WAO Closes Its Doors Forever

Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2010 4:07 PM
Subject: WAO Closes Its Doors Forever

Greetings My Friend and WAO Supporter:

It is with a very saddened heart to report that the WAO closed its doors effective last Friday, forever.


While this announcement has not be made official or public, it is my understanding the Texas Office of Attorney General/ Charitable Trust Division gave the WAO 60 days to re-home its 300+ animals


Right now there are folks working very hard to re-home the animals. Thus far approximately 140 animals have committed homes. Keep in mind, a lot can happen between now and 60 days from now, so please pray that all the animals can find loving homes before the OAG’s deadline.

I just want to thank each and every one of you for your dedication and support in our attempts to save the WAO animals. You all were amazing and I could not have even attempted to save the animals without your hard work and support.

I’m told, the animals already committed to other sanctuaries, are going to really good homes, so at least we can rest knowing that they will move on to new and better lives.

While it appears the Asvestas, Cryers, and all the board members who made this disaster come about may escape prosecution for their animal wrong-doings, all I can do is pray that there will be ultimate judgment and justice in the afterlife. The WAO animals, alive and deceased, deserve no less than justice and peace.

In conclusion, I just want to again say thank you so very much and may God bless you and your family –

Best wishes -

PS. For the next several weeks I plan to go through my WAO blogs and once I’ve cleaned it up a bit, I plan to post them to the public. I will send you the links to the blogs, so if you are interesting in reading how the investigation proceeded over a period of about three years, you might want to check it out. It is very long of course, and it reads like a book, and I think you will find it very interesting. Hugs…k


For the Story: http://www.sacurrent.com/blog/queblog.asp?perm=70524. Please feel to cross-post after removing my email address - thank you.


SA's Wild Animal Orphanage closing
As sanctuary shutters, Boris the bear is in need of a new home.

Enrique Lopetegui
candombe108@yahoo.com

It’s official: On Tuesday, August 31, the board at the Wild Animal Orphanage, an troubled animal sanctuary on the edge of Northwest San Antonio, decided to close its doors. A formal press release will be sent out this coming week.

“Due to our overpopulation, [and the fact that] we don’t have the ability to care for the animals in the manner that we would prefer, we’ve decided to dissolve the orphanage and find new homes [for the animals],” WAO secretary Suzanne Straw told the Current on Saturday. “WAO is cooperating with the Texas Office of the Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Division in their ongoing investigation of WAO. That’s been going on for many years and we’re partnering with them on how to best handle the situation. They have not put any demand on us. But even for a couple of months before this vote was cast, we were in the process of finding homes for as many of our animals as we could.”

Straw was responding to questions poised by the Current about an alleged offer by the OAG: Relocate the animals in 60 days and close WAO’s doors, or refuse and be forced to shut down immediately. One of the current owners denied the suggestion last week that the sanctuary may be closing.

At one point, the WAO held about 400 animals at its two locations off Talley and Leslie roads. Now, most of the animals have been relocated or are in the process of being relocated. But the process is more complex than just finding a place willing to host the animals.

“[The new homes] have to be USDA-approved facilities and, if they’re not, they have to at least meet or exceed the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act,” Straw said. “We won’t willy-nilly put our animals wherever someone offers to take them. We’ll research diligently and make sure these are the right homes for our precious animals. But now that we have decided to dissolve, we are on a very aggressive timeline trying to get them placed. We’re not going to close our doors until every single animal has been found a new home. [If after 60 days] no homes are found, we’ll keep fundraising and feeding them and caring for the animals that are left.”

Rumors of animals being eliminated in case no homes are found after the 60-day period are unfounded, said Straw. “We have a very strict policy,” Straw said. “We’re not going to euthanize any animals unless a veterinarian determines that to be medically necessary. And that was part of our resolution of August 31.”

Boris, a bear between 17 and 19 years of age, is a particular concern to some animal lovers who have been following the WAO saga. But Straw said the animal’s age is not why Boris hasn’t found a new home yet.

“It’s more about co-habitation,” Straw said. “Just like humans, some bears get along better with others, some prefer solitude. All these things must be taken into consideration. He’s such a sweetheart and a star among our visitors, and we want to find a home for him soon. He’s on a list of sanctuaries that are trying to determine if there’s a home suitable for him. He’s considered by several facilities, but we still don’t have a home for him. We have 23 bears total, and 20 are going next week. Depending on availability, Boris may or may not go with them.”

Legal wrangling continued up to the day before the vote to dissolve, with a settlement offer presented on Monday by the attorney for former owners Ron and Carol Asvestas. The offer suggested they would withdraw a 2009 lawsuit in exchange for being reinstated at their former $100,000 salaries and 11 months of lost wages.

