Houndsman loses dog injust to Yavapai county.

[HUNTnTAT2]

Sharing this for my good friends Mike and Ella McCracken. Owners of the Gold Bar Ranch in Walnut Grove, AZ. between Peeples Valley and Wilhoit. 12 miles down the Wagoner rd. 

This is a long read. Written by my husband Mike.

To my friends, neighbors, and community,
I am writing this letter in response to an incident involving a rabid bobcat that has completely turned our lives upside down, ruined our livelihood, and has destroyed our health through heartbreak!  We own a cattle ranch 12 miles off the highway and have experienced a number of wild and unusual things over the last forty years.  We have had mountain lions kill horses and cattle; bears in the yard; and of course, the typical skunk or coyote coming in for a late-night chicken dinner.  I thought that I had seen it all but was I wrong!  On June 28, 2020, at approximately midnight, we were awoken by my hunting dogs making a commotion.  I went down to our secure dog kennel and to my surprise, there was a bobcat growling at them from outside the fence.  I yelled at the bobcat and it went down into the river bed about ten yards away.  From there the bobcat began growling at me from inside thick brush, I went up to the house, about 30 yards away, and told my wife what was happening and how shocking the cat’s behavior was.  I could hear it growling as I walked all the way to the house!  After explaining to my wife what was happening, I loaded my twenty-two-caliber rifle and went back down to the kennel.  The bobcat came back and was growling at the dogs and I quickly realized that there was something terribly wrong with this bobcat.  I got inside the kennel where I was safe from the bobcat and shot it while it was outside the fence and kennel. 
As soon as it turned daylight I called our local Game and Fish officer to report what had happened.  Unable to investigate the incident himself because he was working the big fire, he said he would send the game officer from Bagdad.  The officer arrived, his name was Seth Sheer and he was extremely nice, understanding, and easy to work with. Officer Sheer’s report was short and to the point, which I appreciated very much.  Officer Sheer was also kind enough to thank me for putting down the obviously suffering rabid bobcat, that was an extreme threat to the community!  After Officer Sheer left is when this horrible nightmare begins. 
I received a call from Yavapai County Animal Control Officer Scott Potts who said he would like to interview me.  Of course, I said fine and was expecting an interaction similar to that with the previous law enforcement officer.  Instead, Officer Potts immediately threatened to euthanize my dogs and began screaming and talking over me on the phone! He was telling me what had happened and insisting that the cat had contact with the dogs and therefore would be euthanized He would not let me get a word in! At this point, I was forced to raise my voice at officer Potts because of his threatening temper tantrum! I informed him that I was the only eyewitness, and the cat at no time had contact with the dogs! This is also the point that I offered key photographic evidence about the fine mesh on the bottom of the kennel and officer Potts said DON’T BOTHER! This is when his telephone interview went sour! He stated that he was not going by my report, only by the game and fish report, and asked me if I was calling the game officer a liar because my story was slightly different than Officer Sheer’s report. By leaving out testimony from the only eyewitness, this is called lying by omission! 
It is important to note that I was the only person present and therefore the only eyewitness to this incident.  As a public servant, Officer Potts failed to protect my rights or serve our community, my family, or me.  We all rely on our government officials to be fair, understanding, compassionate, and helpful.  Officer Potts acted and demonstrated the absolute opposite behaviors and mannerisms of what is expected of a public servant.  He was not concerned with what I had to say or how his actions were and have impacted my life and livelihood.  Officer Potts instead acted as sole investigator, judge, and jury.  Officer Potts made a unilateral decision that has and continues to cost me thousands of dollars, my livelihood, impacts my health and well-being, and is causing me and my family great stress and harm.  
Officer Potts, his superiors, and the County of Yavapai have failed to serve me and have placed our community in harm’s way.  Because of his unprofessional behavior, his intentional non-communication, his extreme hostility, he has endangered the lives of the Game & Fish officer, our friends, our neighbors, my wife, and me. If Officer Potts truly believed that the dogs were exposed to airborne rabies, he failed to inform us immediately that all humans present should be vaccinated against rabies.  Only after consulting with our veterinarian four days later were we told we needed shots for rabies as soon as possible.  There is a seven-day window to get vaccinated before rabies is fatal. When Officer Potts made his one and only call to ask us if we were happy with the four-month quarantine that he had imposed on my dogs, who were untouched by the cat, he never explained what the symptoms of rabies are! Officer Potts never asked about the health of those present or warned any neighbors of the incident! No, follow up on public safety whatsoever!  