ALL EVIDENCE IN THE MASON CASE "LOST!"

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Ron Mason reported to court for arraignment on felony animal neglect charges on November 6 as required. He waited the entire day. As the court was closing, he asked the bailiff what was happening.

He was finally told that ALL PAPERWORK on his case had been LOST!! Four phone calls to the DA’s Office by the Court Commissioner confirmed no one had any paperwork! Mason was given a certificate that he had appeared in court. He has called the DA’s Office twice a day since and no one gets back to him.

They lost the paperwork after they figured Mason was not an easy target, that he had friends. They want to make this case go away before it is publicly revealed that:

1. Mason was not Mirandized; there are witnesses to that effect.
2. Most, if not all the evidence animals have been killed.

3. Impound and medical records of the cats, including the results of examination and testing have been refused public release despite Ed Boks publicly revealing these and similar “facts” to the media and on an official city website. In effect, Mason was publicly tried and convicted in the newspapers and on the Internet. Boks went so far as to say that conditions of probation will provide Mason with “support.”

4. Animals Services lied to Daily News reporter Dana Bartholomew saying that Mason’s cats had panleukemia. These kittens were destroyed. They did not have panleukemia after tests performed by Antech Lab proved negative.

5. Animal Services also lied to Bartholomew when they told him the cats would be treated and then fostered. Instead they were just killed.

6. The original complaint that led to the warrant is also being kept under lock and key. Did the warrant mention “panleukemia?”

7. Mason’s records regarding his every encounter with Animal Services over the previous 2 years, as well as all the vet records which would show he was regularly taking cats to veterinarians for treatment and spay/neutering were not returned or even copies given to him. In fact, the list of items confiscated given to him by the police did not mention many items they did take.

In other words, there are too many embarrassing details in this case for the DA to go forward. They want the case to just go away. They had their positive media exposure thanks to the Daily News and that’s all the Task Force and Boks were interested in, certainly not the health and welfare of the animals—they killed those and the rest have disappeared, and Boks refuses to reveal where they are. Likely most, if not all, are dead.

What I find amazing is that since I first posted about the Mason bust, several other persons who were similarly raided called or emailed me about similar experiences. I will slowly post these over the next few weeks, but it appears that Mason-style busts happen fairly frequently, sometimes with a dozen police with drawn guns and persons put in handcuffs on the street for all passersby and neighbors to see, and then no charges were filed. It is interesting that the original complaints that led to the warrants are never revealed.

I find it reprehensible that as soon as these rescuers are raided, the entire animal community turns on them. It may be that they fear being busted by Animal Services and a SWAT team at 7 a.m. too, because they have too many cats or dogs.

These are intimidation tactics used to stifle complaints against Animal Services by members of the LA rescue community. In Mason’s case, even his vets told him then didn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore, and refused to give him records over three years old. Apparently Animal Services visited them too, or else they were afraid the City might take a look at their licenses.

By the way, County Health gave Mason an “Official Notice” that he was “in violation,” and that he had 30 days to do all sorts of things. The notice never mentioned the code being violated. But get this; Mason has called that inspector twice a day for the last week asking him to inspect his house. That inspector has never, ever even returned Mason’s phone calls let alone showed up on the cited inspection day.

I hope you readers out there realize that the City and Ed Boks really don't care about the animals except in a numbers way. They will do and say anything to covers their butts and to look good for the Mayor.

In any event, once the charges are dropped and Mason's relative's bond money returned, I'll likely drop mention of his case and move onto other things, especially the suspicious nature of who is and who is not subject to raids by the ACTF and Animal Services.
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