MFN: Lives in the Balance

Excellent article in the Michigan Farm News.

Lives in the balance

November 15, 2007
By Paul W. Jackson

Horses like these would be of no concern to animal rights extremists, right? Maybe. Maybe not, according to a number of Farm Bureau members who are concerned that any well-meaning but uninformed perception of bad care - including sparse springtime pasture - could lead to a visit from county animal control officers.

Tom Zenz was driving past his own property a half-mile from his house last spring when he saw a sheriff's car pull onto the shoulder.

"I thought he was going to cite me for speeding," said the Jackson County Farm Bureau president. "I pulled up to him to see what was going on, and he told me he had driven by once, and there was a horse lying on its side in the pasture. When he came back, it hadn't moved.

"He told me he thought something must be wrong with it," Zenz said. "So I hollered at the horse - Jake - and Jake stood up. The deputy said 'well, that's good. I didn't know what I would have done next.' Then he drove on. But I know what he would have done next if Jake hadn't gotten up or if I hadn't come by," he said. "He would have called animal control."

The mere mention of Jackson County Animal Control in the days following the county's March seizure of 69 horses amid charges of animal neglect, cruelty and torture near Grass Lake was enough to make farmers such as Zenz walk on egg shells. But now, more than six months after the seizure and about two months before the criminal trial for horse owners Matt Mercier and James Henderson, the eggshells are in pieces as local farmers seek to change what some of them view as trampled rights and a dangerous precedent that could lead to animal rights extremists dictating animal husbandry to farmers.

What is still muddled - and won't be clear until a verdict is reached in the Jan. 7 criminal trial - is whether Mercier and Henderson were cruel or negligent or merely in business over their heads, as Jackson County District Judge Joseph Filip wrote in his ruling in the preliminary examination and forfeiture hearing which resulted in seizure - and auction sale - of nearly all the horses, months before the two men were to go on trial.

"I want to make it clear," Filip said, "that I certainly don't find that Mr. Henderson and Mr. Mercier are bad people. I don't think they did any of this on purpose."

Zenz, however, takes that opinion one step further. He said the two men were guilty of nothing more than poor housekeeping.

"They may have been poor caretakers, but they didn't starve those horses," he said. "I brought over the first load of hay after this all started, and we stacked hay on top of hay, which is a far cry from what the animal control officers said when they told the press that the horses hadn't been fed all winter. I'll admit the two men are not good farm managers, but I can drive in a five-mile radius of that farm and show you horses that are in worse shape than those animals were."

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that there are undernourished horses all around Jackson County amid debris and poor fencing, Zenz's point is that people who know little to nothing about livestock shouldn't go around condemning what farmers do. He's watched as extremist groups such as the Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spent millions of dollars to push their anti-farming agenda in other states with little fact and bountiful emotion. And, he said, he would have been content to watch the Jackson County hearing on forfeiture proceed if not for his familiarity with the property - he leased it from the absentee owners many years ago - and his firm conviction that witch hunts drown a lot of innocent people before a real witch surfaces.

The innocence or guilt of Mercier and Henderson will ultimately be in the hands of a jury, although Zenz insists that biased press coverage - including an article in Michigan Farm News - has tainted the potential jury pool against them.

Attacks on the press aside, the uproar over the seizure - fueled by trial transcripts and other items posted on GLhorsetruth.com - is far from objective and at times borders on hysteria. People involved have reported death threats, threats to set their barns and houses ablaze and rumors that have no basis in fact.

Facts - and there certainly are some in this case - are hard to uncover these days because opinions tend to wrap them in shrouds of emotion. Perhaps it's enough simply to say that for every person like Zenz who is convinced that the two men are innocent, there is another who is convinced that Jackson County Animal control did the right thing for the well-being of the horses. Who is ultimately right will be for the court to decide, although the verdict is certain to be controversial.

Wrongs impeding rights

If there is any one person involved with the case who sees both sides of the issue, it may be Jim Spink, a farmer and vice-president of the Jackson County Farm Bureau and a county police officer who saw the horses first-hand and was a major source for the April Michigan Farm News article.

