As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the Carolina coast, Tammie Hedges took action to protect pets that might have otherwise been caught in the storm – a decision that led to her arrest.
Hedges, a resident of Wayne County, North Carolina, was taken into custody Friday after providing care to more than two dozen animals – 17 cats and 10 dogs – for owners who had to evacuate before the storm hit.
This is from Dalvin Brown, “Saving pets without a permit: Good Samaritan arrested after helping animals survive Florence,” USA Today, September 23, 2018.
The article continues:
On Monday, after Florence passed, Hedges got a call from Wayne County Animal Control regarding the animals.
“He basically told me, ‘You can voluntarily hand over the animals, or I can go get a warrant,’ ” Hedges said.
She willingly surrendered the animals.
“A few days later they called me in for questioning and yesterday they arrested me,” Hedges said.
The charges included 12 counts of practicing medicine without a veterinary license.
What are the charges? The article states:
“1 count of administering amoxicillin to Big Momma, 1 count of administering Tramadol to Big Momma, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering a topical antibiotic ointment (triple antibiotic from Dollar Tree) to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a cat known as Sweet Pea, 1 count of administering amoxicillin to an unnamed black kitten, and 1 count of solicitation to commit a crime,” the non-profit writes.
Later:
“If they can’t find the owners, the pets went from a safe place to a kill shelter,” Hedges said.
Because, you know, killing them is so much better for them than administering drugs without a license.
I don’t know whether the relevant Wayne County Animal Control person hates animals—probably not—but what I think likely is that the Wayne County Animal Control person hates competition.
READER COMMENTS
Jon Murphy
Sep 23 2018 at 7:54pm
When I started reading this, I was thinking “ok, she was probably arrested for ‘theft of animals’ or something nonsensical like that.”
But no…it was worse.
BC
Sep 24 2018 at 1:48am
We need to enforce the law. I don’t mind *legal* animal rescue, but animals should not be rescued illegally. If an animal wants to be rescued, it should wait in line for a legal rescuer. Otherwise, it’s unfair to other animals that are patiently waiting for a legal rescue. My pet was rescued before, but it was rescued legally, without jumping the line. Only after we prove that we can enforce the law and stop all illegal rescues should we even think about increasing or making it easier for people like Hedges to obtain licenses to rescue animals. \sarcasm
john hare
Sep 24 2018 at 3:21am
Well played, well played.
David Henderson
Sep 24 2018 at 9:44am
I agree.
Eric Rasmusen
Sep 29 2018 at 5:21pm
I can use this in my regulation class.
Comments are closed.