UPDATE 6:57pm: Tammie has been released on an unsecured bond of $10k. Her court date is 10/17 at 1:30pm in Courtroom 3 at the Wayne County Courthouse. She has a consultation with a lawyer next Tuesday afternoon, but if anyone has a lawyer who will represent her pro bono, she would be happy to talk with them
A Wayne County, NC woman has been arrested after housing animals rescued from Hurricane Florence and taken to a warehouse to keep them safe. Click here and here for previous PoC articles to bring yourself up to date on this wild display of bad government.
A petition page set up for Tammie Hedges of Crazys Claws n Paws stated
“Tammie Hedges runs Crazy’s Claws n Paws, a non-profit group which helps low-income families with veterinary bills, pet supplies and other needs.
She’s in the process of converting a warehouse space along Route 581 into a shelter. With the storm approaching last week, she offered it as an option for pets to stay.
Through donations, Hedges brought in crates, food and other supplies to help the animals get through the storm. She said volunteers stayed with the animals 24 hours a day. She said there were 27 animals there in all, including 17 cats and 10 dogs.
On Monday (Sept 17) after the storm had passed, she said she got a call from Wayne County’s animal services manager Frank Sauls regarding the animals. She said he told her, “You can voluntarily hand over the animals, or I can go get a warrant.” Animal control seized all the animals and Tammy could still be facing charges for rescuing the animals.”
Tammie was arrested Friday afternoon. Her Facebook page Crazys Claws N Paws made the unbelievable announcement.
“Just to update everyone, Tammie was just arrested and is being taken to county jail. They sent two cars of men to arrest one 4’10” female! Charged with practicing veterinary medicine and some other charges that they said they didn’t know.
Please share far and wide!”
UPDATE on Facebook Friday night stated
She is charged with the following: 1 count of administering amoxicillin to Big Momma, 1 count of administering Tramadol to Big Momma, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering a topical antibiotic ointment (triple antibiotic from Dollar Tree) to a white Siamese cat, 3 counts of administering amoxicillin to a cat known as Sweet Pea, 1 count of administering amoxicillin to an unnamed black kitten, and 1 count of solicitation to commit a crime (asking for donation of Tramadol (that was suppose to be a request for a vet).
[Tramadol is a pain killer which can be used for pets and amoxicillin is an antibiotic for pets]
Tammie said to wdef.com:
“We were trying to help abandoned animals…A group of us got together to do something to help those animals. [That’s] why we opened our building to them, so they’d have a safe dry place to go until their owners returned to get them.”
As a volunteer and one of the directors for CCNP’s Board, I need to make a personal comment. For those being judgemental and criticizing her, you need to remember this was during a natural disaster. Even though her site wasn’t flooded, all routes to everywhere were closed. The vets closed too. She had two cats come in severely sick and an injured dog. Was she suppose to let the cats spread the germs and infect everyone else? And was she suppose to let the dog suffer? She did what she needed to at that time til she could reach a vet. If your animal was in that condition, would you want someone to leave them to get sicker or stay in pain? Please think people, and remember the situation. Thank you.
You can contact the Board of Commissioners by clicking here.
This is clearly a case of no good deed goes unpunished.
Thanks for making a good point Debbie.
Yes, 13 years ago after a dog was shot, a vet sent a lady home with a vile of pain medicine and needles after surgery. She taught her how to give the shots for her dog. She also was given IV s to hydrate him every morning before work… So just being under the supervision of a vet not present when she gave the dog pain shots was illegal? The veterinary office knew all that she was doing for the dog. Why is it illegal for this woman under an emergency situation being charged for doing what any vet would have a person do? Vets teach how to give any kind of shot to your animal when needed. Let it go, you act as if you’re angry the pets didn’t die or suffer. Drop the charges. Anyone can go to a local farmers exchange and buy needles and parvo vaccine for their dog and give it to your dog, is that not that acting as a vet too?
Well said BC. You summed it up nicely.