Desert Dogs & Cats, Don't Kill Them.

Editor's Note: The author of this article is concerned about the lives of 70 dogs and 22 cats that live with a family in the High Desert about 150 miles Northeast of Los Angeles. They live on a 20-acre piece of land in the desert.� Many dogs and cats are dumped in the desert and this is their last possible home.

Mickey Stovall and his family live on 20 acres along Hwy 58, 15 miles west of Barstow, Ca.� Over the past 20 years, in this rural area where lost stray dogs, abandoned or neglected by their owners, roam the landscape trying to find a scent trail home to food, water- and that peculiar and powerful companionship which has developed between mankind and Dog, the Stovall's have accumulated some 70 dogs, 22� cats, and some donkeys.

���� Any neighbors are far enough away, so these animals have never, ever been complained about. The Stovall's are financially stressed and on very low incomes. The animals are all penned in or behind fences in good-sized areas. The animals are well watered and fed, and the adults in the family interact with the animals on a therapeutic basis. Water in the community comes from individual residential wells. They have a couple of trailers and a small permanent dwelling.

���� The animals and the Stovall's are all family members together. Occasionally they give an animal to a good, trusted home. A major portion of their income is devoted to taking care of the animals, which would have otherwise been lost, roaming forever, or forever destroyed. The Stovall's are an intelligent family in a hard life. Early this year it began to rain harder.

���� In January of 2005 an electrical fire in the dwelling resulted in Southern California Edison shutting off power to the property, which prevented power from reaching the well pump. They are still trying to replace the pump and get it up and running. The smoke damage made the dwelling uninhabitable, and a contractor who should have begun to repair the house in February did not start repairs until this week. Work on repairs has been slow. Without power to run the well, the life center of all residences in such a community, they had to get a generator in order to obtain water for themselves and the animals. They also spent freezing nights in bed without heat in order to conserve fuel and power. Then the record rains.� Now the monsoon of summer. They are now living in truck trailer.

��� The fire department and police attention given on that night of the fire, exposed the fact that the Stovalls had no permit to have that many animals on their property. And so began the legal process which found "Mickey" Stovall in violation of the law in June of 2005.

���� County Judge John Gibson in Barstow had been very stern in court, ordering that all the animals be seized and taken to San Bernardino County Animal Control, which does not have room for this many animals.

���� On August 9th their front yard and driveway were filled with an army of Animal Control trucks and several Sheriff's cars, and a County veterinarian, a massive visible presence so that this dangerous violating family and their enormous and potential threat to the community could be kept in control, and so that law and order could be preserved. Judge Gibson also visited the property at that time to witness the proceedings.

Judge Gibson and everyone else were shocked when they witnessed instead a gentle, civilized family, saw that the dogs and other animals were all good natured and in very good health, and were well protected from the public. The County vet attested that the animals were all in good health and showed no signs of abuse or neglect.

Impressed by reality, Judge Gibson issued a new order on the spot. That, although the Stovall's could not get a permit to keep all the animals while they were in violation of the law, he would allow them a stay of the prior order if they agreed to give away or place one animal a week until there were only 4 or 5 left, leaving them in compliance with the county animal limit.

In other words, the Stovall's could get a permit for all the animals once they had given them all away.

The fact that this judge changed an order and saved these animals from the ovens while still enforcing the law was difficult, creating another problem. But it was just, in this writers opinion. After all, a judge cannot violate the very laws he is enforcing. Why he was unable to cause them to be simply granted a permit is unknown.

The Stovall's believe a solution is to obtain non-profit status, but the application is a mystery to them. This may not help them to keep their animals anyway. They need some legal assistance.

Until a better solution is found, Stovall must comply by giving or placing or otherwise disposing of at least one animal per week and report to the judge each Friday at 8:30 a.m. and prove he has done so. They may not be able to keep up with that compliance and also report, because of transportation difficulties. When it rains, it rains cats and dogs. It is not as if this family is without the chore of several unusual areas of effort they must also spend most of there time trying to solve, and the local kill and no-kill shelters are full.

What they would rather do is keep their animals. Second choice, which they don't like, is to get them placed. Perhaps an answer resides in moving all the animals to one place (legally), then establishing compliance with the 4-5 the law allows, then moving them all back after a permit is issued. This would would require logistics of a Homeric effort, but is not out of the bounds of possibility. Also, although one may argue that it may be better for the animals to be placed, what we may think we would or should do as a personal preference should not cause us to withhold assistance because it conflicts with our personal reason.

Bear in mind that these animals have become part of their lives, many of them born, raised and dying there over these 20 years. They act as therapy and an anchor for several disabled adults living on the property with special needs, and a rural lifestyle.� They look at the animals as family members. You do not give away a family member, and there is not one of us who truly cares for animals who would part with that relationship. It is a breaking and tearing of the heart. And the family member do not understand such treatment.

The Stovall's could certainly benefit from some wisdom and care, as simple as the truth evident in that wagging tail, and those eyes..those incredible eyes, looking up into yours.--Submited by ER.

Editor's note: The writer added this PS:
������������������� Animal Attorney's, No-kill Shelter Owners, and Deep Thinkers are Welcome. [Mickey Stovall can be reached at (760) 253-3119]
The County Animal Control Department does not have a big enough facility to take in the 70 dogs and 22 cats, so they will have to kill them.

Filed Aug.19, 2005