February 9, 1978 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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February 9, 1978 |
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COULD YOU CLOBBER this pony with a 2x4 and starve it for days at a
time? The owners of "Grouchy," as she's come to be called, apparently
did just that before abandoning her last week.
00unty horse-neglect cases
ot as rare as some think
neglect is not. According to law Once the Horsemen
keepers, have,,taken enforcement and humane officers discovered a Lake Limerick
Grouchy, and here, offenses failing under the woman starving her five horses.
general heading of cruelty to "She knew how to take care of
she's a pony of horses occur with alarming them properly," says Horsemen
and the hide frequency. Treasurer Merridee Guyer, "but
and matted hair "It's real common," attests she didn't have the money to
o her bones like Humane Officer Glenn Guyton feed them. She refused to sell
e, when Grouchy of Mason County Citizens for them because she said she
.ager strength she Animals. "In just the last f6ur couldn't get her money out of
with the best months I've seen three different them. She wouldn't give them
cases involving a total of seven away, either. And then, when
Scared to death, and horses - and of course only a they were so sick they could
is that of almost small .percentage of the cases hardly stand, and it was obvious
involving neglect ever get they were close to dying, she
you see, is the reported." even refused a veterinarian's
a crime alarmingly Although the steady upsurge offer to put them down
lace here in Mason in feed costs is believed to have humanely."
is indeed it is in most contributed significantly to what "In effect," adds Kimball,
elks with the price Mason County Sheriff's Deputy "she said, 'They're my horses
can acquire an Dale Matson identifies as a and if I want to let them lie
noticeable increase in neglect there and die I can!'"
OWners mistreated cases over the last couple of The court intervened, forcing
neglected her, years, the problem is hardly the woman to give the horses
her, abused novel, away, but two of them died
.Y and, finally, During its most active period anyway.
er COmpletely. of volunteer work for the More recently, sheriff's
oose in the streets, county, Shelton's Versatile officers responding to citizens'
natural she acts Horsemen _ an organization of calls discovered an emaciated
s," says Connie some nine Mason County horse mare spread-eagled in the mud
C Bar J experts upon which the burden field of a local horse raiser -
the two-year.old of responsibility often fell in one whose activities, though
putting some neglect cases - responded to "at never resulting in conviction,
frame about a least 25 calls a winter," have been the bane of humane
deputies according to President Tulla officers and Versatile Horsemen
Kimball, herself a humane officer for years and years.
tangled in barb here until last year. The man, when confronted
with a 2x4 by The often appalling cases by the deputies, maintained that
"and discovered practically fill a book. food was provided the horse
for days In fact, Kimball has done just daily and that any possible
food or water, that with the ones upon which infirmities were not attributable
are able to nurse her Versatile Horsemen have to any sort of neglect on his
she adds, acted _ and they've never lost a pa/t.
scars may case despite the fact that existing Thus, by meeting ostensibly
state laws are, as commissioned the only real requirement of the
the brutality in deputy Kimball puts it, "silly law - that food be provided
Case is Unusual, the and pretty near useless." daily - the owner avoided legal
interference.
suspicion that he had
111q1 fClCeS brouTt out the grain only usa
ploy, and in truth withheld it
P OpQ ty ch ge again after the authorities had
r r Ira left, could not be proven.
19, 3821 warrant. Shortly afterward, though,
est, Seattle, Daniels is charged with the maredied.
"State laws dealing with the
Son County having a boat belonging to problem are really open at both
lay before WiUard Ratcliff in his possession ends," complains Kimball, in
nry for last August 26.
reference to the 70-year-old
charge of Judge Henry appointed the RCW Title 16 clauses titled
Tumwater law firm of Jarrett "Prevention of Cruelty to
taken into and Kaeding to represent Daniels Animals."
sheriff at on the charge. Bail was set at
:30 P.m. $15,000. "For instance, they specify
booked Daniels is being held in the that in order to impound an
perior Court jail in lieu of bail. animal suspected of being
confined without food and water
you must observe such
confinement for more than 24
consecutive hours.