It is evident to me that his only mission was to illegally confiscate my dogs! We asked him if we needed to get shots, he said he did not know because he is not a rabies expert. If he readily admits to not being an expert in rabies, I can only wonder why and how he decided that he was qualified, prepared and suited to make a unilateral decision to confiscate my dogs and impose significant financial, emotional and health costs on me and my family.  He has not only destroyed my livelihood as a hunting guide but has also cost my family thousands of dollars in kennel costs ($17,000) and rabies shots ($3200) which were incredibly painful.  My dogs are outdoor dogs and this confinement will mentally break them. Officer Potts is aware of this fact! This outcome has caused my extremely intelligent and loving dogs to be kenneled for 4 months in a cage the size of a crate and Officer Potts WILL NOT ALLOW US TO VISIT OUR OWN DOGS  The dogs were not exposed to, injured, or harmed by the bobcat, yet they are forced into a questionable and unwarranted quarantine.  The act of forcefully taking my dogs is extremely cruel and unjust to both the dogs and me.  I believe it to also be illegal and unconstitutional. I believe that officer Potts's refusal to interview me was reckless and illegal! I find it appalling that Officer Potts refused my information!  Information FROM THE ONLY EYEWITNESS! It took over two weeks, and only after a Freedom of Information Act request, for the county to provide me with a report on the rabies test of the bobcat.  At no time has the county notified our neighbors or the surrounding area of an incident involving a dangerous, rabid animal.  As I mentioned before, we live in a very rural area with livestock throughout.  Why, if the incident was so severe that my dogs needed to be confiscated and impounded, has the county neglected the safety of our community? 
Amazingly enough, two days later there was a second bobcat attack on some people who were visiting my ranch.  There was a video taken of this second bobcat attack and it was shared through social media and with us. It was very graphic and unsettling and involved a man being attacked repeatedly by the half-grown obviously rabid bobcat; thank god no one was bitten. He is yelling at Children to get back! There is a child asking her mother why she is scared and crying in the attack video. However, the proximity of this second bobcat in the video was closer than the incident with my dogs.  I called the event into the captain of the Yavapai Sherriff Department, who I had been dealing with. I informed him of the attack and the video, on July 12. He apparently did not believe me! Big surprise! To this day no one has come to investigate and retrieve the body of the second bobcat for testing. Today is August fourteenth It is troubling that there has not been any follow-up even after I sent the video.  Clearly, there had been an outbreak of rabies in the area, yet the county ignores it.  No traps were set up.  No one came for a report.  What is wrong with this picture?  While the citizens of our county are being neglected, my dogs and my livelihood are being held, hostage. 
The county has not given me any reports on the health of my dogs.  The county has clearly violated my constitutional rights by not showing me documentation or affording me my rights to due process.  I consider the seizure of my dogs to be an illegal and gross abuse of police power and authority.  The incomplete and lackadaisical nature of the investigation and resulting report are clear and evident in the failure of the officer to even physically visit the scene or accept either eye-witness evidence or photographs.  This bobcat was seen at several ranches walking around people and acting strangely.  Because I was looking out for my family, my dogs, and other nearby ranchers in putting the bobcat down, I am being punished. My family is held in limbo and under great stress and strain.  My dogs remain locked in kennels under great strain and at a significant financial cost. Meanwhile, YCSO has put many lives at stake, through their sham investigation on the first cat and their NON-investigation on the cat that attacked several people in the video! This attack was July 3, I still have the cat!  
My crime!  Not having current rabies vaccinations for the two dogs.  But if the dogs need to be in quarantine, why not at home?  We have a secure, isolated large kennel in which the dogs can be safely monitored and cared for.  We have gone through the rabies shots ourselves so we can take care of them in an environment that is safe and loving. To impound the dogs without due process is unjust, unfair, and un-American.  I have tried every avenue and person and approach I can think of.  I need the help of my community to right this wrong and to reverse this injustice.  Please help me to get my dogs back.  If you have any legal advice, please offer it.  If you can write or call our government and elected officials, please do so.  I need the help of my friends, my neighbors, and my community.  For whatever you can do to help, I will be forever thankful and grateful. 
 Sincerely,
Mike McCracken

928 899 3438
goldbarranchbb@yahoo.com

[CatfishKev]

Wow

[654321]

Pet Bit by Wild Rabid Animal

There is also a protocol for if your pet gets bitten by a wild animal. If the wild animal is caught and available for testing, then bring it in. If it isn’t caught, assume it is positive for rabies, after which notify animal control.

