks of consultant fees for Aldo Wilson
- 971: $2800 for 2 weeks of consultant fees for Phree Phillips
- 988: $1000 for 5 days of consultant fees for Joanna Fogarty
- 1005 $1000 for 5 days of consultant fees for Laura MacDougall
- 1026 and 1027: $2800 for 7 days of consultant fees for Tonya Loreman
- 1043: $800 for 2 days of consultant fees for Mary Manspeaker
- 1052: $4400 for 11 days of consultant fees for Elizabeth Maxwell
- 1153: $39,688 estimated consultant fees up to April 30, 2012
I picked out the above entries at random but there are many, many more entries for consultant fees. ASPCA apparently needed a lot of consultants during the months following the seizure. I thought ASPCA folks were supposed to be the experts? I mean, with the amount of money spent on consultants, couldn’t they have gotten someone off the unemployment line with no animal experience and just put that person in charge instead? At least then I could understand the need to fly in expert after expert, week after week, month after month, for their advice.
At any rate, the court did not award ASPCA their million bucks. In fact, the judge’s ruling seems to indicate (to my layman’s understanding) that the ASPCA had not been officially appointed an agent of the state prior to the seizure and therefore had no standing to file for expenses incurred. My question would then be, if the ASPCA had no official designation from the state to act in this case, on what legal basis did they dispose of the seized animals?
Mr. Grant clearly seems to have an interest in relocating and starting a new cat sanctuary. Regardless of whether you believe Caboodle was a great place for cats, the nightmare of neglect and suffering described by the ASPCA and PETA, or fell somewhere in between, one must ask at this point – what was all this for? The raid, the mass seizure, the mass adoption events which could have theoretically been used to find homes for cats already in shelters, the court cases – what was it all for? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
I’m not very familiar with all the details surrounding Kaboodle Ranch but I’m glad you pick it up and ask questions. I don’t know in which conditions the cats have lived, if it really was as bad as we were told. The bill from the ASPCA seems to be ridiculous. I’m wondering, what is the point of having a organisation like the ASPCA that is taking in millions every year and then turns around and charges somebody for doing what they are already paid to do. Vegan cup cakes? Changing light bulbs? Consultation fees?Seriously?
In a nutshell Peter, PETA put together a 5 minute video clip, edited from 6 months of footage taken by someone posing as a volunteer. In the 5 minutes, you can see cats who are clearly very sick. My feeling is that, even in the best sanctuary or shelter environment, you could – and in fact SHOULD – be able to come up with 5 minutes worth of video showing very sick animals after you collect film for 6 months. (If you can’t I am suspicious that the sanctuary or shelter is not truly accepting pets in need of help but rather cherry picking healthy animals.) The ASPCA vet mentioned kitty colds and mats – again, what I would expect from a sanctuary or shelter environment at any given time.
On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 10:46 AM, YesBiscuit!
Agreed. You can walk in our shelter at any given time and you will see sick cats. We do have a quarantine room were most sick cats are moved to but yeah, it would be easy to create a 5 minute video in our shelter and give the impression that all of our cats are sick.
Shirley, acquaint yourself with the facts of the case. There was FAR more than 5 minutes of documentation, and this was not just PETA. There are years of photographs, there are court documents, there are lab results, there is the testimony of Caboodle Ranch’s own veterinarian. There is Craig Grant’s own admission that his idea of “treatment” was to scrub cats’ faces with Clorox bleach wipes. There are reports of blatant abuse and neglect from independent media like the Tampa Bay Times.
Cat lovers have been trying to get Caboodle Ranch to clean up its act for years. The owner refused to care for those cats despite taking in at least half a million dollars in donations in the last two years — donations that were often squandered on clothing, gifts, trips to Vegas and Disney on Ice and the Daytona Speedway, and thousands of dollars wasted on local motel rooms for God only knows what.
Photos and video: http://caboodleranch.net/?page_id=11#photos
Court documents and evidence: http://caboodleranch.net/?page_id=4
Mr. John Doppler Schiff forgot to point out that he is the owner of the domain caboodleranch.net That’s quiet interesting, isn’t John?
Not in the least bit interesting. I am the webmaster for the site, I own the domain name, and I maintain the document library there. We have dozens of contributors, however.
The documents and evidence are not mine; they are public record. And I hope you’ll take note that much of the evidence against Caboodle Ranch comes from their own admissions in court and their own blog postings.
You’re free to claim bias — I despise the cruelty that Craig Grant inflicted on those cats — but that doesn’t affect the truth of the objective evidence one bit.
John Doppler Schiff is a HSUS sockpuppet. He has appeared many times on other sites in defense of PETA and HSUS, no matter what egregious acts they have committed. So take his “testimony” for what it’s worth.
If you’re not very familiar with the details, perhaps you should refrain from commenting until you acquaint yourself with the case. Case evidence is just a click away at http://www.caboodleranch.net
Shut up, PETA, every time you open your mouth your lies just get more and more obvious.
Publicity. Plain and simple, their tear jerking commercials aren’t working for them when they show the same animals over and over again. The word is out, on Facebook, on blogs, on Twitter and people are wising up about them and PETA being what they really are, a money making scheme.
My opinion has always been that the timing of this “raid” related to the CAPA bill coming up for a vote in FL. It suited their political agenda and neither organization cared whether they destroyed this man’s dream, nor how many lives were lost in the process.
I didn’t realize that the raid was close to the introduction of CAPA. That point makes the most sense.
I agree, Lorre. The timing was exact, and quite deliberate.
When was Florida’s CAPA bill introduced?
Look it up yourself, big guy.
Next raid, the ASPCA will be more careful to finagle legal custody of the animals so they can get that million dollar payday. The HSUS knows how to play that game. Maybe the ASPCA can rent out one of the HSUS finaglers, then include the rental fee in their reimbursement application.
Charities are granted tax-exempt status because they provide services the private sector and government cannot. If the ASPCA had managed to nab the $1 million, it would have been tax-free. I’m glad the judge rejected their shameless money grab.
Yesterday’s New York Post reported that key members of the ASPCA Board of Directors have recently quit, disgusted that the organization is now far more concerned with it’s image and public profile than with animals. Their input was ignored in favor of the status quo.
Thanks, YesBiscuit, for writing about the reimbursement issue. If money is granted to defray expenses, it should go to the local groups actually doing the work – not the
money grubbing pretenders.
In the war against animal ownership, the end justifies the means to the fanatics, and animals and humans are both acceptable “collateral damage” to achieve a petless world. We know PeTA believes this. That the A$PCA should go along says volume about how they have been infiltrated by the extremist “animal rights” *true believers*.
again, thanks to your post and sharing this info on facebook. neither peta, aspca, hsus, can hide their dirty secrets of their standard operation in cases like this…. .To post the short list of their charges of calling the experts, speaks volume to me.. don’t they claim to be the experts . thanks .
I expressed my outrage at the time of the raid on No Kill Delaware’s Facebook page, but I could not find any other No Kill organizations and blogs speaking up about this raid. I didn’t see any blogs expressing concern for the cats who were seized and likely to be at risk because of ASPCA’s history of dumping animals at kill facilities. In fact the owner of the Caboodle Ranch contacted me. He didn’t understand why there was not more outrage about the seizure and concern expressed about what would happen to the cats.
That’s because most organizations have the sense to recognize an abusive hoarding situation, and don’t defend animal abusers.
Dead cats were rotting in a vanity in the building where Craig Grant slepts. FIV+ and FeLV+ cats were roaming the grounds, infecting other cats. Cats were being eaten by coyotes and run down in the roads. Cats with severe illnesses were being treated by wiping their eyes and noses with toxic bleach wipes.
Is this your idea of a sanctuary?
I call it a sanctuary in need of reorganization and assistance. Couldn’t the cats have been helped at Caboodle Ranch instead of seized and taken away? Has anyone said there was anything wrong with the ranch facilities? If Craig Grant was preventing good vet care, I would think that a court order could have resolved that. Why didn’t ASPCA spend the money they collected on fixing the situation at the ranch?
No, they could not help the cats at CR.
Craig Grant intermingled his property and Caboodle Ranch. There was no way to remove him from the property — which was unfit for cats anyway due to the widespread disease and hazardous or unsanitary conditions. And it was his hoarding and neglect that was the core problem. Throwing money at a hoarder just allows them to hoard more cats.
And since Craig Grant showed NO willingness to improve the conditions at the Ranch, and was unable to control his hoarding and kept taking in cats even though he knew they were suffering, even though he knew they exceeded his ability to care for them, the cats had to be removed from him.
This wasn’t a question of resources. Caboodle Ranch had plenty of resources. It’s a question of competency and willingness to provide for the welfare of the cats that CR did not have.
Please see http://www.caboodleranch.net and read the veterinary assessments from 2009, and the Court Order to Show Care. You’ll get an idea of the problems at the Ranch — the rampant disease, the coyotes carrying off cats, the cats run down in the road, the infected water supply.
The place was bad then, and it spiraled further out of control in the years since.
Oh, is that why they repeatedly were passing inspections? Funny that it took PETA and their heavily edited video to magic up some “proof”.
FIV+ cats can be mixed with FIV- cats. It is only spread by bite wounds. I have had a mixed household for over 5 years with no spread. There is a sanctuary in England for only FIV+ cats and they have one lone FIV- cat. If FIV is causally spread that guy would have it by now, but it’s been 5 years and he is still FIV-.
Sure is funny how I visited the Ranch twice, just a month before the raid, and I saw NO abuse! We were welcomed to go anywhere on the property and were even allowed to use our camcorder! We were loosing our house and needed to find a place for our cats. Caboodle Ranch fit that place! Again, we visited twice and never saw what peta showed! We would not have left our cats there if we even suspected such abuse! We drove over 700 miles each trip and we still believe it was the best thing for our cats! When Caboodle Ranch was raided, we knew it was bogus. We even tried to get our cats back but the wonderful aspca put us on their “no adoption” list! We searched everywhere for a good place and some moron ruins it! Sure seems all our pictures and videos show NO abuse! All you that talk about Caboodle, have YOU ever been there? Or are you just going by a little 5 minute video? I would say you are going by the video because if you had ever visited Caboodle, then you are not talking straight! Dead cats rotting where Craig slept, LOL, I never saw them and Craig himself showed us where he and his cats slept and we saw NO rotting cats! And don’t say it is because he didn’t show us the whole place, we saw all of it, every nook and cranny. I Loved my cats and never, and I mean never, would have left them there if it had been that bad. People need to look, visit before running their mouth! The video peta showed was mostly taken in a building that Craig himself told us was locked and scheduled to be tore down, but yet the peta turd broke in to film it. What losers.
And yes it was my idea of a sanctuary! Did you ever really visit?