"Now, assuming you're
willing to sit there for 24 hours,
all the owner has to do really is
give the horse just one handful
of food and he's met the
requirement - at least according
to law."
Kimball submits that, given
only a fraction of the attention
lawmakers have lavished on other
animal-related legislation, these
largely outdated and ineffectual
cruelty laws might do the job.
"Take our fencing laws," she
says. "They're almost ridiculous.
You could keep elephants! Yet
our cruelty laws are so loose a
horse almost has to be in the
• kind of shape where you have to
carry it home inn basket before
you can do anything about it."
While the strong arm of the
law is needed in extreme cases,
(Please turn to page five.)
Festival
Three Shelton High School
senior girls, Shaun Byme, JoAnn
Krogh and Ann Mueller, are
candidates for Mason County
Forest Festival Queen this year.
Candidates for Paul Bunyan
are Don Daniel, a Shelton High
School senior, and Tim Diggle, a
Mary M. Knight High School
senior.
The festival royalty
candidates were announced
Monday night at the annual press
night.
Queen Selection Chairman
Darryl Cleveland said North
Mason High School did not send
candidates this year. He said
school officials told him they
questioned the amount of time
away from school which was
required for the student
candidates.
Mary M. Knight High School
did not send a queen candidate
this year, he said, since there are
only two girls in the graduating
class, neither of whom was able
to make a conmitment to
participate in the summer
(Please turn to page two.)
Youth
A 17-year-old Lacey youth
is being held in Thurston County
Juvenile Detention on charges of
first-degree armed robbery after
being arrested by authorities here
last Thursday.
Juvenile authorities say a
petition to remand the youth to
adult court has been filed and a
hearing is scheduled today to
determine if he will be
remanded.
They said the petition to
remand Was filed based on the
seriousness of the offense, his
with robbery
age, ry of
offenses.,
Settle
was the
youth at a /earing
Friday.
The youth k charged with
the robbery of Stud's No. I on
Hillcrest last Thay. ';
Officers sail about: 12:46
p.m. a lone gurxnan pointed a
small pistol at a tma!e clerk and
ordered her to open the cash
register. He then removed the
money, officers said, and left the
store on foot.
The youth was arrested
about 1:30 p.m. by Mason
County sheriff's deputies about
five miles south of Shelton on
ttighway l j01.
Officers responded to the call
and began setting up roadblocks.
The officer who stopped the
car did so to check it out
because it was the same model as
one which had been observed in
the vicinity of the store although
the car was not the same color
as the description which officers
had.
Officers said a search of the
car by Shelton police officers
resulted in finding a small pistol
and several hundred dollars in
bills and change.
Officers said a .2S-caliber
unspent cartridge was taken into
evidence at the store.
Shelton police were assisted
by the Mason County sheriff's
office and the Washington State
Patrol in the search for the
robbery suspect.
::/ i ¸ :
¢T//e .,o
iI
Thursday, February 9, 1978 ' Ninetyond Year - Number 5 4 Sections - 38 Pages 15 Cents Per Copy
Garbag system petitions
are ruled invalid by city
Either way you go you will.
probably end up in court, City
Attorney Herb Fuller told the
Shelton City Commission
Tuesday in reporting on his
findings on the petitions which
had been submitted to the
commission the previous week
asking that the commission
either rescind the amendment to
the garbage control ordinance or
put the ordinance to a vote.
In a letter from the county
auditor's office, the commission
was told the petitions contained
the name's of 856 registered
voters in the city, about 38
percent of the number who
voted in the city commission
election two years ago.
Fuller told the commission
state law provided that a
refernndum petition seeking a
vote on an ordinance has to be
filed within 30 days of the final
approval of the ordinance by the
commission.
The amendment to the
garbage ordinance, he said, was
pasged, early in December and
the petitions asking it be put to
a vote were not received until
the end of January, well past the
30 days specified in the state
law.
He said it was his opinion
that since the petitions were not
received in the required 30 days,
the request for referendum was
invalid.
He said the commission
could legally put the issue on the
ballot for an advisory vote, but
that whichever way they acted,
they faced a court test of tile
action.
