Helping or Hoarding?

Free Holiday poultry.

It is absurd that this county chooses to raid someone who is caring for animals that no one else wants. It is OK to raise farmed chickens in filthy conditions if you are a large corporation but it is not OK to take care of animals in free conditions if you are a small land owner. This isn't the message that the people from Santa Barbara want to give!
WATCH FARMAGEDDON. This is not a single case.This is a widespread war against small farmers. The key issue in all these cases is the lack of respect for the animal owner. How many hours and dollars Ms. Coupal has already spent to take care of chickens others would rather let die? Why not choose the respectful approach and help Ms.Coupal and thank her for her work instead of treating her like a criminal. Criminals get more rights than small farmers do.
Animal services talks about Ms. Coupal improper conditions. Did they mention how they transported the chickens by trowing a large turkey on top of them? Did they mention that they did not let Ms. Coupal check the health of her chickens or bring a vet to see her animals? Did they mention that the shelter is not capable of having 300 chickens? By taking the chickens away, Animal Services was guilty of the same fault they blamed Ms. Coupal . They claime to be sending the chickens to better homes, which they have no idea if they actually are. They also contributed to the widespread feeling of fear and disrespect to small farmers, when they should be helping them. Most of all, they did not help the chickens.
In this age, when we are realizing that sustainable small farming is the way to achieve food freedom and health, we should have our county agencies supporting the local food movement. Ms. Coupal was contributing to this by raising chickens that can lay fresh eggs, local, free range.
These chickens should go back to Ms. Coupal. The county may even consider helping Ms. Coupal is hard financial times because Ms. Coupal is taking care of animals others don't want. Supervisors, please take a stand on this. Watch Farmageddon, become informed, help small farmers, help Ms. Coupal. Treat people with dignity the same way that Ms. Cougal treated the rejected chickens.
I don't know Ms. Cougal, but I would not like to be treated the same way.

Agreed KV-give them to the needy for food. Sorry about the news that we are unquestionably omnivores by evolution.

Guys, this isn't about eating meat or not. This is about having an overzealous animal services who would go into your house, take your dog away and give it to someone else, at their discretion. Someone who they don't know who it is, and might as well eat your dog for the Holidays.

Jan Glick and the SB Animal "Services" have a frightening amount of power. Seizures such as this are becoming more commonplace now, as local Animal Control departments ally themselves with radical groups such as the H$U$, which operates no shelters and is simply a PAC with the goals of providing lucrative income for its upper echelon leaders while working to eventually eliminate all human/animal contact.

These radical groups and their tools in the form of local Animal Control depts and private rescuers who don't know any better, are in early days yet, the initial stage of severing the human/animal bond coming in the form of mandatory surgical desexing of all domestic pets (oh sorry...I meant to say "Canine/Feline Citizens) to shut off the supply so when the current ones all age out & die off, there will be none left. It's going to take awhile to achieve this, but as things are going, with these laws and the careful indoctrination of the public and our children in the ways or accepted terminology and behavior, it should be well underway in the next 5 years or so.

Installation of footsoldiers for the cause to staff the shelters and stuff the Boards of those shelters and municipal government has already taken place. SB requires surgical desexing of pets, and provides for exorbitant and punitive license fees for intact ones in the rare instances that government deems it permissible to own one...at least temporarily.

Be afraid, be very afraid. All it takes is one "complaint" (and that complaint does NOT have to be verified as even existing) to trigger a raid and voila! Think you're safe? Think again. SB County is a terrifying place to own an animal. 4nature mentions "Farmageddon" but there is so much more out there to read and learn from, while that is still permitted. The human/animal bond is critically endangered.

This raid and seizure happened right in front of us all; the animals were not living in poor conditions...and yet they were stolen from their rightful owner and will be sold to owners deemed worthy by the authorities. This is what they do: raid people's homes, steal their animals, then sell them at the shelter. This is not allegation and it isn't news.

Wake up. If you aren't angry and scared, you're NOT paying attention. Got pets? You're next!

I would still call it retaliation, she won a case from the County and the County wanted payback, its called American Politics.
Without the County having evidense to present or if they destroy all the conficated animals, it would prove to be a violation of property rights against a land owner.
In any case the, "accusing the owner of hoarding and neglecting the animals kept on her secluded property", this does NOT sound like the County had 'just cause' to remove.

Of course I get the point of the article but I was just messing with y'all.
As usual, some comment writers assert that they know the actual, complete, and irrefutable truth. My presumption is that since Holly claims personal visual knowledge of this event she has images captured on her mobile phone that the chickens were living in decent conditions. Please produce the images; the Indy will surely publish them, and then we can all unite. Seriously.
On the other hand it's kind of funny to see the Left which has helped nurture the terrorist activities of groups like PETA now claiming that the government is committing terrorist acts against small farmers. If true, let's excoriate both groups as anti American and put a stop to both of their activities.

Everything in moderation!

Even fried chicken! No way...