You ask some very interesting questions. Pointing to ASPCA’s lack of authority, the wildly unrealistic invoice (which could easily be described as an attempt at “double dipping” – i.e. they ask for donations and then try to [more than?] cover the expenses via this bill), and the other issues raised… all worth pondering.
On the face of it, the exorbitant consulting fees seem off-the-charts. Apparently, when you take money in as fast as ASPCA does, you don’t care how fast you spend it, either.
All that is interesting. However, I have something else to add to the mix. This issue arose in the context of ASPCA and PETA trying hard to discredit CAPA. Prior to this case, both organizations had focuses their opposition to shelter reform legislation (I would argue incorrectly) by trying to attach it to the topic of animal hoarding. What they needed to make their case was a high-profile animal hoarding case. And, the Caboodle Ranch situation sure seemed to suite their needs. Both organizations played it for all it was worth in their efforts to fight CAPA.
Ironically, while there is no correlation between CAPA and hoarding, there is a connection to overly heavy-handed, punitive approaches to dealing with hoarding cases. Animal hoarders suffer from mental illness. CAPA cannot create more mental illness. Abusive arrests, seizing of animals, and other such approaches, on the other hand, can cause people suffering from this condition to fear authorities even more than they already do. (Note: because animal hoarding is a mix of obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia, it generally comes with a good dose of paranoia. These folks tend to fear outside interveners. These “busts” only help the victims of this illness validate their paranoia. They, therefore, prevent the hoarders from getting the help they need.)
Let’s assume the $1 million dollar figure reportedly spent by ASPCA was accurate. I suggest that money would have been better spend trying to help Caboodle ranch, rather than trying to shut it down.
If the reports are true, and if this really was a hoarding situation (and it sounds likely that it was), it is also very likely the owner of Caboodle will simply relocate and start all over, because, without getting long-term, meaningful assistance, that is what animal hoarders do. You can bet after this last experience, they will be even more suspicious of animal welfare organizations, and less likely to cooperate with any agency that could actually help them.
In other words, ASPCA likely did more harm than good with the funds they spent. They likely could have helped the animals AND the operator of Caboodle Ranch, while preventing a recurrence.
A perfect response. I couldn’t have said it better myself. The point you make regarding responses to hoarding situations — where animals are seized and the purported hoarder gets no mental health assistance — is right on the money.
In our neck of the woods, we were pushing for a No Kill shelter after a local scandal hit regarding excessive shelter killing at one county SPCA. The local Big Gorilla (kill) shelter (another county SPCA) didn’t like the attention it was getting regarding its own excessive kill rate. Voila! Another nearby (No Kill) county SPCA shelter was raided by state police with the assistance of the Big Gorilla (kill) shelter, and over 600 cats removed, complete with all the media attention they love to generate. Did the offending organization and its hoarders get any help? No. One board member committed suicide. Now two others are hoarding cats again, according to people who know them. Why? Because they didn’t get the help they needed, and the State Attorney General didn’t require that the organization completely clean house and get an entirely new Board of Directors, since the previous one obviously was not abiding by its mission and charter.
The timing of the raid was perfect for the Big Gorilla (kill) shelter. They wanted No Kill painted as hoarders, and No Kill shelters painted as places where animals suffer for long periods in crowded conditions. We all know that needn’t be the case, and a bad shelter is a bad shelter is a bad shelter, whether a kill facility or it calls itself No Kill.
Big Gorilla shelter controls the local media. It monopolizes donations, and carefully controls what people know about its operations. Just the other day, Big Gorilla executive director goes on TV (where she was doing her follow-up report on the original shelter in crisis, which now boasts a 95% save rate and calls itself No Kill). There she was, with press at hand, in a big news conference and she says: “What is No Kill? What does that mean? If an animal comes in with a broken back and is suffering, does that mean we can’t relieve its suffering?”
Ugh. She may be political, but she is not stupid and hasn’t had her head buried in a hole in the ground the past two decades. She knows exactly what No Kill means and she has been trying to control the dialogue for the past several years. She obviously enjoys blurring any distinction between killing (that is, destroying animals that could be helped, managed, rehabilitated, treated) and animals with grave prognosis that are irremediably suffering (aka, true euthanasia). Her comment only made her look ridiculous, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the general public swallows her pronouncements hook, line, and sinker far too often.
We’ll keep getting the word out and fighting the good fight, using their very own statistics to dispel their spin-doctored claims. Big Gorilla Executive Director’s days are numbered, if it’s the last thing I accomplish in my lifetime!
Does anyone know how many of the cats were adopted? I am going to assume the ones that weren’t were killed. This entire thing makes me sad.
Over 400 were adopted in the first wave of adoption events. NONE of the cats have been euthanized except the ones that were so far gone they could not be saved, and were suffering.
http://caboodleranch.net/?p=583
Even the supposedly feral cats have been rehomed. Some were adopted as “barn cats”. Some were socialized and adopted into loving homes.
And how many other cats were killed to make room for these?
Many cats were displaced from shelters and the 30+ rescue organizations that teamed up to save these abused cats. You can thank Craig Grant for that. If he had provided even *minimal* care for those animals, intervention would not have been necessary. If he had obeyed the 2009 court Order to Show Care, this would not have been necessary. If he spent donations on the cats, this would not have been necessary. If he had stopped taking in more cats than he could care for, this would not have been necessary.
The only person who could have prevented this raid was Craig Grant. When he failed those cats, it was absolutely necessary to remove them from an abusive situation.
No. Blaming Mr Grant is certainly convenient, but once the cats at Caboodle were out of his hands, responsibility for them and for the cats displaced to provide room for them fell to those in charge of the bust and involved in the cats’ subsequent redistribution through the rescue and shelter system.
The animal welfare community’s collective failure to adequately provide for big busts without displacement and killing for space is also our collective shame, and unless we own it we will never come up with any reasonable solutions.
Agreed, shelters have the responsibility to care for the cats they take in. But there are too many cats coming in, and insufficient resources to care for them.
Situations like Caboodle Ranch put even greater strain on a crumbling (and often broken) system.
So rather than really helping, the raid resulted in other, already sheltered cats, being killed to make room. How is that fair?
Yeah, vegan cupcakes, thousands for “consultants” (who did what, gave their enlightened opinions?), and light bulbs?
I’m all for putting the cats first ~ but other cats were killed. And that’s just not right!
By that logic, we should leave dogs in the care of dog fighters, because they might displace shelter pets otherwise.
Those cats were being abused. They needed to be rescued. The fact that those cats had to be rescued — and other cats were denied homes because of it — lies squarely on Craig Grant’s shoulders.
All he had to do was limit his intake to a number he could care for, and provide basic care for them. He had the resources. He had offers of help and volunteers (both refused because he feared — correctly, it turns out — that they would report his abuse to the authorities).
What he didn’t have was the intention of caring for those cats responsibly, or the self control to make CR a sanctuary instead of a dumping ground where cats were left to die of neglect.
that it was a dumping ground is not his fault though is it? and his worst fears came true didn’t’ they ?instead of aid he was a arrested and charged.. do you actually think he abused these cats on purpose? that he willfully was cruel to them? I do not and obviously the courts felt the same way and all charges will be dropped. Not exactly the outcome so many people wanted. i read all sorts of horrible things that people said should be done to him including torturing him and even killing him. All of that for a man who was trying to help cats.
Each case is independent from the next but as usual you always take the road back to the illegal and most egregious cases. Sheltering in place is not about dog fighting it is about keeping the animals in homes and educating using some of the “light bulb” money to actually help the animals.
If people are afraid of the ASPCA/HSUS/PETA it is because they have ruined people lives, stolen their animals and made them financially unstable and held themselves out to be what they are not …”charitable”
” The fact that those cats had to be rescued — and other cats were denied homes because of it — lies squarely on Craig Grant’s shoulders.”
No. The fact that they needed to be rescued is Craig’s fault. The fact that other cats were killed (“denied homes” is a nice euphemism for what really happened) to make space for them lies squarely on those who took possession of the cats.
Tell me that the ASPCA doesn’t have the resources to put an emergency shelter in place? That they cannot afford an influx of 700 cats? They absolutely could manage it (with money to spare) *if it were a priority to do so*. But no, they like to work with the “existing system”. The system that makes sure the pension fund is full. The system that rakes in the maximum amount of donations in return for the minimum cost to them. The system that kills for space. Changing the system, inventing new systems, innovative solutions, these do not fit into their paradigm. So they shift the killing, shift the blame, take home the donations and call it good.
Just because Craig was wrong, it doesn’t mean that the ASPCA was right.
Funny you mention dogs in the hands of dogfighters. Does it make sense to “rescue” the dogs from fighting only to kill them in a kill shelter because they have a “fighting history?” No. And does it make sense to seize these dogs, who have to be held as “evidence” in a court case, thereby taking up precious space in the local, municipal shelter? How is room had? Well, perfectly adoptable animals are killed to make space.
The dogfighting situation is nearly identical to the flawed response to hoarding. You go in. You seize the dogs. You kill them at the shelter because they are “tainted” fighting dogs. The offenders, under animal cruelty statutes get a fine and nothing more. So they go out and buy more fighting dogs — creating a market for the breeding of puppies for that purposes.
And the cycle continues. To my mind, if you are not going to provide emergency housing and care separately from existing facilities for these dogs AND work to rehabilitate them and allow them to heal, then you haven’t “saved” them from anything.
Good question about how can they dispose of property that they weren’t legally appointed to take? How does that work, then?
PETA is evil. APSCA is self-serving. If they had cared about the cats, they would have taken steps to *help* Craig get the situation under control. They had all the money and resources, but they chose to “save” the cats from Craig, instead.
How many cats were terrified off of the property by the big round up and ended up starving to death or being shot by local yahoos?
Helping is nice, but raids make money…
The ASPCA was legally permitted to care for those cats at the Sheriff’s request. They were not officially *appointed* by the Court as an agent of the Sheriff, which prevented them from being reimbursed, but everything they did was lawful and fully authorized under the laws of Madison County and the State of Florida.
You don’t like PETA and the ASPCA? That doesn’t change the fact that these cats were abused. Don’t side with animal abusers just because you dislike the whistleblowers.
“You don’t like PETA and the ASPCA? That doesn’t change the fact that these cats were abused. ”
And that may in fact be the case. The problem is, it’s very hard to tell where there truth lies the second PETA gets involved.
“Don’t side with animal abusers just because you dislike the whistleblowers.”
“Dislike” doesn’t enter into it. It’s a matter of motive. Neither PETA nor the ASPCA are motivated by the well-being of cats. If they were, they would conduct their business VERY differently.
