Humane Investigators are appointed by the Circuit Court of the counties they serve in to investigate reports of animal cruelty and neglect and to enforce the Virginia State Anti-Cruelty Laws. Humane Investigators are volunteers, and may be contacted when citizens see a situation that needs to be corrected involving abuse or neglect of an animal.
The SPCA of Northern Virginia is the only rescue organization in the area with Humane Investigators; in fact, the Vice-President is a licensed Humane Investigator. The majority of our dogs come to us as a result of humane investigations. If you would like to contact one of our HIs, please email: bmcohen@fcps.edu, or call 703 799-9390 and select option #1.
In April of 2003, two SPCA NoVA Humane Investigators went to Herndon to look into an allegation, made by a neighbor, that a dog was being kept in a garage. What they found shocked even these seasoned investigators.
Inside a dark, windowless garage littered with broken glass, trash, and dog waste was a 7-month-old chocolate lab. The puppy, who was muzzled, was lying in a dog crate with his head between his front paws, and although he had a beautiful face, his eyes appeared lifeless and devoid of expression. There were two dog bowls nearby…both empty. Pools of urine and feces dotted the floor; the stench was overwhelming. One of the investigators got down on her hands and knees and gently talked to the pup, which initially regarded her with an expression of resignation and disinterest, never lifting his head. When the investigators removed the muzzle, however, the puppy began to leap ecstatically around the garage, free for the first time in his young life.
A young man, who had paid $300 for the purebred puppy he called Rusty, told the investigators that his parents did not want the dog in the house and that Rusty was muzzled because he barked. The young man hosed out the garage every few days to remove the accumulated urine and feces. According to the neighbors, they had suspected that an animal was being kept in the garage only because of the strong scent of urine when the garage was flushed out. They had only seen the puppy outside one time.
Our Humane Investigators informed the young man that he could be prosecuted for cruelty to animals unless he released Rusty to the SPCA, which he then agreed to do, and the investigators were able to take possession of Rusty that day. Furthermore, under Virginia law, the young man is prohibited from owning an animal for a period of five years after that date; if he does not comply with the law he may still be prosecuted for his mistreatment of Rusty.
Rusty was taken immediately to a vet, and amazingly, despite his cruel treatment, the only medical problem he had was an ear infection. He was added to the list of available SPCA dogs, and quickly drew quite a crowd of potential adopters! Once removed from that terrible garage, Rusty proved to be a happy, outgoing puppy who learns quickly and is eager to please. In July, he became a much-loved member of a family from Gainesville who renamed him Jefferson.
Responding to an anonymous call, an SPCA NoVA humane
investigator discovered a young child had placed a 7-week old kitten (named
Precious) in a microwave oven…and turned it on! The investigator insisted that
the family take the kitten to an emergency vet. The family claimed the vet
determined the kitten was fine despite burns on her ears, belly and tail.
Regardless, the investigator insisted that the family turn Precious and two
other young cats over to the SPCA. The family initially gave up the two young
cats but not Precious. After discussing possible legal action, the investigator
was able to convince the family to relinquish Precious as well. This
persistence, undoubtedly, saved her life!
Though the three cats received basic medical examinations, several days later an attentive volunteer foster mother discovered an abscess on Precious’ side. She took her back to a vet, who diagnosed Precious with infections on both her belly and her tail. Sadly, two inches of her tail had to be amputated and she needed antibiotics to fight the infection. Lucky to be alive, the emotional scars would be difficult to heal. Even though Precious was placed in a loving, caring foster home, she still needed a home of her own. And, as luck would have it, her foster mother’s own family was in need of a special friend as well. They had recently lost their cat of 20 years and Precious looked identical to this cat! Precious now has a new home with two older feline brothers and a 125 lb. Rottweiler who watches over her like a doting mother. As she runs through the house and curls up to anyone who enters, her physical and emotional scars are healing well. This happy ending would not have been possible without the loyal and astute SPCA NoVA volunteers.
Imagine being born into constant pain, and not being able to
tell anyone. That’s Crimson. The beautiful, long-haired German Shepherd was
purchased by a young couple from a breeder. Soon afterwards, they left the U.S.
with Crimson for Saudi Arabia, their homeland. As Crimson grew, so did his
problems. When they noticed he was limping almost constantly, they took him to a
veterinarian. The diagnosis: severe hip dysplasia. Though this is somewhat
common in large dogs, it is rarely diagnosed in such a young pup. There were no
treatment options in Saudi Arabia, and the long-term prognosis was poor.
Crimson’s “mom” brought him back to the U.S. and moved in temporarily with her sister. The sister did not want Crimson in the apartment, so he spent his days on a balcony, with no protection from the elements. Caring neighbors called the SPCA NOVA, and our investigators went to check on the situation. After discussing Crimson’s living conditions, health, treatment options and costs, and the lengthy recuperation needed after surgery, Crimson’s owner released him to us.