"Those horses were not good at all, and I know that Tom (Zenz) and I disagree on that," Spink said. "I took 20 round bales there myself, and there was no other hay there. The shape of the barns, the manure the horses were standing in, all were a travesty. But the other travesty is what's been done since then. Animal Control is just as guilty of mismanagement in how this was handled as Mercier and Henderson were guilty of mismanaging the herd."

Spink's concerns are the same as Zenz's: that allowing seizure of personal property and dispersal of that property before the accused reach trial is a dangerous precedent that leaves basic rights in shambles.

"In my opinion, Animal Control needed to do something, but they turned it into an extremely large fiasco," Spink said. "They acted too hastily and got the newspapers involved too soon, and tried to turn public opinion by trying the case in the papers before it got to trial. Everything seemed to be based on emotion, and not sound science. Since March, these men have been crucified in the local paper, and the judge (in the preliminary examination and forfeiture hearing) didn't have a clue. But the other issue that most people don't realize is that Animal Control, like the Department of Natural Resources, has powers of search and seizure that I as a police officer don't have. They can conduct a search without a search warrant based only on receiving a complaint."

Changing the laws

Disturbed by allegations and rumors that Jackson County Animal Control - which has now sold all the horses seized from the farm except one that was euthanized and 11 that went to the Leelanau County Horse Rescue - sold the animals in worse shape than they were at seizure, Spink and Zenz and other members of the county Farm Bureau passed a resolution that would direct Michigan Farm Bureau lobbyists to work to "change the state operating procedures that govern all (county) animal control departments to mirror the same procedures of state law enforcement ..."

While Jackson County Farm Bureau has a specific beef with a specific county agency, other county Farm Bureau resolutions addressed the same issue in more general terms. Cass County expressed its opposition to the concept of "animal rights," while Clare county asks that Michigan Farm Bureau educate all members about the difference between "their local humane society and the National Humane Society." Missaukee County simply opposes unreasonable restrictions on animal agriculture, and Osceola supports animal husbandry GAAMPs (Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practices). Montcalm County resolved that county animal control agencies be made aware of GAAMPs; and St. Joseph County resolved that "...Before being steamrolled by this issue, animal agriculture must become more proactive and take leadership of this issue."

All those resolutions were amalgamated into several proposed additions to a single Michigan Farm Bureau policy - Animal Care - which will be debated at the State Annual Meeting, Nov. 27-30 in Grand Rapids.

Present policy states that Farm Bureau members "support a sensible approach to the substantiation of animal abuse accusations," among many other things, but directing a lobbyist to bring common sense into the legislature is a difficult task, to say the least.

But common sense is all farmers seem to want when it comes to animal-handling regulations. And, they know, it's a very tall order to expect restraint when society's vision of horses and how they should look come from watching movies and a televised horse race every now and then that involves animals worth more than many people earn in a lifetime.

Ruined reputation

But a little restraint and common sense is all Matt Mercier asks, and not necessarily for himself, but for the next farmers who are accused.

"Even if I'm acquitted," he said, "my name will forever be attached with torture, which is normally reserved for horrible people who set animals on fire. It will be difficult to rebuild my name, and it may not ever happen. I used to have faith that the justice system would protect people, but I learned the hard way. That's not how it works in Jackson County. I've never said that there was no cause of action for Animal Control to come on the property, but they should have called it an investigation, not a wholesale seizure. I mean, they even stole our saddles."

Seizing saddles and other tack from the property before a conviction or trial on animal abuse or neglect charges is just one of the concerns Spink said he has about the situation.

"Animal Control really dropped the ball on this one," he said. "I don't disagree that some assistance was needed on the farm, but they bit off more than they could chew, and kept these animals confined all summer and fed them hay at great expense when there was available pasture growing on the other side of the drain. And I believe that seizing the tack and saddles was just a money grab."

Debating motives is never a sensible proposition, nor is trying to deal with facts when emotions are smoldering. Somewhere in the middle, Zenz said, is one basic fact, and that is that Mercier and Henderson lost everything they had - assets and reputation - but still haven't been convicted of anything.