Although I do like how you are ready to paint me as a supporter of animal abusers. That’s cute. Tell me, if I were a diehard PETA supporter, what would that make me? Because then I would be supporting both the whistleblower AND cat killers. Yay.
I’ll agree, PETA’s involvement was a negative. Their attempt to politicize this clouded what should have been a crystal clear case of animal cruelty.
Nonetheless, I’m glad they did go undercover and obtain that evidence. Once they did, the Sheriff was no longer able to sit on his fat ass and ignore the ongoing deaths of those cats.
PETA’s political motives are irrelevant. The evidence — which comes from more than two dozen individuals and organizations, some of which were former supporters of Caboodle Ranch — is all that matters here.
Those cats needed to be rescued, but far too many people are willing to excuse that cruelty because they are either sympathetic to the hoarder or opposed to PETA.
Screw politics. It’s the cats we should be concerned about. And for the life of me, I can’t understand why people who would claim to be animal lovers would be so willing to excuse that cruelty just so they can throw rocks at the agencies involved.
“PETA’s political motives are irrelevant. ”
Not “political motives”, motives. What motivates them. Their base reason for being. The problem with PETA is that their primary motive is not the well-being of the animals. And because of that (and history), they cannot be trusted. Ever.
“I can’t understand why people who would claim to be animal lovers would be so willing to excuse that cruelty just so they can throw rocks at the agencies involved.”
I do not excuse the cruelty. Nor do I trust the ASPCA or PETA. I am capable of holding both value judgments at the same time. And I think you’ll find that true for more than a few of us.
I definitely accept that one can condemn Caboodle Ranch’s cruelty and still distrust the organizations involved in the rescue. I’ll applaud you for doing it.
However, on this blog, I’ve seen far more eagerness to excuse and discount cruelty in the rush to condemn the national orgs. It’s a disturbing and all-too-consistent pattern.
People who hate PETA often leap to the defense of Caboodle Ranch, because they feel the need to choose sides — and they would rather side with an admitted animal abuser than admit that maybe, just maybe, the national groups accomplished something positive here.
That kind of fanatical hatred kills animals and allows abusers to thrive. Good groups can do bad things. Bad groups can accomplish good things. I wish people would focus on the deeds rather than blind loyalties.
“People who hate PETA often leap to the defense of Caboodle Ranch, because they feel the need to choose sides”
Or because they see PETA as a lying group of liars who lie. Can’t blame them for that, really.
“That kind of fanatical hatred kills animals and allows abusers to thrive. Good groups can do bad things. Bad groups can accomplish good things. I wish people would focus on the deeds rather than blind loyalties.”
So you’re either with us or against animals? Sorry, no. And it’s the deeds that are the problem. PETA has no problem killing kittens themselves, but they want to stop abuse by…watching/contributing to/documenting abuse? ASPCA wants to swoop in and save the cats by forcing local shelters to kill cats for space? And they both fly the publicity flags looking for money to support them doing it. You can see where I have an issue with this kind of “rescue”, yes?
On the other side, the story of the Caboodle Ranch was used quiet often as “proof”, by opponents of the No Kill movement, to show that a No Kill implementation will lead to hoarding. It is true that hoarding exist, nobody claims it doesn’t. We do have to consider that hoarding itself is a mental illness that needs to be addressed and treated.
John Doppler Schiff – you keep presenting false choices. It is not a matter of “siding” with either the cats or an “abuser”. The fact of the matter is that in hoarding cases, it is possible to care for both. In my comment higher up in this thread, I talked about the knee-jerk reaction ASPCA and others have to try to “punish” animal hoarders, and how misguided that behavior is.
Animal hoarding is a mental health issue. As if you can “punish” someone into mental health. Obviously, you cannot. ASPCA could have used it’s million bucks to HELP Craig. In doing so, they would have also helped the cats, and without displacing cats in the existing shelter system.
It is really not that hard to understand, unless you are simply hell-bent on wanting to punish the mentally ill, an activity that as others have pointed out, does nothing to make the next hoarding case ASPCA is involved with any easier.
Who would ever want to cooperate with ASCA with the track record they have? I mean, seriously? How can you not see that?
This is absolutely heartbreaking, but makes sense with CAPA on the table. The more I learn, the less I like those big animal “welfare” groups ~ they only want to put forth their own agenda and if a few hundred cats (at the least) end up paying with their lives, then so be it.
We have to continue to get the truth out there about H$U$, peta and the A$PCA. They simply do. not. care. about the animals.
3 words. Shelter in place. (Also would have worked for the Alabama 44.)
Then actually assist the person in reducing the number of animals through a community adoption event and work out a plan to treat the few animals that need medical intervention. Everybody wins and you don’t destroy a person in the process.
I totally agree. Sheltering in place is the way to go. Less costly to the taxpayer, less animals in the shelters and absolutely less animals being killed but you and I both know that sheltering in place does not bring in the “big bucks”
Therese, as I’ve said to many others whose made uneducated remarks about the case, please acquaint yourself with the case before just repeating things you’ve heard. Evidence at http://www.caboodleranch.net. Craig Grant refused to adopt out cats. Approximately 95% of cats were ill. That is hardly more than a few. In summer, 2011, an animal welfare organization offered to come out to CR to provide vet care and clean the place up and CR refused. It’s all in an email.
You all are more worried about a “poor old man” than the welfare of the cats. It’s really scary to know that the well-being of animals in the U.S. are at risk because so called “animal welfare activists” excuse animal neglect just because they dislike certain organizations.
“You all are more worried about a “poor old man” than the welfare of the cats. It’s really scary to know that the well-being of animals in the U.S. are at risk because so called “animal welfare activists” excuse animal neglect just because they dislike certain organizations.”
And again. Really, we are capable of both abhorring the cruelty and not trusting certain organizations at the very same time. Fact is, if the organizations conducted themselves in a manner consistent with animal welfare being a primary concern, we’d all be supporting them wholeheartedly.
I place the welfare of a human above the welfare of an animal. Priorities.
PETA is well known to kill kittens and puppies just because they don’t feel like dealing with them. The organization is evil, end of story.
Yeah. About that website Dana. Has the same level of credibility that PeTA does. Evidence? No. Pro-PeTA propaganda. Absolutely.
Exactly! Well said.
Imho, the raid was all about CAPA, pure and simple. I think Mike Fry summed it up nicely.
“The Companion Animal Protection Act (CAPA) was written as “model” legislation to provide animals with maximum opportunities for lifesaving.” (Winograd. http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?page_id=213) All three of the national humane groups want this legislation killed so they used the Caboodle Ranch, in Florida, to fight the legislation when it was coming up for a vote.
I would add that the ASPCA sent out “send us money” messages that the raid was costing them 3 million dollars. I guess all the flak, they got about that, made them re-think the costs and whittle it down to 1 mil.
I commented, on a number of newspaper articles about the raid, and pointed out that the ASPCA was claiming that it was costing them approximately $4,300, per cat, to “save” the cats from the ranch. That seemed a rather excessive amount of money to spend on the raid and would have been better spent upgrading the facilities Craig already had rather than wasting it on legal costs. I suggested that the ASPCA really wanted donations to help fight the CAPA bill in Florida.
I also wondered about what legal standing the ASPCA had and how they could legally dispose of the cats before the case was ajudicated. My layman’s understanding of the law was that the state couldn’t dispose of someone’s private property until a judge signed off on it after a trial. And that, of course, is the very thing the ASPCA, HSUS, and PETA want to see changed.
They want to have the sole right to destroy any stray animal as they see fit. They tried to pass a law in New York that would have given them the legal right to do this but it was shot down. I understand they are going to try again to get it passed this year.
Hopefully all the really humane groups will again fight to kill the bill and work to get CAPA passed instead.
How do these folks look at themselves in the mirror? This makes me so very angry . . .
The raid was politicized by PETA after the fact. That doesn’t change the reality of the abuse and neglect that went on at Caboodle Ranch. The raid was not only necessary to save those cats from abuse, it was years overdue. They should have been shut down in 2009 when they ignored court orders to provide proper care for the cats and to stop taking in more cats than they could care for.
how about HELPING instead of stealing property and begging for money to do it.. Is there a reason the ASPCA could not go the ranch and treat the cats there? Help Craig to learn how to properly care for the cats? Send in some food and medical supplies? get some REAL volunteers on site not just PETA operatives there to video… court orders do nothing to help the animals.. providing this type of aid could really boost the image of groups like the ASPCA/HSUS/PETA.
How exactly should they have helped? Give the hoarder MORE money to squander and waste? They already had a quarter million dollars a year in revenue.
Multiple agencies offered expert assistance in bringing the Ranch up to standards. CR was *ordered* by the Court to do so in 2009. They ignored nearly every provision of that order.
Meanwhile, cats got sick, cats went blind, cats died in agony in that reeking dungeon they called a “sick ward”. And every day, he took in more and more cats.
The only way to help Caboodle Ranch was to separate Craig Grant from the cats. And that was done by the Sheriff, with a legal warrant and under the laws of Madison County.
How exactly is using assault rifles against one man and one staffer necessary? Everything they did, ignoring how the Ranch was almost constantly passing inspections, was completely and utterly unnecessary.
John Doppler Schiff wrote: “How exactly should they have helped? Give the hoarder MORE money to squander and waste? They already had a quarter million dollars a year in revenue.”
You realize that a quarter of a million dollars a year is grossly insufficient to run a sanctuary of that size and scope, right? You make it sound as though $250,000 is a pile of cash.
Please enlighten everyone here how, in your view, $250,000 could be used to provide veterinary care for 700 animals, hire staff to care for those animals, pay for utilities and everything else they needed. I mean, really. Please do.
Ironically, I believe you just proved the point people have been making through this discussion. If Caboodle Ranch really only had $250,000 to work with in a given year, how could it have possibly functioned?
It is becoming increasingly more obvious that ASPCA could have used it’s vast resources in a far more constructive way. Thank you for helping to demonstrate that to be the case.
He’s been banned for trolling, Mike. So he won’t be able to reply to your question here.
I consider this raid as a part of both organizations ongoing efforts to brand private rescues and sanctuaries as hoarders, which is part and parcel of their campaign against No-Kill. I also think that big hoarder busts – imagined, questionable, and actual – are used by a variety of organizations related one way or another to animal welfare as a way of demonstrating supposed competency, garnering media attention, and raising money. That’s why they go down with major seizures, I think – how it looks and plays in the media is of more concern than the safety and welfare of the animals seized en masse, and dumped into the shelter system after one or two adoption events.
As I recall from the original stories and posts here, I felt that there may well be some real question about the conditions at Caboodle, however the approach taken was the wrong way to go. No attempt was made to give this man aid, provide him with veterinary help, to help him rehome at least some of his cats with other rescues or sanctuaries, or anything else that might have realistically addressed the safety and welfare of the cats with minimal fuss and disruption. Rather, all effort was aimed at destroying Caboodle and Mr Grant, and creating as large and loud a display as possible.