Update: We searched for months for a foster home that could meet the recuperation requirements but we didn’t have much luck. Finally, a wonderful family came to one of our adoption events, fell in love with Crimson, and adopted him. We sent Crimson to a specialist who pronounced this to be “the worst case of hip dysplasia” he’d ever seen. The SPCA NoVA has paid for the $2,500 surgery on one hip and Crimson will need a second surgery in three months. Without the intervention of the SPCA NoVA, this magnificent dog would have been doomed to a short, painful life. Instead, he is on the road to good health and a full recovery with a family that adores him!
Update 12/12/2002:The vet who did the surgery on his first hip, says the second hip will be fine without surgery!
Sheba, a 10-month-old purebred Rottweiler puppy, was purchased from a breeder for $400.00 when she was 8 weeks old.
That's when her ordeal began. Never socialized, never walked, never allowed in the house, she was forced to sleep in the garage, which was filled with debris, cans, rags and junk. There was no bed for her to lie on.
The small townhouse backyard was covered with feces, broken glass was everywhere, and she had to eat from a bag of moldy dog food that had been thrown on the ground. It is is possible that she was given water once in a while.
We were notified of her situation and found her in the yard with a leash attached to her choke chain. She had worked her lower jaw under the choker so that it was gagging her.
That was the last day of her suffering.
Sheba is now a happy girl who has gone through training with our "miracle worker", Tony Orange, and is a loving companion to her new family - who have renamed her Guinness. She enjoys long walks and likes meeting the neighborhood dogs.
The fact that people pay considerable amounts of money for a purebred dog does not necessarily mean that they will take proper care of it. The costs to acquire a pet have no bearing on the ability to provide appropriate care, love and attention.
A great number of our humane investigations involve purebreds, and many can be found in area shelters and rescue groups.
Complaints about 2 groups called "ASTRO" and "MUTTS-R-US", both headed by Clara Church of Taylorsville, N.C., caused our Humane Investigators to begin an enquiry. She travelled the East Coast all the way to Maine every 2 weeks selling dogs and puppies in parking lots for $300. Appointments were made through Petfinder. Many of the animals were sick and cost the new owners thousands of dollars in veterinary bills. The shot records given to them by Clara Church listed "Doctors Foster & Smith" as her veterinarian. This is a mail order pet supply company!!
We had several of our volunteers select a dog from her website and put in an application. She did not check out information provided on the application (veterinary records, personal references) and was obviously only interested in the money.
A date, time and place was given to the applicants, and we asked Animal Control to be these in case assistance was needed.
Then we waited at a McDonalds parking lot in Fairfax where she was to appear at 7:30 AM. By 8:30 we began to worry that she might not come, but finally the old green conversion van with North Carolina license plates pulled in. It backed into a parking space behind the building and our volunteers approached, asking to see "their" dogs.
That's when we went into action: we blocked the van with a car, showed our Humane Investigator's identification and began questioning Clara Church and her husband, who was the driver. Their 4 year old daughter was asleep on the floor in the back amidst all the dog crates.
We found 12 dogs and puppies crammed into crates and cat carriers, lying in their excrements. The stench indicated that they had not been let out for a long time.
The Virginia law requires a state health certificate, dated no more that 10 days before shipment, for any animal transported into the Commonwealth. When imported without such certificate, the animal must be examined immediately by a licensed veterinarian and the examination cost is charged to the owner.
Since none of the dogs had the required paperwork, Animal Control issued a citation and Clara had to follow us to a veterinary hospital. We took the van between 2 cars so there was no chance of an "escape".
The dogs had coccidia, parvo, were emaciated and dehydrated. Mrs Church elected to release them to the SPCA rather than face charges. We gave her back her fifty carriers and told her to go home and never come back to Virginia. She said "Don't worry. I'm never setting foot here again!" (To our knowledge she has not.)
The dogs were very hungry and fought each other to get to the water bowls. One puppy was so sick he could not be saved and a young Rottweiler was not expected to survive an extreme case of Parvo, but after much time and many $$$ he finally recovered. The others were treated and, when found to be healthy, placed in permanent homes.
We followed through with the North Carolina State Veterinarian and Department of Agriculture, giving them all the information we had, plus statements and records from people who had purchased sick animals in various states along the east coast.
They investigated Mrs Church and subsequently closed her down. Additionally, PETFINDER.com removed ASTROPets from their website.
If you would like to assist the SPCA in providing help to
abused and neglected animals like Rusty, Precious, Crimson and Sheba, please click on the
How You Can Help box to the left.
You can also make a donation either via the secure server available here:
or mail a check or money order to
SPCA of Northern Virginia
P.O. Box 100220
Arlington, VA 22210
The Animals Thank You!