Take the dog or cat to the vet for a booster rabies shot. If the animal has had a rabies vaccine, home quarantine may be permissible.

The animal should be kept in a secure, enclosed place and only taken out on a leash for 45 days. If the cat or dog has never been vaccinated, you may want to consider euthanasia of your pet to avoid causing it pain.

Otherwise animal control will quarantine it for 120 days in an approved facility where it will most likely go through immense amounts of pain and eventually die. The owner will be responsible for all costs incurred.

Read more about dog-related injuries:

The county must be treating air borne exposure the same as an actual exposure.

[HUNTnTAT2]

654321 where did you pull this from?

[654321]

29 minutes ago, HUNTnTAT2 said:

654321 where did you pull this from?

https://www.jacksonwhitelaw.com/az-personal-injury/arizona-rabies-vaccination-law/

[HUNTnTAT2]

As far as I know Rabies is transferred by saliva. The dogs had no physical contact with the bobcat because it is impossible to do so with Mike's Kennel setup. He has fine wire mesh towards the bottom of the kennel.

Today He got good word from the vet that is handling his dogs. They are showing no symptoms at all. He was able to take a couple shirts with his scent on them to let the dogs know he has not abandoned them along with some treats. 

The county has failed miserably in terms of negligence to public safety by not physically coming to investigate the initial bobcat at the kennel. Let alone the next incident, a couple days later, where a younger bobcat attacked people at the Gold Bar Ranch lake/campground(Mike and Ellas property). Which there is video evidence of this incident. They(the county) haven't even confirmed and shown proof that the initial bobcat tested positive for rabies. The county also never showed up to pick up the 2nd bobcat that succumbed to its injuries from the campers protecting themselves at the lake. 

[muledeerarea33?]

15 minutes ago, HUNTnTAT2 said:

As far as I know Rabies is transferred by saliva. The dogs had no physical contact with the bobcat because it is impossible to do so with Mike's Kennel setup. He has fine wire mesh towards the bottom of the kennel.

Today He got good word from the vet that is handling his dogs. They are showing no symptoms at all. He was able to take a couple shirts with his scent on them to let the dogs know he has not abandoned them along with some treats. 

The county has failed miserably in terms of negligence to public safety by not physically coming to investigate the initial bobcat at the kennel. Let alone the next incident, a couple days later, where a younger bobcat attacked people at the Gold Bar Ranch lake/campground(Mike and Ellas property). Which there is video evidence of this incident. They(the county) haven't even confirmed and shown proof that the initial bobcat tested positive for rabies. The county also never showed up to pick up the 2nd bobcat that succumbed to its injuries from the campers protecting themselves at the lake. 

I bet they’re going the covid route. All joking aside, people think all viruses and diseases are air born now and will infect everyone! That may be the case, and they might have the right to do what they’re doing thru the cares act, but it doesn’t take the place of common sense. I hope he gets pups back. I’d be miserable without mine!!

[muledeerarea33?]

Not saying they think the cat has the rona, just saying they’re treating all illness as the worst possible scenario.

[ctafoya]

You would think this an article from California. The victim is the aggressor and guilty without due prosses. WTF is happening to our state?

Just wait to see what happens if the left takes the white house. Hope for the best, but best be prepared for the worst.

I hope this guy gets his dogs back and the trauma isn't irreversible. 

[Edge]

I have my own horror story with a possible rabies exposure due to a bat on the back porch.

Reporting the dead bat to the county is when the chit show began. However, I was told as long as my animals were up to date with their rabies vaccines, the dogs and horses could be home quarratined.

[Heat]

Sound like they need the advice of an attorney not the two bits from us yahoos!  Awful nonetheless. I hope it all works out for them and the dogs are all ok in the end.