Also, Mike Fry? Do you have a source for associating hoarding – the actual condition – with OCD and schizophrenia?
I tend to agree with your take Eucritta. I remember when Best Friends was opposing Oreo’s Law in NY, they issued dramatic statements about how rescue groups were hoarders and hoarding cases were up eleventy million percent and such. They were apparently concerned if we didn’t kill shelter pets before rescue groups could get them, they’d all end up living with hoarders. Which are everywhere, I guess.
http://yesbiscuit.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/best-friends-and-oreos-law-redux/
I’ve even seen people who merely had a few pets over the local legal limit called ‘hoarders.’ As if. And even if it were true, busts are not the best way to address the problem. I keep thinking about a woman here in the Bay Area, a genuine cat hoarder who was repeatedly busted over a period of several years. Every time the dust settled, she’d just move and start accumulating more cats. Between her and the way her cases were handled … I can’t imagine the levels of misery for those poor cats. They were the ones in the middle, and while it was supposedly about their welfare … really, it was about everyone else but them.
The NYT ran a couple of articles on hoarding a few days ago – one more about approaches to the problem that actually work, at least to some extent:
‘Task Forces Offer Hoarders a Way to Dig Out’ –
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/27/health/when-hoarding-morphs-into-a-safety-hazard.html
‘Understanding Hoarding’ –
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/health/understanding-hoarding.html?ref=health
Do you believe hoarding exists?
What is your personal criteria for defining a hoarder?
Yes, I believe hoarding exists. However, my personal definition is irrelevant, as I am neither a psychiatrist nor psychologist and refuse to play one for trolls on the internet.
Isn’t it funny how someone gets branded a troll the minute they bring up facts that Eucritta can’t downplay and explain away?
But I was actually addressing Shirley, not you.
Excluding Nanette Entriken’s cats which were not in the general population, 653 cats were seized. 652 of these are cataloged in the pathology reports.
RINGWORM
4.8% of the total population (31 cats) were infected with ringworm. 7 of these were in the sick ward, and the rest were allowed to roam the property, spreading it to other cats. The free-roaming cats were not being treated.
Reference: Exhibit 10, Presumptive Dermatophytosis by Location
FELV
10% of the population (65 cats) were infected with FeLV. 13 of these cats were in the FeLV/FIV barn. The remaining 52 cats were loose on the property, infecting other cats.
Reference: Exhibit 11, Prevalence of FeLV by Location
FIV
16% of the total population (104 cats) were FIV+. 6 of the cats were in the FeLV/FIV barn. 29 of these cats were in the sick ward (53% of the cats in the sick ward were FIV+, and were not isolated). The remaining 69 FIV+ cats were loose on the property.
Reference: Exhibit 12, Prevalence of FIV by Location
URI
39% of the total population (253 cats) were suffering with upper respiratory infections. 3 cats in the FIV barn were infected; 45 cats in the sick ward (82% of those cats) were infected. The remaining 205 cats were roaming the property, not isolated or contained in any way.
Reference: Exhibit 9, Total URI Prevalence by Location
OTHER ILLNESSES
Intake and lab tests revealed widespread infections in the general population: Tritrichomonas fetus, Herpes virus, Bordetella, M. felis, giardia, Chlamydophila felis, calicivirus, coronavirus, hookworms, ascarid (roundworms), grain mites, ear mites. The numbers of these and other infectious agents and the number of cats suffering from severely matted fur, ingrown claws, open wounds and abscesses, were not detailed in the custody hearing.
DEAD CATS
29 decomposing corpses were found above ground and in the buildings of Caboodle Ranch. Two of those cats were found in a vanity in the General Store. Dozens of corpses were found stuffed into garbage bags that were tossed into shallow ditches. Forensic investigators were able to remove the bodies without digging.
This is what the Caboodle Ranch case was about. Nothing more, nothing less. Documentation, sworn testimony and evidence — none of which was challenged by Caboodle Ranch or its attorneys in court — is available at http://caboodleranch.net/?page_id=4
The fact that John Doppler Schiff is now shilling for the ASPCA is truly “the death of hope” for that organization.
What are your animal welfare qualifications? You were formally an attack dog for Wayne Pacelle, and claimed you were a dedicated HSUS donor and supporter. Now you are bringing your hatred and pompous arrogance to cover for the ASPCA. Who writes your material? How do you form these opinions? What experience have you had?
The Caboodle Ranch and other big raids are staged and timed to coincide with HSUS/ASPCA crafted legislation or sabotaging shelter reform. That has been proven time and time again. Moreover, these cases help perpetuate the myth that the ASPCA and HSUS are quasi-government agencies, tackling the cases that their “local chapters” are unable to handle. The 700 cats are included in fundraising letters as animals they rescued and cared for. They show up in those weepy TV ads begging for $19 a month to save animals from cruelty and disasters.
The fact that these organizations have the chutzpah to ask for money to “cover their expenses” is beyond outrageous. It should be against the law.
Mm-hmm, yes, I’m sure they doctored years of photographs from dozens of individuals, as well as the evidence that Caboodle Ranch never once challenged in court and acknowledged was true and accurate. I’m sure PETA and the ASPCA painted mucus on the cats’ faces and planted the maggots in the refrigerator months before the raid. They must have hacked Craig Grant’s blog and posted that Craig was scrubbing cats faces with Clorox wipes.
And of course, their legendary mind-control rays forced CR’s vet to testify against him, and forced the Tampa Bay Times reporter to write an article about him years before the raid.
Yep. Mm-hmm. All fake. You got me, Jim! You’re just too smart for us animal welfare nuts.
But maybe you should take a moment to pull your head out of your ass and note that nowhere in the facts I’ve presented does the ASPCA factor into the evidence.
The evidence is overwhelming, irrefutable, uncontested by Caboodle Ranch (as long as they were under oath, at least), and not dependent on PETA or the ASPCA or any individual.
Jim, that the ASPA would use it’s fundraising is understandable but not the reason they helped the Caboodle cats. Those cats got better treatment from the ASPCA than NYC cats get who wind up in the NY ACC. I was initially shocked by the expenditures and thought “but what about our cats here in NYC?”, But I read the evidence which is about as well researched and presented as you are likely to find on the internet on caboodleranch.net, I had to admit this was an elderly man way over his head who had repeatedly refused help. He slept in a room where there were rotting carcasses of 2 cats in a cabinet. He didn’t believe in humane end of life euthanasia for sick cats. He could not properly care for them and refused help and he was only getting older, not younger. Even Nathan Winograd refused to condemn this raid. I remember reading that on his page.
As for the consultant fees, I understand from a friend in Florida that some of those at least we’re for veterinarians and the cost would come out to $40 an hour for their work, which to me seems a very low pay scale for a veterinarian.
Linda,
You mention that Nathan Winograd refused to condemn this raid. You are not the only commenter who has made this point, although there are a number of comments that cross the line into trolling territory and haven’t been published (in addition to the trolls whose comments did get published). At any rate I would like to weigh in here. Nathan Winograd’s lack of condemnation for the raid is irrelevant to our discussion and I consider it a diversionary tactic to raise this point. There have been various opinions expressed here on the issue. Regardless of what anti-no kill smear agents would have you believe, no kill advocates are independent thinkers, capable of forming and expressing personal opinions which often differ from one another. We’ve done that here. I consider the continual reference to “But Nathan Winograd!” to be a tactic similar to yelling “But Benghazi!” in the halls of Congress. We are critical thinkers here, debating some complex issues. Those of you who can’t keep up can certainly find more hospitable outlets for your comments on the internet.
Thank you for pointing out what you consider a diversionary tactic. I meant it as informational. That is fair. Independent thinkers applies to all of us. Is that fair? It is mean to say “those of you who cannot keep up” to me personally. Am I allowed to say that here? Am I allowed to say my opinions here without being labeled a troll? If not, no worries, I am done here, but will respond to comments directed to me or people who use my name. Thank you for pointing out your interpretation of my comment. I am not a PETA supporter. I do believe Caboodle needed to be closed. My opinion of the ASPCA is in flux and complicated.
I don’t think anybody here disputes the fact that the cats needed help. However, Mr. Grant was in need of help too. Hoarding is a mental illness often paired with other mental illnesses. The raid brought help for the cats but not the needed help for Mr. Grant. What will the future hold for Mr. Grant? He most likely will move away, taking in cats again at his new place and sooner or later he will find himself in the very same situation again.
I do question certain aspects of the Raid. There is the involvement of the 2 largest animal rights/welfare organisations and I’m almost certain they didn’t get involved just to help the cats. For PeTA it most likely was political operation and for the ASPCA it was a much needed well laid out PR Operation. Looking at the list of people involved in the Raid, my above statement makes even more sense.
The timing of the Raid couldn’t have been better to defeat FARA once and for all. It was the ultimate proof for some people (and Organisations) that pulling animals from a shelter will lead to hoarding.
“What Was the Case Against Caboodle Ranch All About?” Have you actually seen the evidence? I mean really? There is overwhelming amounts of evidence for the public to read. I don’t think you can find another hoarding case where the evidence is just a click away. You’d have to be lazy to not read it. I highly recommend acquainting yourself with facts, not fiction, before making ignorant comments.
The case was about rescuing cats from neglect and abuse. Nothing more. Nothing less. If you believe it was for any other purpose, you have a bit of paranoia and a wild imagination.
And what came out of all that? All charges have been dropped against Mr. Grant and he will open up another place. The ASPCA is trying to make money out of it by sending out ridiculous stupid bills for vegan cupcakes and light bulbs.
What came of all that?
Hundreds of cats — if not thousands over the years to come — have been spared a horrible death. The survivors of Caboodle Ranch are in safe and loving homes.
Maybe that’s unimportant to you, but not to me.
The deferred prosecution agreement was an abomination, and completely typical of lax law enforcement in Florida, where animal abuse is considered a victimless crime.
Still, I’ll bet good money that Craig Grant is unable to control his hoarding and violates that DPA before the year is up.
He will be under close surveillance. Hundreds of cat lovers are watching him. And with a signed admission of guilt on the record, and his abuse of cats heavily documented, he’ll have a tough time defrauding donors again.
And hundreds of already sheltered cats likely lost their lives. Is this not a travesty? Did they deserve to be killed to make way for the others?
[quote]
Hundreds of cats — if not thousands over the years to come — have been spared a horrible death.
[/quote]
That is an assumption from your side. Unfortunately the only source of information we have is your own website (caboodleranch.net) which gives the whole story a strange taste if we combine that with all the other things we know about you.