In the story "a concerned citizen" made the complaint is all it says to evoke the raid. My question is - Why didn't that concerned citizen just go talk with Coupal first before calling the authorities? Then if that 'concerned citizen' was still concerned, a complaint could be issued. Will this concerned citizen be identified ? Probably not. I'm not digging the anonymous portion of this program.
On another note, I think holiday poultry isn't such a bad idea.

Perhaps the "concerned citizen" had a personal vendetta - sort of sounds like that. But County Animal Services wouldn't be involved with that, would they. No, of course, not!

And as for holiday food, you like roasted parrot and fried cat with morsels of dog along with your chicken?

I've dined on dog stew in S Korea. Nothing terrible or wonderful.
I've eaten donkey and horse many times in Italy and France. Nothing terrible or wonderful.
Same with peacocks.
I've dined one time on squirrel when we were very poor. THAT was TERRIBLE.
I had one experience at my ranch that made me think twice about directly confronting someone that was not taking care of animals when I approached my neighbor about the emaciated state of his horses. I even offered to give him some alfalfa as I had extra. In essence and rather loudly he told me to mind my own business or there would be consequences.
There were consequences for him as I called the county of record in NorCal and got animal control to come out and perform an assessment. He lost his horses and I signed the complaint. The point is if I was not a large male his threats would very likely have been so intimidating that I'm not sure I would have followed through. If counties are going out and not doing due diligence that is documented we need to stop them and not make claims in the Indy about things we personally observed etc. and not follow up with images, data, you name it. And if owners are not protecting their own investments with the same methodology then they're to dumb to take care of animals...

This lady has six acres which are zoned agricultural. This allows unlimited fowl. These are free range and usually much healthier than the penned up chicken in the commercial factories. Chickens and other fowl all have their own time schedules, so come and go freely, and go inside a cage or pen at night or during rains. They also pair up or have special companion friends.

Being thrown in cages for transport is confusing and NOT healthy for these chickens. They will suffer trauma from this.

And to think she had one dog and two cats!! Taken away from their home environment. That is sad and cruel.

This does sound like one ornery anonymous complainer or a vendetta from winning her case three years ago.

Jan Glick may have done the right thing, but it was done incorrectly; the judge is just as guilty, as is the attorney who helped script the warrant. Instead of seizing the animals she should have gotten a warrant to temporarily use portion of the property the animals were on. To then feed them in place and assess them there, as to the health of the animals at the ranch; and the condition of the property. This would take 72 hours. No over time at all during the investigation and twice a day feeding of such livestock. This is a waste of tax payer’s money, huge overtime for Christmas presents. Really it is a joke. The county does not have six acres and hen houses. The mammals need to be moved during the day and any chicken or turkey rancher will tell you that fowl are moved at night. Why, because when they are free range fowl with beaks, they will peck a “new” fowl friend to death. Wonder where the saying came from? Jan Glick is not a Veterinarian or Naturalist. Jan Glick is an administrator that has been promoted to the Peter Principal. Very sad that we have such poor leadership here, but it costs a lot to live here and you get what you pay for. The judge that signed the warrant should be held accountable, as should the attorney that helped Glick put together her warrant. The housing, transportation and care of such a large number of animals, many of whom are feral in their living habits however tame, should have been the lynch pin for the judge that signed this warrant into an order. Shame on you and Santa is going to put coal in your stocking, for not thinking this one through. This must be very embarrassing to not know have known your own qualitative and quantitative assets before seizing something beyond your own quantitative capacity. There is outside agency assistance available. Why wasn’t it prepared well in advance? Can you smell the law suit? I don’t think it’s chicken soup.

"I've dined on dog stew in S Korea. Nothing terrible or wonderful.
I've eaten donkey and horse many times in Italy and France. Nothing terrible or wonderful.
Same with peacocks.
I've dined one time on squirrel when we were very poor. THAT was TERRIBLE."

Italiansurg: Did you ever eat a dog?

Italiansurg,
Dog, no. Tree squirrel is good. In the mid-west before deer season opens squirrel is a main stay. Horse, donkey, monkey and squirrel in tialand

Horse and donkey are greasy like bear. Rats, the big river rats are really good as long as you don't care they are the same as squirrel meat. Nothing tastes like chicken execpt fresh rabbit deep fried.

I see I completely missed the first part of your post. You have had dog stew.

Sort of gives new meaning to the saying "mondo cane"

geez, I don't know anyone that did anything shocking, cruel, or outlandish with these poor beasts; just quickly dispatched them and we dined.

I have never had horse meat that was greasy.

Donkey/burro meat is hard to find except in the north of Italy where they still make sausage with it.

I'll take on faith that tree squirrels are tasty. I'm not going back for seconds albeit we consumed a trio, or so, of ground squirrels in some kind of braised stew concoction.
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And of course, I'd rather eat cotton tail rabbit than chicken. One of my favourite dishes is my wife's authentic cacciatore di coniglio.

What a pretty picture The Independent chose to use. I wonder where it was taken? Too bad it doesn't show the animals that were forced to live in their own filth, with rodent droppings in their water and food.

