Atlanta Humane Society's Director, Bill Garrett, Says Critics Are Like 9/11 Terrorists

SPOT has received the following email from animal welfare advocate, Kathi Mills, who runs Kitty Village. She is one of two people who are being sued by the Atlanta Humane Society because they spoke out loud about things that they thought were wrong at the AHS. We applaud their efforts and the efforts of everyone else who is trying to get much needed reforms at the Atlanta Humane Society and Fulton County Animal Control Shelter (which is operated by the AHS). We think everyone should read this email to get an idea of the kind of person that Bill Garrett, the director of AHS, really is. By the way, the "tabloid type TV reporter" he refers to in his email is Richard Belcher of WSB-TV. And no animal welfare advocate that we know of has ever made any threats to anyone at AHS, written any hate mail or done anything of that sort. We have, however, spoken to and have written emails to the Fulton County commissioners and other Fulton County authorities about the problems at the Fulton shelter...somehow in Bill Garrett's mind that makes us evil zealots

I received a copy of the following e-mail as part of discovery for my lawsuit. I have reproduced it verbatim - misspellings and grammatical errors included - for your information. I am glad to fax the original to anyone who is interested. Please disseminate this message to anyone who might be interested. My comments follow.

From: Bill Garrett [SMTP:bgarrettahs@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2002 2:17 PM

To: abhinton@kyhumane.win.net; astensrud@animalhumanesociety.org; belinda.lewis@ci.ft-wayne.in.us; brohde@ddfl.org; cagostino@hsbroward.com; ChristieS@potterleague.org; director@seaaca.org; dogman@hcspca.org; eblow@co.jefferson.ky.us; GTiscornia@spcamc.org; hspca@houstonspca.org; jcasey@ddfl.org; jmccall@dbqhumane.org; jojabrit@aol.com; JSnyder@hsus.org; KathyW@HSMO.org; mpboatfield@hotmail.com; mulliganrr@aol.com; nancy@seattlehumane.org; patb@indyhumane.com; RAiken04@aol.com; sheri.downey@lnk.goexel.net; tedford@lollypop.org; victoria@humane.mil.wi.us Subject: update yo our gang of fellow rogues

I just wanted to give you an update since it has become obvious that a simple defamation/libel case seems to be making the national rounds. Here are some dull straight forward facts. Yes, the Atlanta Humane Society and myself personally have filed more than one suit against individuals for libel. (The printed version of slander). There could very well be more suits.

I do not think it is hype when I say "September 11th" changed all of us forever. Some of us certainly a lot more than others. One of the changes I experienced personally, and I know some of us joked about this before the 11th when everyone saw just how vicious and evil a zealot could be. I no longer joke about those in the animal world who think it is their mission from God to bring down the successful, effective main stream agency and the hard working men and women (many of whom have been involved for years engaged in this work). These people operate under the same premise as those who ran airplanes into buildings. They simply do not care who gets hurt - not the animals, certainly not the people, and not the organizations which they see as mere buildings and symbols to be brought down.

We need to take a lesson from the animal researchers, medical schools, psychologist and psychiatrist who have known for years that with the zealot it has nothing to do with animals. The zealot is only interested in self-aggrandizement and is absolutely in love with that one-eyed monster called a TV camera.

I, in no way, will attempt to speak for any of my colleagues; however, Marsha in Indianapolis; Pam and Becky in Hawaii; Al in Minnesota; Patti in Houston; Eric in Kentucky, and hundreds of others can tell you just how destructive a very few people can be (to any of you I've mentioned I apologize if in any way you wish I hadn't). There are those in our field who know what it is like to be stalked; to have to have police or body guard protectors; to wear body armor and in some instances go armed. The general public thinks this is because we fear the dog fighters, the gang bangers, the unscrupulous breeders and the gamblers. This is simply not the case. Those criminals understand the rules and hide from the law and publicity; the zealot embraces it. They are the ones who send hate mail , phone in the death threats, burn the shelters and attack you and your personal property; and, simply do not give a damn about any people or animals that may get hurt.

Again, I truly am not trying to be guillty of undue hype, I say without emotion that after "September 11th", I said to myself "never again". I do not intend to take the high road anymore and sit back and just pray these vicious little campaigns will just blow over. I am extremely fortunate that so far I have had 100% support from my Board and I do not believe there is a zealot in hiding sitting on my Board. I know many of you have one on your Board, or fear you do. I also know that all of us have well-meaning, well-intentioned Board and supporters who simply do not grasp that there are people who will behave in such insanely vicious behavior. I urge you to please do whatever you can to convince them they truly will. "The best trick the devil ever pulled was to convince us he didn't exist".

A brief report on my situation is that a tabloid type TV reporter using a combination of mis-statements and out right, provable lies, along with edited and incomplete stolen documents ran a story. Even though he had access to and refused evidence refuting the story. He made the statement, "I don't care if these people are lying, I'm doing a story. If they are lying, sue them". People, these reporters hold these zealots in contempt, ridicule them and still use them. Our zealots have reported straight out that the Atlanta Humane Society was under investigation by the Attorney General of our state. A straight out lie. The Attorney General's office had only been asked for an opinion on a legal question concerning records.