Craig Grant cost those 700 cats their homes — including the 53 kittens born to his “spayed and neutered” cats.
THAT is the travesty, and he should have been held accountable for it.
And if he is so appalled by the “kill shelter” system, perhaps he should have taken steps — ANY step — to ensure that it wasn’t necessary to remove those cats from a situation of neglect.
And no, Peter Masloch, that is not an assumption. That is a fact. The adoption events were widely publicized.
The documents, transcripts, and evidence on caboodleranch.net are available from the Madison County court clerk and other public sources. Feel free to verify their authenticity personally.
Finally, I would suggest that you know absolutely NOTHING about me. The unfounded assumptions are yours.
“The case was about rescuing cats from neglect and abuse. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
Actually, while you speak of the CASE, the RAID was specifically about defeating the Florida Animal Rescue Act.
By late January 2012, the legislation, which was a rescue access and shelter transparency bill, had advanced in the Florida Senate and was being taken seriously.
Within several weeks, on February 27th, after what detractors claim had been years of complaints and evidence about Caboodle Ranch, the sanctuary was suddenly raided (apparently with a SWAT team). And PETA and the ASPCA — both of whom notoriously oppose animal shelter reform — made sure of maximum publicity for the event.
Two days after the raid, PETA was using it to drum up opposition to FARA. By March 9, a week and a half after the raid, FARA was dead for the year.
The raid was about making sure that lifesaving legislation would be killed. It was never about Craig Grant at all. And it certainly wasn’t about saving cats . . . who, thanks to the defeat of FARA, continue to be needlessly slaughtered in Florida’s shelters.
That conspiracy theory might have some legs if it weren’t for the fact that Caboodle Ranch was under investigation in October of the previous year, and had been on the radar of animal welfare agencies *years* before CAPA or FARA were introduced in Florida.
But PETA did politicize it, and that has been a huge thorn in the side of people who know that this isn’t about no kill, it’s about cruelty to animals.
This would have been a black-and-white animal cruelty case otherwise.
John I am curious to know if you were present at the raid and seizure. Your descriptions of the conditions certainly lead one to believe that you were front and center and a main participant in the raid. Were you? Have you ever been to Caboodle Ranch? Just curious?
I’ve been through reams of photographic and video evidence, both pro and con. I’ve been over the lab reports for the 2009 inspection. I’ve been through the fraudulent EAH application and inspection reports filled out by Craig Grant. I’ve reviewed every page of four years of Caboodle Ranch bank records, and I’ve helped to catalog every illegal deduction and every instance of fraud — more than 30 of them — to be reported to the IRS and state authorities. I have seen the cats who died at Caboodle Ranch, and the cats who survived with incurable diseases, missing limbs, blindness, and lifelong neurological problems thanks to Craig Grant’s neglect. I have read every page of every veterinary record — not that that took very long — and I have seen the vet records of cats dropped off at Caboodle Ranch in perfect health, and reclaimed weeks later at death’s door. I’ve been in contact with investigators, prosecutors, rescuers, die hard supporters and disillusioned ex-fans. I have read every single word Caboodle Ranch has ever written; I’ve recorded every post, cross-referenced them, and waded through the neverending lies that spew from CR and its enablers.
I was not present on the day of the raid, nor would I need to be. I’ve seen the cats before and after the raid, and I’ve seen the victims for whom the raid came far too late. And I’ve seen Craig Grant’s statements confirming his guilt in the deaths and suffering of those cats.
Any other questions?
So, you have never set a foot on to Caboodle Ranch?
I’ve never set foot in Auschwitz either, but that doesn’t make me a Holocaust denier.
Good grief, John, you can’t go lower than that. Time for you to come down from your high holy horse.
No one here is defending neglect and cruelty, but you are a very sick, hate-filled and obsessive person. You were when you were shilling for HSUS and you sound even scarier channeling your rage and contempt today as a hatchet man for the ASPCA. Your opinions are merely that, even if they are based on “evidence.” You are not the final word on all things animal welfare. We have every right to challenge your declarations and self-righteous judgements without being labeled defenders of animal abuse.
You need to answer a few basic questions if you want to be seen as a credible individual. What is your background in animal welfare? Is the ASPCA paying you? Do you think the ASPCA deserved to be reimbursed to the tune of a million dollars for their listed expenses? Do you view HSUS BFF Michael Vick the same way you view Craig Grant? Are you on your meds?
yes actually .. you say :
. I’ve reviewed every page of four years of Caboodle Ranch bank records, and I’ve helped to catalog every illegal deduction and every instance of fraud — more than 30 of them — to be reported to the IRS and state authorities. ”
Who exactly did you “help” for while doing this work and who did you report your findings to ? What organization asked you do this work? What credentials do you bring to the table in order for you interpret medical records and lab reports? Who asked you to catalog this information to be reported to authorities and the IRS? Have you actually viewed the bodies of the dead cats yourself and how was this possible if you were not there.. How could you see the cats before the raid if you were never on the ranch? What exactly is “perfect health” compared to “deaths door” and how are you qualified to determine either? ah so many questions but that will do as i know if i continue you will find some way to call me a “puppy miller”, abuse apologist , seal clubber and dog fighter because that is what you do best
I don’t need to “interpret” anything. The facts are self-explanatory. When 95% of the cats are ill, when cats have severe illnesses that have gone untreated, when 104 of the cats are FIV+ and most of those are just strolling around the property infecting other cats — that’s a problem. No “interpretation” needed.
When someone claims to use “100% of your donations for the cats,” then treats themselves to Vegas vacations and Daytona Speedway outings with donations, that’s a problem. No “interpretation” needed.
When someone claims that all of the cats at the Ranch are spayed and neutered, but inspectors and volunteers photographed intact male cats, that’s a problem. No “interpretation” needed.
And when those problems result in the deaths and torment of cats, I will damn well step in and take action. You, apparently, would ignore it and try to blame the whistleblower.
That’s the fundamental difference between someone who cares about animals, and someone who exploits them.
If you had any interest in the facts, I’d direct you to the caboodleranch.net document library for the answers to each of your questions, including the difference between cats in perfect health and cats that are nearly dead. The vet records for those cats — before and after — are available for review. So are CR’s bank records, tax returns, inspection reports etc. These are not “interpreted” by anyone: they are factual statements laid out in objective numbers. Many of them come directly from Caboodle Ranch.
Yet you would dismiss and ignore that information because it doesn’t support your agenda of defending every animal abuser on the planet.
So yes, when I call you an abuse apologist, it’s entirely warranted.
“If you had any interest in the facts, I’d direct you to the “John Doppler Schiff created” document library for the answers to each of your questions.”
Credibility fail.
Bottom line is that cruelty to animals is wrong, wherever it is found. And when the big “animal welfare” organizations do whatever they can to defeat lifesaving legislation, send their ” unadoptable” animals to high kill facilities, or fund raise on the backs of animals that are never helped while keeping millions in assets and paying out to administration instead of supporting true animal shelters, is just plain wrong. So whatever has happened to the cats from Florida, other animals are being killed when life-saving alternatives are not happening. Already sheltered cats are just ” collateral damage”?
That the State atty was willing to do a deferred prosecution deal that permits the defendant to own animals strongly suggests that the State atty was also not willing to go to trial and that the evidence of supposed animal abuse was not as strong as the PETA/ASPCA supporters wish people to believe. Supporting that notion is the fact that the deferred prosecution deal permits Craig to own animals. Since the chargse against him involved animal cruelty, the State atty’s office apparently did not believe there was sufficient evidence that he was willfully cruel to place pet ownership restrictions into the deal.
i dont see in the first place how does any charity can have directors, and vice presidents;…here already find it suspicious since charity has been defined otherwise by any dictionary, it should be built from social people who do their jobs for their living and in their sparetime do something noble with free will and passion.when i really put my face into my hands is when i recieve a respons mail that they cant see if my package has arrived not just yet because the office is closed for the hollidays….what??hollidays….and offices….
I was and still am a volunteer for Caboodle Ranch and have been helping with legal & organizational questions since before the raid. When I visited the ranch before the raid, I walked the entire fence line and did not see any dead cats. Neither did the cleaning crew, the landscaper, the film crews from all over the world. How fortuitous the bodies showed up the day of the raid. But isn’t it a fact that cats die? Why would it be such a surprise to see dead cats in a free-range sanctuary? The cats that were in the vanity were not trapped there, They did what cats do; they found a hiding place in which to die. And that trailer was locked (the Peta spy was seen coming out of it when she was probably filming the about-to-be discarded frig with the maggots.) but it was featured in the video as if it were a working unit. As for the Peta spy, she was not called to testify to lay a foundation for the video. Why not?
Why were cats with URIs not confined? Dr. Miller of the ASPCA, in testimony ( I have the complete transcript) said many cats with URIs do better outside. And the infamous Clorox wipes do not contain Clorox. It’s a brand name. There were separate barns for FIV cats and other diseases. Were the cats better off there or wandering the streets of a city or crammed into a killing machine at the local shelters? May I see a show of paws?
All the requirements of the new EAH permit were being completed. I assisted by creating an Evacuation Plan in case of emergency such as a hurricane or fire. Craig and his crew tried mightily to do everything the county required. The EAH is clearly unconstitutional under state law, but that was going to be challenged at a later date.
To understand how duplicitous the ASPCA was, when the adoptions were set, people were told if they could identify their cats and wanted to claim them, they could. When I called with chip numbers of my cats, Tim Rickey of the ASPCA told me, through Julie, a staff member, that I could not claim my cats from the ranch because I was an active supporter. WOW.
That statement caused Judge Parker to issue an amended order telling the ASPCA NOT to discriminate against CR supporters at the adoptions. But they ignored the order, did not allow supporters into some locations, and asked for a hearing in Madison County to wiggle out of the violation. A new judge in Madison County, who is under investigation for improper conduct when he was a private attorney, wrote an Order removing the ASPCA name from the amended Order. The ASPCA attorney at the hearing said it was okay that they violated the statutes because they didn’t know Florida law. Do you think you would get the same pass?
I was at the custody hearing last May and knew we were in trouble. In my opinion, our legal representation was poor, our witnesses were not prepped, and the final document requested by Judge Parker was substandard. I agree with Mr Schiff that CR did not properly refute some of the accusations, but we do have an appeal about to be decided.
As for the all previous complaints against the ranch, I have spoken to two state attorneys. Neither thought the case should be pressed, which is why they weren’t. SA Skippy finally gave in, and allowed it to go forward, before he slipped out of office before facing a Grand Jury for improper conduct. The Sheriff told me he was tired of hearing from two of the most vitriolic anti-Caboodle people. So he caved and brought Peta evidence to Skippy. What a guy. But his behavior has opened up an opportunity to sue the county based on Chapter 57.051 of the Fl Statute. I can’t wait.