If any of you folks had a simple five minutes to look at the overall conditions that these animals were living in, I promise you would eat your words! I have personally seen her living conditions as well as the animals in thier cages numerous times. The dogs were in this tiny chain link cage 24/7! It made me sick, the cage was so small! This woman is filthy, regardless of the similar conditions in which she subjected all those animals to. She leaves piles of rotting trash around her trailer. She has been crapping without a septic tank, doesn't take trash out, and simply accumalates large volumes of growing junk in her living area. She is not the property owner, probably pays about $500 a month. This woman is in serious need of help, the anonymous reporter is a hero in my book.

It is important that everyone understands that the standard for good husbandry for farm animals is not the same as the ones for humans or indoor pets. Farm animals live outside, we live inside of our sterile homes. Any farmer can tell you that their animals will have rodent drops in their water and food every day. This isn't cruelty and it isn't a sign of the owner's neglect. It is just reality and cannot be avoided. In fact, rodent droppings are legally allowed in our food. The "Food Defect Action Level". It's actually unavoidable and not harmful. The average person consumes about 2 pounds of rodent droppings and other yucky things per year.
To have access to fresh local food, we city folks need to understand the realities of farm living and be kind to farmers. They feed us. We would starve without them. Yet, family farmers are forced out of their land at an alarming rate. According to Farm Aid, every week 330 farmers leave their land. Things like seizing the farmer's animals can be a financial destruction for a farmer living on a shoe string.
I can understand someone from the city may not know these facts. I cannot understand or accept a staff from Animal Services to do the same. It is even more frustrating to see the hypocrisy in the agency's actions. The same Animal Services that thought that the chickens need better care, will trap and kill wild animals everyday. Including very important large carnivores such as bobcats and mountain lions. This agency needs an independent investigation and review of their actions. But for now, they need to return the chickens to Ms. Cougal.
About the lady living in a trailer with junk around. What is happening to us that we can't stand looking at people of worse luck? Please everyone, be kind, tolerate, have compassion. I can see that there is personal vendetta about this lady's life style. Sure, we can make her life miserable, rob her of her income, and make her loose $4,000, then she can become a homeless, but then we would ask to police to remove the homeless from our streets. In the mean time the chickens will die on other people's backyards, the animal services will be $4,000 richer from adoption fees, and we will have a town clean of poverty and dirt. Does that really make you happier?

It does seem weird. CAS needs to provide the public with some visual proof. Maybe Ms. Cougal herself can...

like Riceman (above), i am personally familiar with this situation and can tell you that the photo for this article completely misrepresents the conditions these animals endured. The area they lived in was far less than an acre. Cage upon cage stacked together, all covered in old plastic tarps, animals tied on short ropes and left to stand in their own feces and mud in all weather. The owner has absolutely no connection to "small farming" or "ranching" of any sort. This is not about punishing the woman involved (sympathy and compassion should be extended to her), nor is it about government agencies overstepping their bounds (a legitimate concern but irrelevant in this case)......here it is simply about giving a few animals a chance at a better life......

Thank you for all your comments. This has been an interesting conversation. I would like to continue it to explore my own understanding of why I am so against this raid. It feels unjust, extreme, and disrespectful. The chicken we buy in the supermarket comes from much worst conditions. Check the PETA videos on this subject. That is really gruesome. Yet, Animal Services does not seize their animals. Why? Because it would be illegal. I believe it is a violation of civil rights for an agency to seize your farm animals based on subjective allegations of inadequate husbandry. What was the unbiased criteria and standards of chicken husbandry to make this decision? Animal Services and neighbors do not have the right to make this decision because the opinion that the animals were mistreated is based on personal judgment and not on clear legal standards. If there were such standards, they would need to be applied to large chicken farms, for fairness.
Our legal system is the only tool we have to keep arbitrary injustice from proliferating. I don't like the precedent.created by this case. I hope her lawyer can put a stop in this case and reveal the ugliness that lead to it.

4nature-Since you seem truly sincere I'll attempt to be constructive. Unless you have proof that these animals were not being housed under filthy conditions your extrapolations about an ultimate conspiracy will not help your cause. Nor will citing PETA as exemplars of rationality and objectivity. To the contrary, most animal rights groups distance themselves from PETA because of their not infrequent over zealous actions that they self justify. Typically these cases involve older females that horde animals, usually felines. This is what this case SEEMS to be about but I am not making that claim because I do not have proof. I dislike government intervention more than most people but with my one anecdotal experience with private party animal abuse stated in a previous post the government agency did the correct thing. I for one do not assume that this means these agencies are not capable of overstepping their boundaries either.
The bottom line is we need to watch for private and public abuse of animals and not view each individual case through highly jaundiced eyes.
If anything, if this lady was living in filth with her animals, which would fit a typical M.O. then we also need to worry about her condition and consider intervention of A.P.S.
Finally, I would aligning more closely with a group like In Defense of Animals. They are strident but smart and reasonable.