Permanently shut down the barbaric tenant farm in Westport, MA

This petition had 184,035 supporters

The Issue

For years, a tenant farm in Massachusetts has been the site of animal cruelty and abuse. The owner and some of the tenants had been charged with animal cruelty in the past -- clearly that wasn’t a strong enough message. Recently, the police were called to the 71-acre farm and found hundreds of dead or injured animals.

It is time for the farm to be closed down for good.

In 2004, I adopted two beautiful dogs that were rescued from this farm. One had a rare genetic skin condition that my vet said is only seen in inbred animals. The other was kept outdoors all year long as a breeding female, covered with ticks and her fur gone. The fur fell off from a skin infection caused by sleeping in rotting hay. Imagine the pain she went through having to sleep outside through harsh New England winters without fur.

My dogs were lucky. They eventually escaped their barbaric treatment. My heart breaks for the hundreds of animals that didn’t. So many needlessly suffered and died at the hands of these so-called farmers.

We must shut down this awful place. The animals, bred for meat, private parties, or as pets, have endured enough. The town of Westport, where the farm is located, has not taken action to shut this farm down in spite of a long record of abuse. This farm is not just a detriment to the unfortunate animals who are kept there, it’s also a public health hazard. The animals are not properly vetted, harbor diseases, and the animals that are sold as pets often suffer a lifetime of health and behavioral problems.

These animals need us to take a stand. Join me in calling on the authorities to shut down the tenant farm. Please sign and share the petition today.

Learn more details about the cruelty uncovered at this farm in this article by the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/07/20/westport-police-find-abused-animals-tenant-farm/4pD21BSrrrtqbTnkvL0ndL/story.html

 

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IAnimal South Coast Pet Rescue and Education, Inc.Petition StarterArtist, art educator, writer, and digital media specialist teaching for nearly 30-years at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Bridgewater State University, and the Atlanta College of Art.
Media inquiries

The Decision Makers

Westport MA Board of Selectmen
Westport MA Board of Selectmen
Board of Selectmen
Responded
“Thank you for contacting us regarding the ongoing animal rescue operations here in the Town of Westport. As of Saturday, August 6, all of the animals in question had been moved to a temporary rescue farm constructed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). This location is being rented by the Town, with the assistance of ASPCA, and the animals are all receiving excellent care and shelter as potential criminal and civil charges are sorted out by the Attorney General's office in conjunction with the Westport Police Department. Now that the urgency of the immediate situation has been addressed, we will be conducting an in-depth investigation into the root cause(s) of this tragedy in order to determine what actions we need to take to prevent re-occurrence. More detailed statements issued by the Board of Selectmen are below for your reference. Again, thank you for expressing your concerns and please feel free to contact this office if your questions have not been fully addressed. Westport Board of Selectmen 8-8-16 BOS Press Statement Thank you for your patience, we just finished an executive session on topics related to the animal rescue operation on American Legion Highway. We would like to report on several items associated with this operation. This past week the Board executed a license agreement in order to rent several acres of pasture from a local land owner. This agreement is similar to a short term lease for land upon which the ASPCA has, in very short order, created a rescue farm with living conditions far superior to those found at the American Legions site. At this time, all of the remaining animals have been moved to the rescue farm where they will remain until the State Attorney General’s office in conjunction with our Police Department can sort out the criminal and civil actions that will be taken against owners of the neglected animals. Now that the urgency of the immediate situation has been addressed, the Board will turn its attention to investigating the full scope of this problem including what actions or inactions on our part have, in any way, contributed to the situation and why our response to a similar occurrence six years ago was not sufficient to prevent a repeat performance. The Board attended a meeting convened by Senator Michael Roderigues and Representative Paul Schmid at the State House last week with Mass Department Agricultural Resources and Department of Environmental Protection officials to begin this review. We will be working closely with these and other State authorities, our own Police Department, Animal Control Officer, Agricultural Commission, Assessors Office, and Board of Health as well as officials from communities with similar agricultural activity in order to determine what changes we need to make in order to successfully and comprehensively address this problem. At tonight’s executive session we have taken a number of additional actions. First, we have charged our Town Administrator with confirming that there are no other like sites in the Town of Westport that might need immediate attention. As such he will be consulting with the Police Department, Agricultural Commission, Animal Control Officer, Department of Agricultural Resources, the Assessor’s and the BOH. Second, our Board has ordered the BOH to produce any all documents and information related to the subject property and any other property with like tenant animal keeping practices. Third, we have authorized the Town Administrator to conduct an investigation into possible involvement of Town Employees that may have contributed to the situation at 465 AL Highway and to place any said Employee(s) on administrative leave with pay pending the completion of this investigation. We would like to note that all of these actions have been initiated with unanimous votes of this Board. In summary, this board has every intention of thoughtfully, comprehensively and deliberately addressing all aspects of this completely unacceptable situation. 7/25/16 BOS Statement: Incident at 465 American Legion Highway in Westport (assists updated 8-6-16) The Board of Selectman just conducted an executive session that was entirely devoted to the ongoing animal rescue effort being conducted here in Westport. We received a briefing on the status of this operation and have undertaken a number of actions, some of which we are prepared to discuss at this time. We will begin tonight with a statement on this subject ahead of our regularly scheduled meeting. Let me start by again thanking all those individuals and agencies that have pitched in to help us sort out this situation; First we would like to express our appreciation to Westport Police Department and in Particular, Lt Holden, Sergeants Majewski and Cestodio as well as ACO Donna Lambert for their hard work in initiating, conducting and coordinating our investigation into this tragedy. Thanks to the Westport Highway Department…”
Paul Schmid
Paul Schmid
Former State House of Representatives - Massachusetts-18
Attorney General Maura Healey
Attorney General Maura Healey
Attorney General Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources
Commissioner - John Lebeaux
MDAR
MDAR
Michael Cahill -Director - Division of Animal Health

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Petition created on July 22, 2016