The people actively against the ranch are punitive and care nothing about the animals. Their vitriol has caused many of us to get actual death threats. I hope they don’t have children who see how they behave.
Most of the comments agree that the ASPCA could have cooperated with the ranch. But they needed a nice PR event to scuttle the FARA in the legislature. The raid and its aftermath has been a stain on Madison County, and the ranch could have been its biggest asset. Fools.
Ahh, I was wondering when Caboodle Ranch’s chief apologist would show up! When Caboodle Ranch needs to push a lie out to its supporters, but doesn’t want to dirty their hands, they use Dale as their mouthpiece.
Tell me, Dale, wasn’t it you that discarded two cats at Caboodle Ranch because one of them — you didn’t care enough to find out which — peed on your sofa? And you didn’t want to be saddled with a “medicated” cat.
You are one of those people who dumps their cat a shelter because, rather than being inconvenienced by finding a solution to a behavioral problem, you’d rather discard the animal like garbage.
No reputable shelter would have returned those cats to you, even if you were not among those people vowing to fraudulently adopt cats to return to Craig Grant.
Where are your cats now, Dale? Did either of them survive? Do you care?
Are these your cats?
http://caboodleranch.net/Documents/ASPCA_Evidence/Exhibit8_5.jpg
As you mentioned, they were found rotting in a vanity in the building where Craig Grant slept.
I think anyone with a functioning brain can see that they did not “fortuitously appear” on the day of the raid. They were neglected and ignored until they died. Nobody noticed the smell among the pervading stench of the Ranch.
I’m not aware of Dr. Miller saying that the outdoors was good for the cats. Are you thinking of Dr. Levy’s 2009 summary of findings, in which she stated that the airflow was an advantage? That document is here: http://caboodleranch.net/Documents/DrJulieLevy2009web.pdf
She also listed numerous reasons why Caboodle Ranch was NOT good for cats, including “losses due to predation or road accidents, neighbor complaints, inability to disinfect the environment from infectious feiine diseases, and exposure to
wildlife (particuiariy rabies vectors). Perhaps most importantly, unconfined cats are not necessarily regularly available for observation and treatment.”
And of course, that fresh air did cats little good when they were confined to the sick ward trailer to slowly die.
Shall we discuss the infamous Clorox wipes? How they display prominently on the label that they are HAZARDOUS TO HUMANS AND ANIMALS and cause eye irritation?
http://caboodleranch.net/?page_id=46#clorox
What kind of person ignores a warning like that and scrubs a cat’s sensitive face with a toxic chemical cleanser?
And what kind of person would laugh at that abuse?
Caboodle Ranch supporters, apparently.
And sadly, that was the very least of Craig Grant’s crimes against cats.
I wonder about you, making personal attacks on posters and bringing what you supposedly know about those people’s personal lives into this debate.
That is what John does best, attacking people. He has tried to shut down FaceBook pages and Wikipedia pages from people. No, it’s not always just about the animals. It’s about power and he does love to have power over others.
I can’t address what happened when the cats were seized, as I have absolutely no knowledge of that and didn’t follow the story… but I will tell you that we (at our sanctuary) had gotten emails all the way in up here in NY from people (independent cat lovers who had visited the ranch) that asked us to do something and that the place was a hellhole and the cats NOT cared for properly at all.
We aren’t a law enforcement agency but we did tell them how to report this to local officials, local animal control, state officials, etc etc. We even looked up info for them as to who to contact. So I can say that people before PETA or the ASPCA got involved were already very strongly criticizing and very upset about this place.
In some cases, the people complaining to us had actually been there a few years before and had gone BACK and they said the difference was very dramatic.
It seems that it started with great intentions, and initially was run very well,…but that somehow it got away from him.
As to the rest I have no idea about and can’t comment on, but I do believe just from the information we had started to get about this place, that it was NOT a good situation any more for the cats that were living there.
Of course LIVING is better than dead, and maybe it was possible to decrease his numbers and help get him back to where he was years ago…I really don’t know enough about it to say. If they were taken and killed that is an abomination. And if PETA was involved then I can totally believe that they would suggest they all be killed…and would happily do so. They suck.
There was a big adoption event and cats found homes, some were returned to people who left them there. There may be a story about this at the ASPCA web page. The cats at Caboodle were ultimately treated better than many because of all the scrutiny they were under. I appreciate hearing your side. I initially thought the ASPCA should have helped him, but then found out he had been refusing any help for a long time. PETA did the undercover work but the ASPCA took care of the cats.
The 2 trolls have been banned. Sorry for the outbreak. I hope you were all wearing protection.
Oh John, back to your usual “smear the messenger” tactic. None of your personal attacks change the basic premise of the excellent article above. As for my situation, as a new widow with housing changes to be made, I was thrilled to find CR. If I couldn’t keep my cats, I wanted them to go to the best place possible. I spent hours researching facilities, and found CR. I visited, thought it was great, and did bring my cats there. On subsequent volunteer trips to the ranch, I saw them, happy and healthy, and not “dumped” in a kill shelter. After the raid, a Florida friend agreed to give them a home before the ASPCA adoptions. Alas, I was forbidden to claim them due to the punitive nature of the ASPCA, so no, I don’t know what became of them or of hundreds of other happy Caboodles. Will the ASPCA give an accounting?
The realities again: Caboodle Ranch was implementing all the changes required by the county’s new Excess Animal Habitat Ordinance. Thousands of dollars were being spent on every requirement Animal Control could dream up. But, at the same time the work was being done, the Sheriff was planning the raid with the help of the ASPCA. Duplicitous and shameful behavior. And breathtakingly ignorant. Look at the negative PR about the community the raid provoked. We were told the Sheriff’s office got about 5000 emails from Japan and China from people wanting to know about the fate of Caboodle cats. Look at the viable quadruple damages suit, 5.4 million, that CR can open against the county. None of that had to be. Caboodle was an asset to Madison County, bringing in tourists and their money. I stayed in Madison motels, ate in local restaurants, and bought in local shops. A woman from Germany was also at the ranch on one of my visits. She stayed for about 12 days and was coming back the day after the raid, as was I.
Caboodle Ranch was a functioning facility with running water, heated and air-conditioned barns, Dr. Lewis nearby or a phone call away. Craig had been tutored by Dr Lewis and was capable of treating many ailments at the ranch. I saw him stay up half the night to tend to a sick animal. And the Peta spy DID take animals to the vet also. It was extremely short-sighted and actually stupid for the ASPCA to assist in the raid when it could have sat down with Craig, and discussed a collaboration. Let’s not destroy the place, let’s fix it so it is the best free-range cat sanctuary in the US. But no, a huge PR event was needed. Maybe the ASPCA needed more donations to pay off the 9 million dollar judgment awarded by the courts to the Feld Organization(Ringling Bros Circus). ASPCA donors, do you know where your money goes besides huge salaries for the president ($550,000 last year)?
I have received hundreds of emails and letters from people from all over the world who are sick about the treatment of Craig and the ranch. The ASPCA has lost untold donations, in addition to the 1.3 million it claims it spent on the care of the animals. Imagine what a fraction of that could have done for Caboodle.
The article above was beautifully written, and the great majority of comments reflect what I have been told through emails and on our Facebook page. Most people (thousands) agree a great wrong was done in Madison County. But, there is a small, active, vociferous group of anti-Caboodle people, some of whom genuinely believe the cats are better off dead, in a shelter, or adopted into unknown situations (fee-waived, which is contrary to ASPCA normal standards), than being able to roam free with ample food, water and shelter. And the notion that Caboodle supporters “laugh at abuse” is absurd. The fact remains: I would rather be on the side of the builders, the care-takers, the fixers, then on the side of the destroyers.
Thank you for telling us the facts. Before the raid, I saw the video on the Colbert Report and was so amazed by the layout and little houses. Is there any possibility that someone else could take over the place?
This is very simple…… PETA and the ASPCA work to shut down any sanctuary or person that is competition!
-You all are more worried about a “poor old man” than the welfare of the cats.- Wow…I can’t even comprehend a more frightening statement than this. Shouldn’t we be worried about both? Are not we capable of compassion for BOTH?! You want to label him a “hoarder” which is a mental illness. But you want to crucify him in public, like a criminal. The tone of contempt that you have for another living being, is frightening. There are solutions. And solutions which can benefit both parties.
Shelter in place. Shelter in place. Shelter in place. We accept seizure as the only option. Why? It’s by far the most expensive option, and in most cases, completely unnecessary. It’s the most stressful option for the animals in 99% of the cases. $4300 per cat seems excessive. May we see a final accounting to ensure that every bit of that was actually spent on the CR cats? And that the costs provided are reasonable? When a “shelter in place” is ordered, a trustee is also appointed to ensure that any monies allocated and any corrections which were ordered, are followed. That means that basic veterinary care can take place on-site, it means that oversight of adoptions/placements can be supervised, improvements or changes can be supervised, to ensure they are happening according to the order of the court. Sheltering in place still holds the owner or proprietor accountable, while still caring for the animals, without displacing any animals at the shelter. If there were animals in desperate need, they could have been transported to a veterinary care facility, but there was no reason to transport any healthy, or non-critical animal off the property. Sounds like there were plenty of buildings which could have been used to isolate any ill animals from healthy ones. The replies to this article have been incredible in terms of their insight, their compassion, their intelligence. And just about every argument ever made against PeTA, the ASPCA, and radical AR organizations has been exquisitely made. This new “hoarding” label is a double edged sword. It has nebulous parameters, and seems to be a catch-all for anyone that has “too many” in “some ARs” opinion. Or has animals in less than perfect condition. Kudos to everyone who has commented. And it appears that its becoming harder and harder for the trolling voices to be heard, and even harder for them to be given any credibility.
Folks, meet John Doppler Schiff and Dana who are and have been prominent contributors to the Caboodle Ranch hate site, caboodleranch.net, a name that seems to have been chosen to hijack searches for the real ranch .org site by interested people and that purports to have “the facts” but which does not ever contain anything other than negatives. There are two sides to this story, but no matter what you say or how you approach it, they will never, ever admit it. I don’t know if this is because they do not wish to see it or because they cannot see it. From the circumstantial evidence I have noted in the last year, they seem to migrate around the Internet to spread the one sided, narrow story that they see as “truth” any time their names or caboodle comes up on their google alerts. Anyone who doesn’t buy their story is an animal hoarder, abuser, or a sociopath. Craig Grant is a terrible villain who has no redeeming qualities and whom the people on the site are fond of swearing to “get” at all costs (although I don’t think any of them have actually spent a dime–it is all on the free Internet and none of them was ever asked to testify about all that “truth” in any part of the court proceedings as far as i know.). Dana will also correct your grammar if you don’t agree with all that she says although the difference between “its” and “it’s” escapes her.
