On February 14th, St. Valentines Day, in the Bantam, Ct. Courthouse, the presiding judge, who shall remain nameless at this time, handed down a judgement in the case of State of Connecticut vs. Fred Acker of Monroe Ct., regarding 63 counts of animal cruelty.
In a nutshell, Acker had placed 63 various breed dogs, which he had planned to sell for profit, in an abandoned barn with little or no heat at a time when the outside temperature was 30 degrees.
After having been warned by the local animal control officer, in a written warning, that he was violating various State Statutes, Acker continued to keep these dogs at the location. After returning a few days later, the officer found that Acker had not in any way rectified those conditions and at that time arrested Acker and seized the dogs.
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These dogs were taken into custody as evidence and taken to a number of local animal shelters where they were examined by a vet and cared for through the time of the civil trial.
On the 14th, the judge handed down a ruling that Acker was guilty of cruelty for all the "small" dogs, but innocent regarding all the "large" dogs.
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The last time a judgement like this was handed down was in the Old Testament when King Solomon was asked to decide the case of two woman each of whom claimed to be the mother of a newborn baby. Solomon said that he could not pick one woman without hurting the other woman so he said he would have the baby cut in half and each woman could get her half. One of the women immediately fell to her knees before Solomon crying and saying for him to give the baby to the other woman as she did not want the baby killed. The other woman had just stood there and did not show any emotion. Solomon then gave the baby to the woman who was willing to give the baby up. He said she was the one who showed the emotions of a mother when hearing her child would be cut in half. Since that time he has been known as Solomon the Wise.
Connecticut State Statutes states that dogs cannot be kept anywhere, for any long amount of time where the temperature is below 55 degrees. There are no exceptions based on the size of the dog. An American Eskimo Dog which could be considered a "small" dog, can handle cold temperature better that a Great Dane which is obviously a "large" dog. The judge has ordered that the vet representing the State of Connecticut and the vet representing Fred Acker's interests, get together and decide which is the "small" and which is the "large" dogs. Which among other things begs the question, what about the medium sized dogs? Obviously this judge will never be mistaken for Solomon.
I would ask anyone who feels as I do that this is a miscarriage of justice, contact either the Superior Court in Bantam Connecticut or the Cannine Division of the Dept. of Agriculture in Harftford.
• CtDeptag@ct.gov Canine Division, Ray Connors. Tel. 860-713-2506.
• Court is Bantam Criminal Court, 80 Doyle Rd.Bantam, Ct 06750. Tel. 860-567-3942.
Let your voices be heard (or your E-mails) and ask your friends to do the same. LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD for the dogs who can't speak for themselves.
M.H.Griffin