The other component is a small group of people (less than a dozen) with several little "cutsie" organization names engaged in a vicious Internet campaign of more out right lies.

Courts all over the country (and we have received help from, of all places, the Washington Post) in getting this data and have found that Georgia is one of those states that even the appellate courts have said, "the Internet is the newspaper, it is printed on a screen and you can print it on paper. It is not private, it can be and is frequently sent to people uninvited (a lot of you have received this about the Atlanta Humane Society and myself; it is untrue and, it is libel.) We have chosen to go after these people and fight.

People, in concluding this epistle, I am now going to be guilty of some hype. "This is not an effort to send you a wake up call like those nice little soft rings you get in some hotel (where you are probably doing a work shop for free or at your own expense), but it is a trumpet in your ear sounding out loud, clear and long.

We all need to wake up and start fighting back. These people are small in number, but are capable of huge destruction. Less than a dozen people brought down the World Trade Center and killed thousands. I guess you can say, someone has figuratively flown a piper cub into my building. The fight is on. We are looking to win, we intend to stop this evil.

These zealots will seek the help of every vicious little cell in your community and sadly they will get it. I ask that you and your Boards consider "If we don't do something, will it ever stop and when will it be our turn?" The answer is never and your turn is now.

Best, Bill Garrett

Thank you for listening. I will try to respond to any inquiries you may have, but things are going to be a little busy around here.

----- END OF MESSAGE -----

If you are interested enough to read this far, you probably know how outrageous Garrett's claims are, so I won't bore you with a point-by-point rebuttal. I have only four comments to make:

1. If I didn't care about animals, I would support Bill Garrett, not criticize him. A very effective way to get rid of a lot of animals quickly is to keep Bill Garrett in charge.

2. I find it interesting that Garrett likens himself to the animal torturers in research labs.

3. Before I was sued, the sum total of my involvement with AHS was to publicize their fundraising events on Kitty Village just like all the other Georgia groups, and to comment about a TV show in a private (and yes, it is private) Yahoo! group. This is what Garrett calls a "mission from God to bring down the successful, effective main stream [sic] agency" and a "vicious little campaign".

4. The twin towers of Garrett's arrogance and hypocrisy are indeed going to crumble to the ground.

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I did a little digging around to identify the recipients of this psychotic delusion of persecution. They are:

abhinton@kyhumane.win.net - Brent A. Hinton, President and CEO, Kentucky Humane Society
astensrud@animalhumanesociety.org - Alan T. Stensrud, Animal Humane Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota
belinda.lewis@ci.ft-wayne.in.us - Belinda C. Lewis, Director, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control, Fort Wayne, Indiana
brohde@ddfl.org - Robert Rohde, President, Denver Dumb Friends League, Denver, Colorado
cagostino@hsbroward.com - Christopher Agostino, Humane Society of Broward County, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; also on the board of directors of Society of Animal Welfare Administrators (SAWA)
ChristieS@potterleague.org - Christie Smith, executive director, The Robert Potter League for Animals, Middletown, Rhode Island
director@seaaca.org - Dan Morrison, Director, Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, Downey, California
dogman@hcspca.org - SPCA Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio; could be Harold Dates, general manager
eblow@co.jefferson.ky.us - Eric Blow, Director, Jefferson County Animal Control and Protection, Jefferson County, Kentucky
GTiscornia@spcamc.org - Gary W. Tiscornia, executive director, SPCA of Monterey County, Monterey, California; also on the board of directors, SAWA
hspca@houstonspca.org - Generic e-mail address at the Houston SPCA, Houston, Texas; probably intended for Patricia E. Mercer, executive director
jcasey@ddfl.org - Joan C. Casey, Director of Animal Services, Denver Dumb Friends League, Denver, Colorado
jmccall@dbqhumane.org - Jane A. McCall, Executive Director and CEO, Dubuque Humane Society, Dubuque, Iowa; also Secretary, SAWA
jojabrit@aol.com - Unknown
JSnyder@hsus.org - John Snyder, Program Director, HSUS Companion Animals
KathyW@HSMO.org - Kathy Warnick, President, Humane Society of Misouri, St. Louis, Maryland Heights, and Union, Missouri
mpboatfield@hotmail.com - Unknown
mulliganrr@aol.com - Unknown
nancy@seattlehumane.org - Nancy B. McKenney, executive director, Humane Society for Seattle/King County; also on the board of directors, SAWA
patb@indyhumane.com - Pat Bohannon, Administrative Assistant, Humane Society of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana
RAiken04@aol.com - Unknown
sheri.downey@lnk.goexel.net - Unknown
tedford@lollypop.org - Jim Tedford, Executive Director, Humane Society at Lollypop Farm, Fairport, New York; also President, SAWA
victoria@humane.mil.wi.us - Victoria Wellens, Executive Director, Wisconsin Humane Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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