Animals Still at the Leslie Road Facility!!!

Yesterday I received a tip that there were still WAO animals living at the Leslie Road facility and that the animals left behind did not have heat or water for several days.  I immediately acted on this tip by contacting the USDA/APHIS.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Kristina Brunner
To: Robert.M.Gibbens@usda.gov; Ray.M.Flynn@aphis.usda.gov
Cc: Elizabeth C. Pannill elizabeth.c.pannill@aphis.usda.gov
Sent: Tue, February 8, 2011 3:50:04 PM
Subject: No Electricity at Leslie Road Facility


Dear Dr. Gibbens, Dr. Flynn, and Dr. Pannill:


I was informed a few minutes ago that the San Antonio City Public Service (electricity company) discovered that someone from the WAO re-worked the electrical lines, essentially tapping into Ronald and Carol Asvestas' personal property power lines.


I was told these "work around lines" were disconnected approximately four days ago. I was told the WAO has no electricity at the Leslie Road facility. If true, then there is no heat for the primates and/or big cats left behind if the staff is using electrical heaters, plus the water pumps will not work without
electricity.


Tonight, the temperatures are expected to drop in the 30s and will remain at or below freezing for the next several days.  How can we be sure the WAO animals, left behind at Leslie Road (as I have been informed that there are at least non-human primates still living at this facility) have heat and water at this time?


I pray that alternate electrical hook-ups were established for the animals' sake -- can you please let me know if the animals are okay?


Regards,


Kristina Brunner

Sadly, this was not the first time the WAO had had a battle over the electrical lines found at the rear of the WAO property, adjacent to the Asvestas property:

http://letyourhearttakecourage.blogspot.com/2010/02/juvenile-antics-that-are-pure-evil.html?zx=a2be147ea9e01a88 (bottom of page). 

In any case, here is the response I received from the USDA:

From: "Elizabeth.C.Pannill@aphis.usda.gov"

To: Kristina Brunner
Sent: Wed, February 9, 2011 8:55:16 AM
Subject: Re: No Electricity at Leslie Road Facility


I have talked to Michelle and they have turned off some breakers so it may appear from the road that the electricity is off She assures me the power is on and heaters are working at Leslie She said Ron and Carol were with out power for a while but not wao

Now this was an interesting response from Dr. Pannill for it appears that the USDA did not check up on the at the Leslie Road facility during the week of the freeze.  And once again, the USDA, exercising its due  diligence, contacted the WAO by phone, asking the one person who would never lie to the government about something as important as water and heat — r-i-g-h-t...  When will the USDA ever learn to "trust but verify?"  Dr. Pannill admitted to me over the phone last year that Carol deceived her over the course of many years, and now suddenly Dr. Pannill has all this renewed trust in what the Cryers tell her?  And how did the Cryers even know that Ron and Carol Asvestas lost power in the first place?  Hmmm.

I've been told by an insider that the Cryers were pissed off that someone had the audacity to question their "good intentions" during the freeze and are now working on damage control to discredit me once again.  Gee, what a shock. 

In this particular situation, the back-of-the-property electrical lines would have provided heat to the remaining five long-tailed macaques. So whether or not the animals were without electricity for several days or not, I guess I will never know for sure.  But two things are for sure (1)  there are still 17 long-tailed macaques living at the WAO {5 at the rear of the property nearest the Asvestas and 12 in the quarantine area}  and (2) the USDA will now have to keep a close eye on the remaining animals at Leslie Road -- they cannot be forgotten or treated like an inconvenience to the workers. 

Sadly, the weather this week looks grim again -- we even had freezing rain early this morning today and possibly again tomorrow: