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Selected Articles from our
newsletter
The C.A.S.H. Courier
ARTICLE from the Fall 2007 Issue
Kathy Andrews prevails in court
Kathy’s story as reported by Charles Tomlinson and reprinted with
permission from the Morning News.
ctomlinson@florencenews.com
(Photograph of the dog that Kathy Andrews found on her property.)
FLORENCE — Kathy Andrews is happy a magistrate dropped the charges she
faced over a dog collar, but is upset that she faced the charges in the
first place.
“It makes no sense,” Andrews said. “This caused me thousands of dollars
in attorney’s fees,” as well as a great deal of stress.
Andrews was arrested last November on petit larceny charges in connection
with the dog collar.
Florence County Magistrate John L. Miles, however, dismissed the charges
Oct. 22 after ruling the dog-tracking collar was inadmissible as evidence at
Andrews’ trial.
The issue with the dog collar is part of an ongoing issue she has had with
hunters and their dogs on or near her land.
Andrews said she’s filed 200 police reports about hunters near her land
during the past two years and had those records available as evidence in
court. Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone said his office hasn’t discussed
anything further regarding the case. He also would not comment on an ongoing
State Law Enforcement Division investigation that Andrews said stems from
allegations by people in her community.
SLED confirmed it is investigating allegations of misconduct by a
Florence County Sheriff’s Office employee and that the matter is under
review at the state attorney general’s office.
Andrews said hunters have been shooting on and around her property for
the past four years, since she returned from Washington, D.C., to live in
the Pamplico vicinity.
“This is not about hunting, really,” Andrews said. “This is about property
rights and the ability to live in a peaceful environment.”
She lives in her late grandparents’ home near the Great Pee Dee River,
land that has been in her family for a century, she said.
“I’m not going to let these people move me out,” she said after her
charges were dismissed.
David Pridgen, who owned the dog wearing the collar, testified that he’d
been hunting Nov. 4, 2006, when another hunter returned his dog, but without
a collar.
He used a tracking device that night, a Saturday, to pinpoint the Stokes
Administration Building at Francis Marion University.
There, authorities had to enter locked doors to reach Andrews’ office,
university police officer Mark Hathcock testified.
Andrews said she took the collar as evidence the dog was on her land and
that her office was the only place she thought the collar would be safe.
Andrews was arrested and booked 10 days after the collar was found,
according to Florence County booking reports.
Miles, the magistrate, ruled to suppress the dog collar as evidence on
the grounds that the officers needed a search warrant to enter Andrews’
office.
Pridgen also testified that he consented to a restraining order from a
circuit court judge that he must stay off Andrews’ property.
Andrews and other local landowners said they have restraining orders
against several hunters.
Pridgen said, however, that the situation isn’t personal.
“I have no quarrels with Mrs. Andrews,” he said.
Pridgen also said he has since stopped hunting with dogs.
“It’s gone way beyond what I even want to do,” David Pridgen said after
Andrews’ case was dismissed.
A hunter can face a fine for intentionally running dogs across someone’s
property.
Fines for trespassing or shooting within 300 yards of a residence could
range from $475 to around $1,500 and 30 days in jail for repeat offenders.
These days, Andrews spends as much time at work as possible and often
stays at her relatives’ homes to avoid hunters, she said.
“Right now, I don’t feel like I can trust the sheriff’s department, and
if you can’t trust the sheriff’s department, who can you trust?” she said.
| The truth is that the law is never enforced and instead
the property owner is harassed. We hope that Kathy will find the
legal help she needs to right this wrong and set an example that
discrimination against those who do not want hunters on their
land will not be tolerated in our society. You can
contact Kathy Andrews through C.A.S.H.
wildwatch@verizon.net |
 FANTASTIC NEWS:
KATHY ANDREWS IS COMPLETING A BOOK
ABOUT HER ORDEAL
“Dangerous Hunters Kill More than Animals.”
It will be available at
www.dangeroushunters.com
in two weeks.
| …AND WHAT ABOUT THE “COON HOUNDS”? Kathy’s
nightmare made me realize that it’s not an easy life for the
dogs. A search of the Web brought me to
www.coonhoundrescue.com.
Anne Muller interviewed the owner of Coon Hound Rescue, Jayne
Schlegel, before going to print.
A.M. How are they (coon hounds) treated by people who
use them for hunting?
J.S. I can only assume to know because of the
condition we get them in: Most are full of worms, some have old
wounds not cared for properly, some are heartworm positive,
which then requires treatment, some have broken limbs, one had a
trap on his head, gun shot wounds. Mothers with whole
litters, whole litters of pups without the Mom. So this is
the only way I can see how they have been treated....my
guess...BAD and Neglectful.
A.M. Who adopts them? “Coon” hunters?
J.S. Our policy is that people have to want these dogs
for more than hunting. We have a pretty complicated
application and we do not usually appeal to the hunter and their
way of thinking of the dog and care. I am sure that there
are some hunters who take good care of their dogs, it is just
that we adopt over 300 dogs a year and we see a lot of neglected
abused ones, so that is our gauge. Our adopters are amazing, and
they truly respect this wonderful breed, they are housedogs,
they go to work with some, they run on beaches, they hike with
them, they take them to dog parks, and most of all they are
family members all the time.
A.M. Do they just go after raccoons or do they chase
other animals.
J.S. They were originally bred to hunt any game that
the pioneer would be looking to bring back to the homestead.
That could be raccoon, opossum, deer, rabbit. The coonhound has
one of the coldest noses and so we get the big game hunters for
bear and mountain lion coming in. We have most of our dogs
living peacefully in homes with the family cat and doing fine.
Of course we do have the ones who are way too interested in the
pet cat, but that is with a lot of breeds of dogs.
A.M. Are they ever accidentally shot?
J.S. We have had some with gun shot wounds and I
am sure it happens a lot, after all look at what our Vice
President Cheney did......he shot his Lawyer.....so usually
there is no one safe around a hunter with a gun!!!! I do
not approve of hunting. Back in pioneer days it was
different because people were not killing for sport.
A.M. Are they mauled?
J.S. Again we have seen plenty of dogs with only half
an ear, scars on their faces and bodies.
A.M. Anything anecdotal you’d like to say about this
breed and their use and abuse.
J.S. Again, I believe that the “new” current hunters just do
not want to spend the time and training into making the type of
connection it requires to own and train these dogs to hunt. Some
of the more careful ones do not hunt 6 month old hounds, they
microchip them, they have ID collars on them and also have the
tracking collars. These dogs have bred into them the
“homing” instinct which comes from the Foxhound in them. I
have had dogs here with me climb my fence to run in the woods
only to come back and climb the fence to put themselves back
with me.....because this is home and I am the pack leader.
You also have to be very intelligent and have a lot of will
power to be their pack leader. I have been in
coonhounds for over 25 yrs and will always have a hound lying at
my feet.
When you go to Jayne’s website, please see the very sad dog
named Shooting Star.
If you Google using the keyword “coonhound” and look at some of
the sites, the stories that dog hunters tell are hair-raising.
Also look at www.carrollshuntingsupply.com to see the economy
and enterprises involved with “coonhunting.” |
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