News for Florida animal advocates

• Last week we wrote about serious problems at the 10th Life cat “sanctuary” in Hendry County. Yesterday, WBBH-TV Ch. 2 reported that Maury Swee, 10th Life’s president, has “voluntarily surrendered all the cats from 10th Life and has signed a document saying he won’t accept any more cats for now.” Reportedly, Mr. Swee is under investigation for animal cruelty. Although this is good news- additional cats will not be sent to the sanctuary to suffer from neglect- the future remains unclear for the several hundred cats currently at the shelter.
• On Tuesday, the Martin County Commission gave final approval to a zoning ordinance allowing hunting camps on agricultural land in the county (read our previous blog post here). Last night’s 4-1 vote was disappointing, but not unexpected. Commissioner Sarah Heard cast the only “no” vote, and she was the only commissioner who asked tough questions about the hunting facilities. Please thank Commissioner Heard for her vote in the animals’ favor (send an e-mail using this online form).
• In September 2008 (click here), we wrote about a horrible case of animal cruelty in which three men jumped a fence at a ranch in Indian River County, shot a young cow with a .22 rifle, and then butchered the animal. Police followed a trail of blood to one of the men’s homes, where they were arrested. Last week we learned that the men have received their sentences. Two of the men who already had criminal records received three-and-a-half years and two years in state prison respectively. The third man received one year in county jail.

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