Rescue surrenders more than 100 animals
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By Elisa Glushefski
Published: May 6, 2008
The director of Assisi’s Animal Rescue Foundation near Manassas Park surrendered more than 100 dogs and cats to the county on Monday following a police search of the house the rescue operated from, said 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn, Prince William police spokeswoman.
No charges have been brought against Sandra Cortes, the 48-year-old operator of the rescue, Chinn said, adding that the investigation continues.
During the search, authorities exhumed animals that are being submitted to the state lab for testing, Chinn said.
The police department’s animal control bureau had an ongoing investigation into the rescue and was able to obtain search warrants for the residence at 7605 Old Centreville Road after someone who adopted a puppy from Assisi’s filed a complaint, police said.
The animals, many of which are puppies and kittens, are now undergoing medical evaluation and behavioral screening, according to Chinn.
“The animals have varying degrees of illnesses,” she said.
“Caretakers have to bathe all these animals and that is a huge job,” Chinn added. “Evidently, they were all filthy.”
Chinn said it would be several days before they are in the position to begin adopting the animals out.
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( AnimalSavior ) on May 08, 2008 at 6:21 pm
LISTEN (PAWPRINTS) MAY I ASK HOW YOU WOULD KNOW THESE ANIMALS WERE CRATED FOR 10 HOURS??.AND IN FACT HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THEY WERE FED 3 TIMES A DAY?--QUOTE ON QUOTE “According to Cortes, animal control and zoning authorities arrived around 10 a.m. and was later given a letter revoking her kennel license” I WAS THERE and they were taken out around 6pm.So please get your information correct before you state lies.
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Posted by ( ShutAssisiDown ) on May 08, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Some people are providing eyewitness accounts to Prince William County Animal Control. If you had a bad experience with Assisi, please do so as well.
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Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 1:02 pm
During the search of the property Animal Control Officer Shelty would not allow the rescue personel to let the dogs out of the crates and cages they were in for almost 10 hours. Each of them sat and were given water, but they were not allowed to be fed.
Once the dog sat int he cages and crates all day they had to use the bathroom at some point. Now that they sat in the fecal waiste the rescue workers are being blamed for the dogs being filty. Who is at blame?
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Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 12:59 pm
The dog that you adopted was CiCi and the person from whom you got the dog was BJ, now working with All 4 the Animals. She had the dog tested or so she claims. You claim the dog, a black Chihuahua, was on heartworm preventative and then contracted Heartworm while in your care per your e-mail. You never responded when asked to provide proof you had in fact kept the dog on Heartworm preventative.
If you would like the heartworm test result ask BJ for the test results. She claims to have done them at Towne and Country. You were give the records by BJ at the time of adoption. You are the one who infected the dog. First you tried to blame Heartworm manufacture and now you blame Assisi’s. Keep you fact clear and on track. We have your e-mails where you make the accusations against the hearworm manufacturer.
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Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I also know to rescue group very well and that the dogs where feed 3 times a day and that if the dogs didn’t eat then there would not be any feces for the dogs to be sitting in to get it all over their body like everyone is saying they had all over them. The dogs or puppies that where supposed to been cared out where probably cared out because they wouldn’t walk on a leash not because they were sick. Before you say something you should know the truth.
Check out the picture on the web page to see the truth about the dogs and how they looked.
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Posted by ( litehouse08 ) on May 08, 2008 at 7:55 am
This woman should be jailed. We all know where the money went. Besides, where was the city on this. This should have been stopped a long time ago. There is no since in it getting this far out of hand. Rescue leagues are frequently checked by authorities. What happened here??? She did not care about those animals. But she knew how to make a buck at the expense of those poor animals. Anyone who abuses or neglets animals should be treated like a child abuser. Make her pay big time.
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Posted by ( Calisto ) on May 07, 2008 at 7:52 pm
The Cortes woman sounds like the perfect profile of animal collector and making a buck of poor creatures that can’t defend themselves. This is the kind of person that needs jail time to understand the repercussions of animal abuse.
She’s not insane, she gave up the animals to avoid a hefty fine and proscecution. She needs to go to jail to see how it feels.
And, geeez, burying the animals in her back yard. That againt county ordinance due to ground water regulations. Does she want to make a whole county sick???
The shelter does euthanasia for free - but then again they would have discovered her behind real quick.
I hope she gets slapped with a hefty fine and never receives her license back. Good going, animal control.
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Posted by ( CCsmemory ) on May 07, 2008 at 4:11 pm
We adopted a dog from Assisi’s rescue last year and were informed (as her website also states) that the adoption fee pays for vaccines and heartworm tests for all adult dogs. The dog we adopted was at least 9 years old and I directly asked Sandra if she tested negative for heartworm. She told me yes. The dog ended up getting sick in January after which time she was diagnosed with heartworm disease. We spent thousands of dollars and many hours going back and forth to the cardiologist only to have her die from the treatment. She had received heartworm prevention every month we had her and when I asked Sandra to furnish the results of the heartworm test, she became angry and blamed us and then refused to answer whether the dog we had adopted had even been tested. If she had only been honest with us from the beginning and told us the dog had not been tested, we would have tested her right away and treated her before she had symptoms. There are so many caring people who run rescues; it is a shame that this one person will leave a bad image of rescues in everyone’s mind.
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Posted by ( jhcivicex ) on May 07, 2008 at 11:49 am
Where will all the animals go if they give them up?
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Posted by ( ShutAssisiDown ) on May 07, 2008 at 8:09 am
Cortes should be arrested. There was a dead dog on the property and many were sick. All were filthy. She has adopted out pregnant dogs. She uses rescue money to pay her own living expenses. She stole someone else’s 501(c)(3) and used it until she got caught. She’s a criminal and should be jailed.
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