The CEO of the ASPCA gets around 400k a year, i saw recently. As nearly as I can tell, the bulk of my money when I was contributing went there and to lobbying the government, not caring for lost and abandoned animals, as shown in their ads. Same with PETA and the HSUS, as nearly as i can tell.
So I am done with them.
Support Best Friends or your local no-kill.
Maybe if ASPCA, HSUS and PETA would go legitimate and share the majority of the donations they raise from nation wide advertising campaigns with local shelters and rescue organizations, the local resources would be better managed and the “need” for raids like this would go away. I realize that will mean cutting staff at the national level. And it will probably mean an end to pension fund contributrions. And it would result in few photo opportunities for the people working ofr the ASPCA, PETA and HSUS. But those things are ancilliary and not important. The intent and goal is supposed to be taking care of animals in need. John Doppler Schiff, I am specifically addressing this comment to you since you seem to have very close connections with an support from at least one of the national animal rights organizations.
This is why Peta does so much harm to animal welfare missions.
It’s absolutely plausible that a rescue went bad, and that someone with a saviour complex didn’t see the damage they were doing to real animals. It happens. There are many examples on this blog.
But it’s also plausible that Peta’s misrepresenting the truth (^ditto.)
If a more widely-trusted organisation had done this investigation, at least we’d know what was going on.
Wow,exceptional piece YesBiscuit,just want to share with ye my personal affiliation with the CR and Craig,like the others Dale and Lin we have been attacked by these CR haters Dana,John and many others,I am not good at big words as most posters here are but once I tell ye my story ye will get the gist of wot I am saying,I and the other supporters of the CR have had Craigs back during the duration of this nasty issue and the haters made sure to counter attack any potential supporters of the CR and some they did win over to their side which just proves humans can become sheep,they have voiced on their haters site how they would like to see Craig dead,one hater even wanted Dale to drive into a tree so she would be killed,Craig was sent a letter in the mail by a CR hater threatening to hurt his family and nothing was done for it,I have been personally attacked,my name on facebook used to be (Irish Cornaire) but after being reported as a fake page and my name was fake I was told by facebook to send them proof of my true identity and I complied so now they make me use my whole name ( Deborah Irish Cornaire ),all my life I have gone by and been known only as (Irish),they have said I was born in California and not NY,my daughter was but not me,this foul man John Doppler Schiff has NEVER been to the CR as so many others that have spoke out against Craig but they know wot was said and done by PETA and the ASPCA to be true,NOT,the haters have even called PETA on me,I posted this today on facebook because of me slamming PETA,read on…..
Wow,I’m getting bashed by PETA supporters/sheep for speaking out against PETA,well tell ye wot people,until ye have been in my gawd dam fecking shoes STFU,it wasnt ye who PETA tried to get arrested for animal neglect,the day the Police showed up at my house ( 8AM) to have me arrested but then saw all my healthy cats and mentioned my home didnt even smell like I have pets and saw all my Vet Records proving my cats are UTD then shut ye f@#$g mouthes,the PETA rep who called the Police on me was made to look a fool and I e-mailed the PETA rep but they were too cowardly to respond,go ahead and support PETA but leave me the feck alone,I will use my freedom of speech and if ye dont like that well I just dont give a shit,piss off!
After I posted that a PETA supporter had this to say….
” I have no idea how many cats you have but apparently you must have alot. If you got investigated, instead of complaining, you should be happy that there are people out there who are concerned about the welfare of your animals. I’m assuming you care just as much about their welfare. I’m very happy you’re taking such good care of them. Thank you!
PETA supporter ”
I wont post my reply here,it would singe ye hair but suffice it to say as long as there are people and org’s out there like the CR haters along with the PETA and the ASPCA no sanctuary/rescue is safe when people call and complain about said sanctuaries and rescues,the ones that initially called and complained about the CR before PETA or the ASPCA were contacted were people that had a vendetta against Craig and wanted to hurt him in the worse way and sadly they succeeded but Craig will prevail as long as he has us and his real family!
Re: the ASPCA — please see this article — highlight includes
“Directors of American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, founded in 1866, started an exodus because they believe some in the organization are “more focused on social standing than the animals.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/yankees_boss_quits_aspca_g1brNck8yz25j8gIQtTCpI
I do wonder what is going on with the organization
others to be aware of.. Collette Gilman, AmyK or Amy Katz ,Terry Ward ( who only speaks of herself in the third person or in the pural, what does that tell ya! ) she also goes by Littleblackdogs, there is Burning Bird, Shelly Powers, Johnathan Gilbert, Harve Morgan and the famous NannyBakerFairy I am sure there are others but these are “full time trolls” i was surprised but not shocked to see Schiff here.. you guys gave back to him in spades .. nice work!. now let his get back under his bridge where he belongs! Have a great weekend playing with your pets
Most of this names are pseudonyms from known anti No Kill trolls ;-)
Amy Katz I bet is really Amanda Katz!
If you were a Caboodle cat and still alive when the raid occurred, you were lucky–more lucky than a mature cat in the nightly kill list at the NY ACC. That hurt when I first realized it. But in the scheme of things one cat’s life is not worth more than another’s. More cats would have been added to Caboodle and be born there. It would only have gotten worse. Something had to be done.
And yes, flying people in cost more than using local people. I wondered about that too. It was an unusual insight into actual budgetary expenses of an organization when normally such expenses are hidden on 990s as program expenses. Would I could peek in all organizations I am sure it would be a shock, and not just the large organizations.
Another CR hater troll (LINDA RICHTER),go away Linda,ye views and words I’m sure are not welcomed here!
What was trollish about my comment? Having an opinion is trollish? If so this expanded definition of troll is a death knell to free speech on blogs.
Because ye support the hatred and animosity that has been doled out towards us CR supporters,I have seen ye comments on the haters page,all of ye keep posting the same crap over and over until ours ears are clogged with all ye nasty comments,ye may not believe Craig should have any cats wot so ever but do ye truly think along with ye hater friends that has solved the problem,nae it has not,all ye actions and words have done is make us fight harder,Craig did NOT deserve this treatment from any of ye,ye act like it was personal for a few it was and it was those few that ruined his life’s dream,so yeah ye are in the same category as the other trolls,the treatment done to Craig will never be forgotten and not forgiven by me,the other CR supporters may or may not feel the same but being a cat lover like Craig I wont forget,especially how ye hater friends called PETA on me and tried to have me arrested,that failed,all PETA did was look like an arse once the police realized it was all fabricated,just go away please!
Wait a minute, what comments exactly have I posted that were hateful and full of animosity? Because I post on a page I am responsible for what everyone else posts?
Feel free to friend me and send me a PM of the posts I have made that you have found fault with. Send the link to those posts. Or if the page owner allows, post them here, although I cannot imagine she would want that. I cannot be held responsible for what other people post. I post carefully and respectively in almost any situation I am involved with. I lose my temper extremely rarely. I am that way in life and I try to be that way on the internet. I will stick up for myself however. Before this story I had not posted about Caboodle in a very long time.
I was glad to read so many positive comments about CR and suggestions about how to make animal rescue more efficient and effective. The Shelter in Place posts are terrific.
Here’s how I think the ASPCA should have and could have handled the ranch.
“Dear Mr. Grant. As partners with you in our mutual goal of helping animals live healthy, happy lives, we would like to have a discussion about how the ASPCA can help you improve the ranch and make it a better sanctuary.
We are aware that you spent all your retirement money and untold numbers of hours building the ranch, and we appreciate your efforts. Please let us help you with your mission. We are prepared to give you an initial grant of $50,000, for you to use in a few specified ways.
We think you could use more administrative help, and now that Nanette Entriken recently moved there to take over that task, we would like to pay for her to go to a shelter management course, given at the local college.
In addition, we can contract with a local vet clinic, so we can guarantee you will have weekly visits by either a vet or a vet tech.
We know you have learned to do many treatments at the ranch, and would like to continue educating you on what we consider good standards of care (my comment- even though we don’t practice them at our own shelter in NYC,)
We don’t want you to feel we are taking over your dream. Our goal is to help YOU continue living your mission. We will all benefit. Sincerely, Ed Sayres, President of the ASPCA (resigned now) ”
That’s what should have been done. It’s not over yet. I hope, but doubt, the new ASPCA president will be any better for animal care than the previous one, but perhaps the exodus of board members will stir the brain cells. There is hope.
To see a particular streak of ugliness from John Schiff, refer to his post on May 30 where he attacks me personally, because early on in another site, I truthfully discussed my situation about needing to rehome two cats.
My husband died a week before our 50th wedding anniversary. That was traumatic enough, but in addition I had to reconsider my living conditions; my life was uprooted.
After much research, I did what I thought was best for my two cats. I kept them out of a shelter and brought them to CR. I was able to visit them months later, and saw how they were thriving. Craig called me several times to tell me that my big gray cat would wait for him at the door of the barn. I also asked for and got pictures of them.
So the ugliness occurs when John Schiff, in his post above, asks me, “Are these your cats?” and gives a link. The link shows two cat skeletons. What a miserable human being that man is. That was unnecessary, mean-spirited, but not unexpected from such a person.
I made a point of never posting ad hominem remarks, but if anyone deserves a smack in the mouth, it’s John Schiff, and there would be a line of people waiting to do it.
Im sorry to read about your husband, but the truth is, you live in the same house as you did before your husband died, your cats lives were uprooted, you stayed put. Why do you lie all the time, in other posts, you wrote that the reason you discarded your cats was because one of them urinated in the house.
Well better late than never-
You want to know WHY the no-kill rescues didn’t stand up?? Dr.Levy??
It’s called Grant $$$$$$$$
I have been recently informed that if I don’t take Nathan’s “Just One Day” Pledge off my web site I will not be considered for any grants.
I spoke with some other rescues and was told the same thing- not only have they removed any mention of the No Kill Equation/Nathan/ etc.- but when controversial issues pop up about any of the “biggies” they refrain from comment on FB or other social media. Talk about having a Choke Hold on free speech and “critical thinking”.
Anyone who has EVER done TNR knows that road kills and predation are unfortunately part of the process- sad absolutely. We try and find safer havens if possible. Caboodle was WAY safer than the streets of Palm Beach.
Hey GUESS what-? Clorox wipes works wonders on ringworm!!
I am so sick of JohnDS and others for their absolutely evil mindsets. You all may strut your righteousness -but the reality is you are just the opposite when it comes to the fact that most people believe EVERY life is precious and deserves to live the best possible life it can.
