SEPTEMBER 2005
Haunted by hidden past, humane law enforcement legend Dave Garcia retires
DALLAS––Dave Garcia, 55, vice president of operations for the SPCA of Texas in Dallas since 2001, on August 6, 2005 announced his retirement from humane work.
“His resignation comes days after Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham dismissed three animal cruelty charges against Julia McMurrey, the former operator of Paws Around the Planet ranch in Tyler,” reported Kim Horner of the Dallas Morning News.
“Bingham received anonymous information, which was confirmed, that Garcia has a criminal background including arrests for driving while intoxicated in Texas, Missouri, and Arizona, plus a rape and kidnapping conviction in Arizona in 1973. Garcia was paroled in the rape and kidnapping case in 1976. Bingham said he dismissed the charges against McMurrey because of ethical concerns about using Mr. Garcia as a witness. He said Garcia told a prosecutor that he had no criminal history,” Horner added.
Cockfighting proponents, including commentators for Game Fowl News, have long circulated reports similar to those Bingham received. Longtime acquaintances of Garcia within the humane community were mostly aware that he had a troubled past, which had helped him to successfully infiltrate animal fighting rings and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The cockfighters escalated their efforts after John Stossel of ABC 20/20 targeted Garcia in a June 3 segment called “Cruelty to Owners.” Garcia made at least one misstatement caught on camera, pertaining to the presence of a veterinarian during a raid. Despite that error, the evidence in the case won a conviction.
Summarized Lorraine Johnston of the Best Friends Animal Society, who rebutted Stossel on the Best Friends web site, “In a report that focused on money instead of the welfare of animals, John Stossel showed the owners of puppy mills as broken-hearted animal-lovers left in financial ruin. SPCAs were portrayed as greedy bad guys motivated by financial gain through ‘stealing’ and then ‘selling’ confiscated animals.”
Added SPCA of Texas president James Bias, “The truth is that the SPCA of Texas is only awarded animals after a court finds that an animal has been cruelly treated. Donations for rescue and investigations in 2004 totaled about $165,000, less than two-thirds of the cost of performing such services.”
Garcia previously was director of operations for the Houston SPCA and chief cruelty investigator for the Humane Society of Greater Miami, the Denver Dumb Friends League, and the Humane Society of Missouri. He was a guest instructor at the National Cruelty Investigators School, and taught investigative technique at many major humane conferences.
South African SPCA chief resigns
The South African National Council of SPCAs on July 25 announced that it had accepted the resignation of former Tshwane SPCA manager Roelf Venter. Venter allegedly misappropriated funds for more than four years.
“It is expected that most of the money will be recovered, as Mr. Venter has signed an acknowledgement of debt. He has already paid some of it back,” NSPCA executive director Marcelle Meredith told Hanti Otto of the Pretoria News.
Changing of the animal guard at Fort Mason, San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO––A July 31 grand opening marked the transfer of the former Fund for Animals office in San Francisco to Animal Switchboard, still under direction of Virginia Handley and her assistant Elizabeth Keller.
The office was closed on May 1, after the Fund merged into the Humane Society of the U.S. at the beginning of 2005, but was retained by Animal Switchboard with the encouragement of PawPAC, Action for Animals, Vigil for Animals, and the Animal Welfare Association.
Animal Switchboard was begun in 1970 by Handley’s mother, Grace Handley, assisted by Virginia and longtime Animal Welfare Association volunteer Gloria Chavarria. Together they shared advice about animal-related problems and referred callers to appropriate veterinary and humane services. While Virginia Handley went on to work for the Fund, Grace Handley continued Animal Switchboard for more than 20 years. Chavarria kept it going after she died.
Contact: Animal Switchboard, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, CA 94123; 415-474-4021; <www.animalswitchboard.org>.
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