While that opportunity seems to have gone by the wayside, the organization is still accepting donations to feed the animals until they are relocated, Straw said. “As far as donations go, we definitely need donations to keep on feeding the animals. Our goal is to find homes within 60 days. If we need to extend that goal, so be it, until we find homes for every animal. In the meantime, we need food, veterinary care, transport, and gas. ... We’ll continue to fundraise, but ideally we’d like to find a non-profit organization that will receive donations on our behalf and disperse them as needed.”

WAO Relying On OAG's Goodwill Not To Prosecute!

The following account is my opinion of the events that transpired in the last two days. I am writing this account from a broken heart because there was no justice for the WAO animals and sadly, those that died from 2005-2006, died for nothing.

Yesterday was the second worse day of my life.

It started like any other day. I reviewed the WAO’s web statistics and checked to see if there was any news regarding the WAO possibly closing its doors on the OAG’s website. I knew something had to give soon because the workers have not been paid in weeks and it is my understanding many of them have left the organization. I also noticed a decrease in web traffic after the initial announcement that the WAO had to relocate its animals. Needless to say, these developments left me wondering who was feeding and caring for the animals.

Later that evening, as if things could not get worse, I learned Carol and Asvestas wants to "settle out of court" and they made the following demands:

Asvestas Settlement 2010

I am so freaked out because the Cryers and the rest of the idiots may actually accept this ludicrous offer just to get away from the entire mess. The WAO could win this lawsuit, but unfortunately, it no longer has a lawyer to represent the organization. AAAAAHHHHH...What a nightmare!

Oh, but the nightmare was just about to begin. For you see, last night I decided to call Sumner Matthes, the original board member that “sat” on the board from before 2004 and up to mid-May 2010. As you recall, Sumner and his wife QUIT the board when the OAG objected to the inclusion of Ms. Matthes to the BOD and demanded she be removed immediately, just as Nicole Garcia predicted would happen.

In any case, Sumner notified me that the James Anthony, attorney for the OAG Charitable Trust Division, decided to close the WAO down, permanently. Apparently, the board met today to sign the official paperwork closing the facility. Both Sumner and I are concerned that the animals that cannot be re-homed will be euthanized. Some of the animals cannot be placed due to age and possible health risk to others (macaques).

I have worked for 4 ½ years trying to save the animals, and all along the way, there were so many people who refused to save the WAO and its animals:

1. Sumner Matthes refused to listen to what I had to say from January 2006 - 2010;

2. Karen Maxfield refused to listen to what I had to say from January 2006 – 2009;

3. Laura Mireles refused to listen to what I had to say from January 2006- 2009;

4. The Texas Office of the Attorney General and the his Charitable Trust Division refused to act upon the overwhelming evidence of wrongdoings submitted to its Office from 2006-2010;

5. USDA/APHIS refused to act upon the overwhelming evidence of wrongdoings submitted to its agency from 2006-2010, instead their cries of “we were deceived by Carol Asvestas” was their excuse for their failure to act and save the WAO and worse, they made a "deal" to reduce the AWA charges against the WAO in summer of 2009;

6. The workers, Mary & Michelle Reininger, Michael Dereadt, Jenny Spellman, Jenna Peters, Kelsey Dyer, and Henry Newman, refused to listen to me regarding what was going to happen to the WAO if they did not do everything in their power to learn and adhere to AWA standards and stop their childish bickering and destructive behavior;

and of course, I’m saving the worst offenders for last:

7. The Asvestas’ and Cryers’ refused to comply with law, refused to operate the organization in a lawful manner and instead elected to run the facility straight into the ground for their own person ambitions and greed. It was never about the animals to these people—it was only about power and control and because of these two families (Asvestas & Cryers), they are , in my opinion, directly responsible for the WAO closing and the deaths of many WAO animals.

I spoke with Dr. Pannill,  the USDA/APHIS vet, this morning and she claims the Cryers were not at fault for what happened to the WAO – that this disaster was the fault of the Asvestas' rein over the Orphanage. I corrected her immediately—Michelle Cryer was on the board of directors since 2006; I read the board meeting minutes and the numerous emails showing that Michelle Cryer and Carol Asvesetas supported each other, not to mention all the “wonderful” things Cryer said about me during the WAO board meetings (yeah, I’m being sarcastic). She and her husband made MONEY from the WAO by illegally transporting animals across state lines, claiming the husband; Jamie Cryer was just a paid “contractor” when in reality, the 2009 DOT investigative report listed him as the WAO’s employee. All four of them should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but since this is JUST an animal case, no one will ever be held accountable for their actions. Not the BOARD, not the STATE and FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS, and not the WORKERS. I just pray that none of them are ever allowed near animals ever again. Clearly, they have the innocent animals’ blood on their hands. And knowing these losers; they will no doubt feel little to no guilt or remorse what-so-ever for their participation in the demise of the organization.

