The investigation into the killing of the Safe Haven 19 was over before it began

The investigation into the killing of the Safe Haven 19 was over before it began. It consisted of the state police and the Department of Justice accepting the statement by the Animal Welfare Office as the only truth - without checking any of the facts or talking to any Delaware citizens involved.

It smells like a coverup.

Nobody bothered talking to people who have information about the dogs' personalities - former employees, volunteers and people who intended to adopt the dogs. Nobody asked for the certifications mandated by law that all organizations "willing to accept the animals for adoption" had a chance to pull the dogs before they were killed.

I talked with Tim Mullaney, Chief of Staff in the DE Dept. of Justice and Captain Moriarty of Troop 4 based in Georgetown. Mullaney suggested that we request that the investigation be reopened if we are not satisfied with this.

It makes a mockery of Delaware law for the Department of Justice and the state police simply accepted the Animal Welfare Office statement instead of
1) talking to people who have information about the dogs' personalities - former employees, volunteers and people who intended to adopt the dogs.
2) determining if notice for each dog was sent to the rescue "registry" before killing.

It is particularly offensive since there are allegations that Hetti Brown, the Director of the Animal Welfare Office , was involved in arranging for the killing of the dogs and that the state veterinarian did the actual killing . 
The Animal Welfare Office statement must not be accepted as a truth because there are too many obvious inaccuracies in it.

First of all, Safe Haven had refused for months to allow rescue groups to pull dogs unless they had a "brick and mortar facility." That was their prerogative - up until the point where they were going kill dogs. Then the law mandates that any group "willing to accept animals for adoption" be notified and allowed to pull the animal.

To prove that Safe Haven and ASPCA complied with the law, there must be an investigation of whether emails went out with a list of each individual dog to be euthanized. And the emails would have to be sent to every group willing to accept dogs for adoption - including Grass Roots Rescue which had already asked to pull dogs but been turned down back when Safe Haven was pretending no dogs would be killed.

The only loophole is if there is "severe aggression" that threatens staff and other dogs. We know that is not true for most of the dogs from testimony provided by former employees and from volunteers and adopters who had interacted with the dogs within their last few days of life.

The only dog whom I cannot find recent testimony from former employees, volunteers and adopters is Douglas. He is 1 dog. What about the other 18 dogs whom people testify were sweet, friendly and loved to play? That is not "severe aggression." It is a complete lie to say they were severely aggressive.

But the Department of Justice and the state police didn't do a real investigation. They just accepted the statement by the Animal Welfare Office. That is completely inadequate.

We must demand that the investigation be reopened. The investigation must obtain all relevant documentation and testimony from Delaware citizens.

If there is no real investigation, then the Shelter Standards law is a sad joke. And if the Shelter Standards law is meaningless and will never be enforced, not even by the new Animal Welfare Office, then it is time to take political action.

This is an election issue. If our legislators don't stand up for enforcement of the law and for listening to Delaware citizens, then we need a new set of legislators. This is a very serious issue that must be considered by every voter come election time.

Please write all of the legislators and the Governor to tell them that you want the investigation reopened and you want it to be more than a statement by a state official who may implicated in the violation of the law.

We expect Delaware law to be enforced and we will not accept coverups.

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