That leads to what Zenz believes is another fact: farmers are in danger from an ignorant populous and an overzealous government sticking its nose where it doesn't belong.

"I believe the best farm in Jackson County could be treated this same way," Zenz said. "Every farm has a head of cattle or two with a sore foot or problems calving, and at any time, that animal could take a turn to the wrong direction. If someone were to see that, they would call the farmer inhumane, and Animal Control could seize the property and ruin the farm's reputation. Things that happened in this case could happen to any farmer at any time. We're all backed into a corner here, and anyone who knows animals knows what they do when they're backed into a corner."

Watching, waiting.

My personal involvement in the case has taken a backseat to more pressing issues, but here is an update with recent Voice of the People letters published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Look at officials' record in protecting animals

Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot
November 12, 2007 09:30AM
Categories: Voice of the People

BROOKLYN -- I am so proud to live in Jackson County, with allegedly drug-using elected officials, elected officials abusing their offices and, best of all, the useless Humane Society and county animal shelter.

We have dealt with both the Humane Society and animal control on several occasions on severe abuse of horses. One occasion a pregnant mare that we used to own was so skinny and hungry that she ate a loaf of bread. One horse's feet were bad and it was skinny due to plain stupidity. We rescued a sheltie from the Humane Society that was a real joke. The only reason nothing was done about these problems was the headlines weren't big enough for them to bother with.

I do not know the real condition of those horses in Grass Lake, but I know some of the people involved with the so-called protection of these animals. One should look into the way they took care of other people's horses. Taking animals and selling them without a trial is the way that the law works.

I am so proud to live in Jackson, with these useless officials looking out for these poor horses.

-- James A. Paquette

Animal control destroys horse owners' lives

Posted by Jackson Citizen Patriot
November 11, 2007 05:09AM
Categories: Voice of the People

MUNITH -- Jackson County Animal Control is out of control. If Children's Protective Services was run this way, it would be seizing our children and selling them to recoup costs of care before we had been found guilty of any alleged crime. Why is it OK to do this to the horse owners?

It boggles my mind that Jackson Animal Control can destroy people's lives based on allegations. And as a livestock owner, it scares me.

-- Dale Kellenberger

For more, visit the discussion forums at GLHorseTruth.com as it will be updated more often than this blog in coming weeks.

More media coverage coming in.

Covering both sides is a good thing.

Final set of horses sold

Monday, November 05, 2007
By Danielle Quisenberry
dquisenberry@citpat.com -- 768-4929

EAST LANSING -- As the last of the horses seized from a Grass Lake Township farm awaited auction Sunday, a group adamantly opposed to their seizure hoisted signs nearby.

"There is only one word for this whole thing and it is 'atrocious,''' said Jared Brown of Brooklyn, who stood with about 15 people holding signs scrawled with phrases such as "Jackson County Animal Control is out of control.''

The group, who allege officers have treated the horses poorly since the March seizure, prostested outside the Michigan State University Pavilion.

Inside, 34 horses that had been in the county's care were auctioned at prices ranging from $100 to $10,400. Altogether, the horses -- deemed the most valuable of the original herd of 69 -- netted more than $42,300.

The money will help the county recoup its costs of caring for the horses.

The horses were impounded six months ago based on reports they were malnourished and living in unsafe conditions. Farm manager Matthew Mercier and owner James Henderson each are facing three counts of felony animal torture.

Under the county's control, the herd grew to 84 as mares foaled in the spring and summer. Animal-control officers say the horses' health has improved under their care.

The 50 less valuable horses in the herd were sold at auctions in September and October in Napoleon and Onsted. The September auction garnered nearly $4,000. Total figures from all four auctions were not available Sunday.

Horses sold Sunday included two pedigreed stallions, Sky High Fame and Buggy Full of Money. Each sold for more than $10,000.

Tiany Schuster, a breeder and trainer based near Hattiesburg, Miss., bought Sky High Fame for $10,200, and six other horses. "I think I got some really good deals,'' said Schuster, who was a business associate of Mercier and Henderson.

If she gets the horses' registration papers, they'd "be an even better deal,'' she said.