If they rule the petitions
invalid, he said, those who
submitted them could file a suit
asking that the petitions be ruled
valid.
If the commission were to
rescind the ordinance or put it
to a vote as asked in the
petitions, someone who favors
the new system could then file a
court suit on the basis that the
commission action was on invalid
petitions.
Fuller said there were ways
in which the city itself could file
a court suit to get the question
of validity of the petitions
before a court.
The commission voted to
rule that the petitions were
invalid because they were not
filed in time, and in the same
motion asked Fuller to take
action to get a court suit filed
on the petitions.
Fuller Said he would have to
take a look at the ways in which
this could be done before
making a decision as to how he
would proceed.
One way, he said, would be
to name the person who had
verified the petitions as a
defendant in a suit brought by
the city. The cost of this, he
said, would be a $45 filing fee
and probably some added costs
for proper legal service on the
persons named as defendants.
Dick Swearingen, one of
those who circulated the
petitions, stated he believed the
purpose of the petitions was
being obscured, that the purpose
was to have the issue of the new
garbage collection system put to
a vote.
The petitions, he said, do not
seek to get rid of garbage
collection, only to repeal the
amendment to the garbage
ordinance which was passed early
in December.
Mayor James Lowery said
the commission is trying to make
sure any action which is taken is
on firm legal ground. The city,
he said, has to follow the law,
and at the same time the
commission cannot ignore the
856 persons who signed the
petitions.
Swearingen also brought out
that there is nothing in state law
which says a shortage of funds is
a reason for putting an
emergency clause on an
ordinance.
Peggy Knutson asked if,
putting the petitions and the
question of their legality aside, it
would be legal to put the
question to vote.
Fuller stated it would not be
illegal for the commission to put
the question tO an advisory vote.
Mrs. Knutson stated the issue
should be put to a vote of the
people of the city.
Dave Knutson stated that
people were upset about the new
garbage system and that he could
give a long list of reasons and
that the people should have the
right to vote on it.
Monday holiday for some
City, county and state
government offices along with
some businesses will be closed
Monday in observance of
Lincoln's Birthday.
Federal government offices
will not be closed and there will
be full postal service that day.
Schools do not have a holiday.
The state driver's license
office here will be closed
Saturday in observance of the
holiday. The office will resume
regular office hours Tuesday.
The following Monday,
February 20, city, county, state
and federal government offices
along with some businesses will
be closed in observance of
President's Day. There will be no
school that day for students in
the county.
The post office will have
holiday service that day with
mail going out from the post
office. There will be no rural or
city delivery or delivery to post
office boxes on that day.
Commissioner Brad Owen
stated that the legality of the
commission action had been
questioned, that opponents had
stated there was a possibility of
children getting into the garbage
cans, and that the cost
projections had been questioned.
Owen stated he would like to
know just what the opposition
to the new system is.
Knutson said he could not
see how the city could justify
spending $200,000 for the new
system when the garbage
department was in debt. He also
stated that the new garbage cans
were the homeliest things he had
ever seen. He also stated the cost
figures put out by the
commission did not take into
consideration the cost of
replacement of the cans and the
cost of denning, the large cans
which the city said it would do
although that was not provided
for in the ordinance.
.... He also stated, that while the
commission had said that it
would take one man to operate
the truck, it appeared that two
would continue to be needed
where there is pick-up of the
individual 90-gallon cans because
the extra man is needed to place
the cans on the curb where the
truck can be reached; ....
Two persons at the meeting
stated they had no objections to
the new system.
Ann Simpson stated she had
no objection to the garbage
system, but asked if the city
could look at the minimum. She
stated she believed it was too
low. City Engineer Howard
Godat commented there are
quite a few,water-users who use
less than the minimum.
Helen Morrow stated that she
had been opposed to the new
garbage system at first, but that
since it was in operation she had
changed her mind. She stated she
had not had to pick up garbage
scattered around by dogs since
the new cans were put out.
s
royalty candidates annou.nced
FOREST FESTIVAL QUEEN and Paul Bunyan candidates are, left to
right, Shaun Byrne, JoAnn Krogh, Don Daniel, Ann Mueller and Tim
Diggle.