Oh Please Oh Please- ringworm. Cats are
Reserveores for ringworm- and many carry the spores with no symptoms. You want to go down that path- there is going to be a lot of country vets laughing their pants off-
Upper respiratory infections- you haven’t seen anything till you walk into the majority of animal controls-they have primordial soups of viruses. Most adult cats get over it in a couple weeks. In Ferals -please!! You are just going to let nature run its course as would happen in the wild. And those that are handable can be medicated to help with secondary infections. Everything in your little shop of horrors against Caboodle is junk!!
Oh and there was a recent 10 year study on FIV transmission and guess what- there is Nothing there for you to hand a fingernail on. I believe it came in on web cast either thru Maddies or PetSmart- so check it out. Murder, political agenda, (yes PeTA reportedly was in Tallahassee into the wee hours of the morning stomping on CAPRA to the legislators), and a way to make a spla h in fundraising- and cats lost their lives- you arrogant bunch of hypocrites. Who probably never ran a TNR colony in your life.
Linda r- I would agree with your statement about CraIg refusing outside help except for one glaring fact.
10th Life reached out to Dr. Levy, the HSUS and others- you should have read his glowing newsletters when he was under the impression they were coming to help- and 10th Life had even participated in research with UF on FeLV cats and had been selected by FFWS to take cats from the Keys debacle.
10th Life was not given the helping hand promised- hundreds of cats were killed- after all he had the FeLV- it was a blood bath and they went after the assets there just like Caboodle and instead of going to prison for all the same crap they are going after Craig on – he took a plea deal and was made to hang his head in shame for trying to make a difference in societies throwaways.
10thLife was the Killing Fields- of over a thousand innocents – if you were Caboodle would you accept these traitors in your midst??
Oh and just to put the facts out there- I know several very well respected TNR orgs that had pulled from 10thLife and were going back for more after the Mengelas who were to inspect the second group and who were called and told not to bother – they made a decision to kill all the rest.
Okay, Mr. John Doppler Schiff (and any other person in his caliber)
I want you to listen very closely to what I am about to tell you.
First, I shall tell you a true story.
I once had a cat, a very pretty Maine Coon named Angel. She was a sweet cat and loved being patted and listing to my dad playing his guitar. The trouble was that she had mental problems and didn’t take to charge or other animals too well. Nor did she care for people entering her domain outside of the immediate family. The problem was that we already had a dog, were caring for my great grandmother’s dog, and taking care of both her and a grandmother frequently. That meant lots of change for Angel in her environment all the time, and she did not do well with this. At all.
We think because she was from a line of show cats, that inbreeding took its toll and effected her physical and mental states.
My parents and I did what we could to help her; thousands of dollars worth of trips to the vet, new food, medications, etc. We also connected with Mr Grant (yes, the so-called animal abuser) and he gave us a lot of advice.
In the end, though, Angel wasn’t getting any better, so we decided to surrender her to Caboodle Ranch. Contrary to what you wish to believe, Sir/Lady, it was no hell; it was quite the opposite. It was fairly large and clean; none of those rotting cats you all keep bringing up.
I had a blast meeting all the cats and even held a tiny kitten I instantly fell in love with.
We also brought along some cat food along with Angel to donate to the Ranch. I also brought along a bowl I customized for Angel so she could at least have some piece of me.
Last we saw her, she was getting along rather fine with other cats. We believed she would forever be in a stable environment and be happy, though she would be greatly missed.
A year later, as we were planning a “pilgrimage” to Caboodle to visit our old friend – and maybe help out Craig, – we find out Caboodle Ranch is in trouble due to “animal hoarding” etc.
It makes me really angry and depressed at what has happened to this sweet man and those cats…and most likely, Angel was one of the cats one of those greedy, blood thirsty animal-rights retards put down due to her psychological issues. She could never be adopted, save for a little old lady with no other family, friends, pets, or visitors. However, even then, it would be highly problematic. Craig was never going to adopt those cats out, anyway.
By this point, you may think that the final line might have proved your point. However, keep reading, I implore you:
Here are the requirements in giving Craig the cat
. She was spayed
. Her shots and vet checks were up to date
. We donated either $200 or $300 dollars or cat food along with the cat
Again, we did talk to him for a year from the moment we discovered such a place existed. He didn’t suggest outright that he claim the cat.
Also, when we brought her to him, he looked at her and suggested we put her in quarantine pen, where she would stay for a couple weeks to get settled before she was released into the big yard.
Hmm…interesting actions for a “hoarder”, aren’t they?
His one fault was his own popularity; he was in the newspaper, telly, etc. His address became very well known. The big trouble was there were folks with unaltered, pregnant and sick cats they no longer wanted. These cats were promptly tossed over the fence into Crag’s yard.
You can all call me a liar all you want, but even at age 16, I know what I’m talking about. Go ahead, bark back; I’m ready.
R.I.P. Angel; I’m so sorry you were subject to the greed and lust of power of the “animal rights” people
P,S,
John; you have quite the nerve to compare good people like Craig Grant and his cats to “dogs in the hands of dog fighters”. Think before you post, sir; I think it would save a lot of intelligent the people the time and effort in arguing with the likes you.
P,P,S,
The ASPCA also had the nerve to use Angel for their “PSA”.
She had clearly put on weight, much to our delight. Too bad she’s most likely in a cold storage somewhere.
700 cats speaks volumes!!! How can anyone care for 700 cats!!!! You’d have to have what,one vet for every 100 cats? How much Kitty litter is that? Then you’d need people to just have contact with the animals… that’s a pretty big staff that just wasn’t there. I can’t imagine anywhere that could handle that many animals. And keeping them healthy too? Impossible!!
Wow, I was curious about what people say here, but I can tell you one thing:
anyone who believes Grant should have another sanctuary needs to have their head examined. I was going to transfer some ferals to him a few years ago, and all he wanted is $150.00 for the rest of each cat’s life. When I questioned how they can afford to pay for all their necessities I was told that they find a way. Really? Common!!!!!!!!!!!! $150.00! that is not realistic. Naturally I did not bring any cats with me to surrender. I wish now that I took the cat that jumped on my car outside of the sanctuary with me. She probably was coyote dinner. Regardless that the ACO let him pass inspections etc. the bottom line is that he is a hoarder and does not have the means to care for a large number of cats. Tell him to go volunteer at a shelter.
Basic care for one year alone is more than $150.00! That should be an eye opener for anyone who doesn’t see that the raid was the best thing that could have happened to the cats.
Ruth, M…in short, I am flabbergasted at what you two just said.
Yes, 700 is a lot of cats, but hey, he’s not the one who told lazy, selfish idiots to hurl feral cats over his gate.
It would have been nice if more people donated or even went to volunteer. But nooooo; PETA had the nerve to spy on the poor man, twist the truth around, and now everyone believes them. And here they are, flapping their jaws, telling him he should have done more, when in fact, other people should have done more. He’s only one man darn it; stop chewing him out! People could have helped him out, rather then throw random cats into his yard. It’s not his fault he was taken advantage of, so be quiet.
I don’t need an eye-opener…but maybe the raid was a blessing in disguise, because if they didn’t, I would never know how evil, how hypocritical, and how blood-thirsty PETA really is.
Summer, people helped as much they could. yes, some peole should have not dumped cats. The issue was still that he did not say ‘no’ to others. Even with me he didn’t say ‘no’ and asked for only 150 dollars per cat for their entire lives, thay is insane. that would not last more than a visit or two. PETA did the right thing exposing him. Even if PETA sometimes seems extreme, the cats are better off now than before. And thank goodness for organizations like them and the ASPCA who know how to handle these type of situations. just because he started a sanctuary does not entitle him to expect automatic financial support. Who are you to say who to donate and how much? Bottom line: he neglected many of the cats in his care. Read the court documents.
I went toCaboodle Ranch several times in fact I took many pictures. In fact, I walked the entire property with Craig Grant along with 30 or 40 cats who would follow him on the walks those cats adored him in the time that I was there I never ever saw any type of abuse ever just animals getting cared for and him building things for them so they could have Heidi holes and comfortable places and whoever laid him out to waste had an agenda I’m nasty agenda for that matter I think Mr. Craig Grant got scapegoated, and if he needed any type of medicine it was after his life’s work was destroyed and he was scapegoated pita and Humane Society of US and ASPCA shame on you in fact double shame on you you could’ve gone in there to help him
I read the testimony of Dr. Lewis, the CR veterinarian, I was shocked about how negative he was on the CR. When questioned by the CR attorney, he stated that Mr. Grant conducted acts of cruelty and neglect by not euthanizing the cats he recommended to be put down. He stated that the facilities at the CR could have been better, but they were not. He stated that when cats were brought to the CR, during the extended transition period, at least 20 percent of the cats became severely sick, with at least 10 percent dying due to depression. He testified that a home is preferable to the CR. I was shocked at this statement, instead of giving his seal of approval to the CR, he said when people inquired about the CR, he told them to take a tour of the ranch and form their own opinion. He stated that on the week of the raid, Mr. Grant estimated that he had 400 cats, well he was off by 75 percent, he had 700. He stated that he was the CR vet. for 6 years and had records for 200 cats. He testified that there was commingling of sick cats and healthy ones. He said there was a giardia problem in the water. Why did the CR call this guy as a witness?
ASPCA just swooped in and destroyed the Haven – friend a for Life. They have no interest in helping anybody, animals included. Their goal is to obtain millions and.millions from naive individuals like myself. Thank goodness I finally see the light and stopped my donating!
Bullshit Pam. You have obviously no clue what went on there and how neglectful he was. Read the court documents.
Perhaps not but I know, as does Pam, what they did at The Haven, and what happened to the animals afterward: the ASPCA GAVE THEM AWAY. No background check, no vet reference check. They gave them away. But not before they produced and aired their tear-jerk, pat-ourselves-on-the-back fundraising video. Give me a break. With them, with HSUS, with PETA, it’s all about the $. If it was about the animals, the salaries would not be so ridiculously high.
Wow, you obviously have never volunteeree with them. do you have a clue how much Veterinary care costs, esp. for large animals? Basics like food, water, heat, litter, buildings, people’s salaries (they need to live, too). And people don’t want to pay more taxes to support animals in their County. Thank goodness for non-profits like the HSUS and ASPCA and all other ones, small and large.
I understand there is a lot of dislike for the ASPCA but lets not forget that there was a trial, evidence and witnesses were presented by both sides, and a cat owning Judge awarded the Caboodle cats to the Madison County Sheriff and not Mr. Grant. Due process was followed.
i dont understand why people discount the numerous visitors and volunteers, including veterinarians who found the conditions and practices at the CR deplorable. Back in 2010 a veterinarian volunteered at the CR, at the end of his stay, his recommendation was take the cats away from Mr. Grant and shut the place down. Back in 2009 another veterinarian visited the CR with animal control, following this visit the Madison County court issued a court order against the CR.