Animal control Director Kimberlee Luce said the papers are in the process of being reissued from the previous owner to Jackson County. The auctioneer presented the audience with scant information on each horse as it was ridden or walked through a dirt-floor arena.

Schuster and several others said Sunday some of the horses at auction were being misrepresented as their information had been mixed with other horses once owned by Henderson.

Luce said they were going with information given to them by the previous owners. "We've done the best of our ability to match up who is who,'' she said.

Protesters argued the horses were in worse condition when cared for by animal control than when they were taken from the farm.

They held signs with pictures of thin or wormy horses that read "This is NOT what 'six months after rescue' should look like.''

Luce said she would not comment on the protesters. "I just want the horses to find good homes.''

A doctor saw the horses last week and was "impressed,'' Luce said.

County Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Lamp, who attended the auction, said the horses have "absolutely'' improved since the seizure.

Prostester Melissa Adams of Brooklyn, who raises horses and cattle, said the group wanted to draw attention to animal control and its actions. She said it isn't right they sold all the horses before the men were convicted of any crime -- a move Lamp said the forfeiture statute allows to protect animals.

"It is scary to those of us in agriculture that they can come in and take our farm and we can't do anything,'' Adams said.

Others expressed similar sentiment. "I fear for horse owners. I fear for all horse owners in the county,'' Brown said.

©2007 Jackson Citizen Patriot
© 2007 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

We certainly appreciate the reporters who stopped to talk to us during our peaceful protest and informational picketing. The MSU campus police were likewise friendly and professional.

WILX TV 10 news coverage.

Send out your thanks to Jessica Aspiras and News 10 for the coverage of the "other" side at last.

Protesting Against Horse Auction

Posted: 5:54 PM Nov 4, 2007
Reporter: Jessica Aspiras
Email Address: jessica.aspiras@wilx.com

While a horse auction got underway inside the MSU Pavillion, outside a peaceful protest was just beginning.

"It's a total miscarriage of justice. Men are getting tried, and their horses are getting auctioned, and they haven't even been convicted yet."

Protestor Jered Brown is referring to the case of James Henderson, Jr. and Matthew Mercier. Both men are charged with three counts of felony animal torture each. In March, Jackson County Animal Control seized 69 of their horses from Turn Three Ranch in Grass Lake. Authorities estimated the animals had not been fed or watered since last fall.

"If the animal control thought that they had a problem, they should have come in and worked with the gentlemen and said, this is what we want you to do."

Melissa Adams owns horses of her own. She says she got involved with the protest after the first group of horses was auctioned off in September.

"I know that the horses at the auction, I have talked to vets who have done fecal counts on these horses and found that they were wormy," she says. "And to me if you're rescuing horses, it is coming on you to make sure these horses are healthy."

Brown decided to protest after the first auction as well, because, he says, the condition of the horses worsened after Animal Control took over.

"You could see the condition that their ribs are showing. You can see the spine line. His feet, there's damage to his feet. This picture was taken three weeks after we purchased him. You can see, you can't see the rib lines anymore. He looks healthier. His feet look good."



On Sunday, the last of the horses was up for auction. In total 84 were sold. That number includes the foals born after the seizure. News 10 contacted Jackson County Animal Control, but they declined to do an on-camera interview.

Melissa, Jered ... you guys rock. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes that made great things happen today.

The support pours in.

Contributors have made some great things possible these last few days.

There will be 2,000 flyers to hand out, financed by a few supporters who cannot attend ... a convenient bookmark sized fact sheet with websites, quotes, photos and compelling information. This can be sent in PDF format to anyone who would like to produce additional copies.

Another donation has made possible the manufacture of some very nice 14" x 20" signs. We were only able to produce a dozen today, but I have PDF art available to anyone who would like to print their own signs to bring.

There are even several people offering to pick up others in their area and car pool to East Lansing from several counties away. The response has been great. Hope you're planning to join us. The sun will be shining, so never mind the temperature. :)

We'll all be there.

Update on the outcome of the hearing:

Horse farm defendants allowed to be at auction

Friday, November 02, 2007
By Kristin Longley
klongley@citpat.com -- 768-4917

A judge on Thursday denied a motion to ban two men accused of neglecting their horses from attending a livestock auction.

