[Gpdd] (Misc) My letter to Judge Hennesy

Stacy Harvey ckrtsqrl2000 at yahoo.com
Mon Jun 20 18:48:08 EDT 2005


Hey all--here's my letter to Judge Henessy regarding
the Richard Rohland case. Please tell me what you
think of it before I send it off. Don't want to suffer
from "foot-in-mouth syndrome". It's a little long, but
you should have seen how long it was in the first
draft! : )
Thanks,
Stacy and the Squee Squad

									June 20, 2005



Judge Hennesy,
	I am writing to express my extreme disappointment
over your decision to allow Richard Rohland to
continue keeping Guinea Pigs, and ten of them at that.
It saddens me that animal cases, especially those
involving animals other than cats and dogs, are so
seemingly unimportant in the Maryland judicial system.
If there had been 240 dogs in that man’s garage, would
the outcome have been different?

	I have ten guineas myself, and I know how difficult
it can be at times to take care of them. It involves
daily spot cleaning of cages, cleaning and filling of
water bottles and food dishes, and inspections of
their overall health, not to mention allowing them
time out of their cages for daily exercise. I have
also spent a couple thousand dollars on food, hay and
medical care in the last year alone. I do this for the
love of the animals, a labor of love you might say.

	Mr. Rohland, on the other hand, considers his pigs a
source of “revenue”, as  indicated when his defense
attorney insisted that the state’s seizure of  the
animals had cost his client $5,000 in potential sales.
How much, I wonder, has caring for all those sick,
injured and dying guinea pigs for over a year cost the
Tri-County Animal shelter? I volunteered at least 150
hours (if not more) helping the staff care for these
animals, and there were times when they opined that
they were running out food, bedding and hay and they
weren’t sure when they could get more. Dozens of those
poor animals had skin diseases and upper respiratory
infections--I’m sure the vet bills on those animals
alone were staggering, not to mention the cost of the
basic necessities required for 240 guinea pigs. I also
saw animals that could otherwise be adopted turned
away when people brought them in for surrender because
Mr. Rohland’s guinea pigs and dogs were taking up so
much room at the shelter. 

	Two of my own guinea pigs are from those that were
released by Mr. Rohland to Tri-County, and allow me
tell you about the state they were in when I adopted
them. One of them, a young female, was missing one of
her back legs. She presumably lost it because it got
hung in the wire bottom of the rabbit cage she was
inappropriately housed in. Now if her leg got hung,
how do you suppose she got it loose? I bet she chewed
it off...can you imagine a completely herbivorous
animal chewing off it’s own leg? Horrible. The other
pig had the severest case of sarcoptic mange mites
that I have ever seen in my life. He was almost
completely bald and was having seizures from the
mites. It was heartwrenching to see that poor creature
in agony because of the itching. We weren’t sure that
he would even live; if sarcoptic mites progress so far
that they cause septecemia, the animal can die. It
took over two months to get the mites completely
cleared up, and another four months for his hair to
grow back. He also has some deformity in his rear legs
and he seems to be mildly retarded, I’m assuming from
being inbred. Nevertheless, he has grown to be a sweet
and happy pig. He was one of the lucky ones. Even now,
a year later, some of the guinea pigs are still
suffering from upper respiratory infections. Many of
them scream in terror when they are touched or handled
because they were never socialized with humans.

	I am puzzled at your statement that you felt
“awkward” not letting Mr. Rohland have a pet. Why?
Because he is deaf?   A statement like that calls into
question your objectivity. An animal abuser is an
animal abuser, regardless of whether or not he has
some type of infirmity; a man who has now TWICE been
brought up on charges of animal abuse most certainly 
should be denied having any kind of pet. Would you let
a child abuser off easy, just because he was deaf? I
think not. Why, then, is this situation any different?

	One can only hope that Mr. Rohland will adhere to
your requirements to allow periodic home inspections
and to obtain a license before he breeds any more
animals. This is dubious, at best. I’ll offer a little
bit of simple mathematics: assuming Mr. Rohland took
three male and seven female guinea pigs (I submit this
example because that’s what I would do if I planned on
breeding them). The average gestation period for
guineas is about 70 days, and the average litter is 4
babies. In three and a half months, Mr. Rohland could
potentially have 28 babies. That’s 38 guinea pigs in
less than four months--I bet the probation officials
wouldn’t even have inspected his home in that short
period of time. It begins all over again.

	Since the die is cast as far as Mr. Rohland going
home with his guinea pigs (which, by the way, received
over a year of free medical care courtesy of
Tri-County Animal Shelter), I would make one final
plea: Your Honor,  I urge you to please, please make
Mr. Rohland pay restitution to Tri-County for the
costs incurred regarding these guineas in the past
year. If he is held financially accountable, perhaps
he won’t allow the situation to deteriorate to the
extent that it did. Please make an example of him so
that others will not think it is perfectly acceptable
to neglect animals and then let the state of Maryland
pick up the tab.


							Respectfully submitted,
							Stacy Marie Harvey

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