In any case, I had a long conversation with the group helping place the WAO animals. Today the board signed the OAG paperwork closing the WAO. The WAO has 60 days to find homes for all its animals. The various animal groups are working to place the animals and have thus far placed approximately 140 animals. Needless to say, the commitments or locations of the animals listed below may change within the next 60 days, but this is where some of the animals are going:

Lions (IFAW and Kovo) will go to Safe Haven

Tigers (Mac & Shirley) will go to Wildcat Haven

Cougar (Noel) will go to the New Mexico Zoo

6 female rhesus macaques from Lehman College will go to Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation

Tiger (Zeus) will go Wildcat Sanctuary

All the capuchins will go to Jungle Friends

The 5 tigers will go to Joe Taft in Indiana

Tiny and Natasha will go to Montana Grizzly Encounter

All the chimpanzees will go to Chimp Haven and Chimp Sanctuary Northwest (Changed later to Save the Chimps)

Tigers (Ekatrina and Sierra) will go to Wildcat Sanctuary

The 2 Barbary Macaques are going to In Memory of Mindy

The rest of the animals are up for adoption. I was saddened to learn that Mindy, the last female black-spotted leopard died in her sleep on September 1, 2010. I am grateful she is in Heaven and will not have to move to another sanctuary as she had a large tumor on her abdomen. I just pray Maverick, her brother, will find a really good home. May God Bless Mindy’s soul into Heaven forever.

I will write more on this subject. Right now my heart is completely broken because all this could have been avoided in 2006 if everyone had just listened to me. Now the animals have to pay for the sins of the humans. Unless there are criminal charges filed against the Asvestas, Matthes, Cryers, Maxfield, Mireles, Behaine, and the Reiningers, then there truly will be no justice for the animals and once again the government failed in its fiduciary responsibility to protect the general public from scammers and protect the animals from being used for money. This entire case has been about scamming the public for money and not about its core mission to protect and properly house displaced animals needing a loving home where they could have lived, loved, and thrived. My faith in state and federal governments have been destroyed forever.

Later:  And if things couldn't get worse, I learned that the OAG made a DEAL not to prosecute the WAO Board of Directors if they voluntarily close the WAO.  No one is going to be held accountable for all the money stolen and all the animals' deaths.  NO ONE.

Truly there is NO justice for the WAO animals.

WAO Relying on OAG Goodwill Not to Prosecute Ltr - 090510 

Not So Fast Cat Lady

http://sakinoclub.com/news/story.asp?id=71506

The QueQue

By Current news team

The Queque - September 1, 2010
Wild Bunch ruptures

Ron and Carol Asvestas built it, then screwed it up; next, daughter Nicole García sacked Mom and Dad; then, the new board, led by Jamie and Michelle Anthony-Cryer, sacked García. Such has been the very wild history of the Wild Animal Orphanage. If the cycle is to continue, who will sack the Cryers? That is, if there is a Wild Animal Orphanage left at all.

On August 23, Laurie Gage, big cat specialist for the USDA, posted a message on a Google animal-lovers’ group reading: “The Wild Animal Orphanage near San Antonio, Texas is having difficulty caring for their animals … They are now trying to find homes for 55 tigers, 14 lions, 3 cougars, 6 wolf hybrids, 2 old (17 years) leopards, and about 200 primates.”

Former WAO vice-president and treasurer (and recent volunteer) Kristina Brunner expects the worst. “It looks like the Cryers decided it was too much work to save the WAO, so they have thrown in the towel,” she wrote in an email. “My heart is completely broken over this.”

Not so fast, cat lady. According to Rob Mitchell, listed as “community relations” man for WAO, the orphanage is alive and, uh, well. “Are we closing? Not that I know of,” Mitchell told the Current on Friday. The search for new homes is “a normal function,” he said. “That happens all the time. We’re not shutting down.”

It happens all the time? Really? The 280 animals in need of homes represent more than half of the “approximately 400 animals” WAO claims in its website. Not even at the lowest point during the Asvestas’s era did the orphanage attempt such a massive animal exodus.

Got an AZA-certified playground that’ll hold a couple hundred primates, give a shout. The Cryers insist they’re just in a stretch of serious reorganization. Time will tell. •