The last of 84 horses forfeited to Jackson County will be sold Sunday at the Michigan State University Pavilion.

The prosecutor argued that Matthew Mercier and James Henderson Jr., who are charged with three counts each of felony animal torture, should not be able to attend the public auction, fearing they would intimidate potential buyers. Witnesses testified that the defendants have been following up with buyers after the horses are sold.

Circuit Judge Chad Schmucker said the defendants can attend the auction, but prohibited them from approaching Animal Control officers and witnesses who ask to be added to a "no-contact list,'' and banned them from purposely disseminating personal information about Animal Control officers online.

The judge then set aside Animal Control officers' personal-protection orders against the defendants, saying they never should have been entered. Defense attorneys argued that the orders, which were based on reports of alleged stalking and intimidation, do not meet proper criteria and are "nothing but a creature of hysteria.''

Schmucker said the case has generated an unusual amount of rancor and interest by supporters on both sides. Defense attorney Ronald Fabian said the case is "out of control.''

Mercier and Henderson are scheduled to stand trial in Circuit Court early next year on the felony charges.

Animal Control agents seized the horses in March and took control of the Grass Lake Township farm based on reports of unsafe facilities and malnourished horses. The horses were later forfeited to Jackson County by District Judge Joseph Filip, and most have been sold.

Henderson appealed the civil ruling, and the case is pending.

©2007 Jackson Citizen Patriot
©2007 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

There is still a chance that these horses -- although by the end of the weekend they'll have all been sold to new owners -- will be returned to their former owners. If the defendants are found not guilty of the felony torture charges (which I have no doubt that they should be found innocent, for torture implies intentional harm), the horses should be returned to them. Will the new owners receive compensation for what they have paid for the horses, and what they put into them from now until the appeal is heard?

All in all, a good day.

Court today could not have gone much better.

And this was printed in the Jackson Citizen Patriot.

Protest planned to support men accused of neglecting horses

Thursday, November 01, 2007
By Kristin Longley
klongley@citpat.com -- 768-4917

Supporters of two men accused of neglecting their horses have started a grassroots campaign to try to clear their names.

The group plans to conduct a peaceful protest Sunday at Michigan State University, where Jackson County will auction off the last of the 84-horse herd it seized from the defendants' Grass Lake Township farm.

James Henderson Jr. and Matthew Mercier are charged with three counts each of felony animal torture. They will stand trial early next year before Circuit Judge Chad Schmucker.

Their supporters have generated several online forums about the case, and one Web site, www.glhorsetruth.com, has received more than 14,000 hits in the few months since it started.

"I think it's people who are looking at this case and are fearful about their own property,'' Mercier said. "They're ticked off.''

Acting county Administrator Randy Treacher said the supporters' campaign is "an attempt to smear what Animal Control has done.''

Animal Control agents seized the horses in March and took control of the farm based on reports of unsafe facilities and malnourished horses. The horses were later forfeited to Jackson County by District Judge Joseph Filip. Henderson appealed the civil ruling, and the case is pending.

Shantell Coats of Springport is organizing the MSU protest. She said information will be disseminated regarding Animal Control's care of the horses, including allegations that some haven't been fed, groomed or dewormed properly since the seizure.

Treacher said a lot of time and resources have been spent on the horses, and added the animals have been well taken care of, according to Animal Control veterinarian Dr. Pamela Fouty.

"Our Animal Control officers have done a tremendous job,'' Treacher said. "The condition of the animals overall continues to improve.''

The horses up for auction Sunday include trained and pedigreed barrel-racing horses, officials said.

Schmucker is scheduled to hold a hearing today on a motion to bar Mercier and Henderson from the auction based on reports that they have created disturbances at previous auctions.

©2007 Jackson Citizen Patriot
© 2007 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.

Guess what? Schmucker threw out the PPOs that were served on Matt Mercier at the third auction, and did not grant the motion to bar the defendants from the final auction this weekend. There simply was nothing concrete in the allegations against the defendants.

I have to believe that the tide is turning.