State launches investigation into PETA dog theft

• The Accomack County attorney said the incident involving a pet Chihuahua is not a county issue.
• A Facebook page called Stand for Maya started after the incident now has more than 8,500 likes.
• There has been an offer of donated land to start an animal clinic named for the deceased dog.

Accomack County Attorney Mark Taylor said the alleged taking and euthanization of a pet Chihuahua named Maya from a Hopeton home by workers from Norfolk, Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is not a county issue.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office is the only animal control authority the Board of Supervisors has authorized to operate in Accomack County, according to Taylor.

"But I understand there is a state investigation of one or more complaints related to that taking," he said.

Taylor has asked state authorities for information once that investigation is complete and said he will report back to the Board of Supervisors when more is known.

Taylor also told the board he met with Accomack County Sheriff Todd Godwin and concerned county resident Kim Wright and "reviewed this in some detail," adding, "There is nothing we know of that Accomack County might have done that would have changed the outcome."

Wright during a public comment period told the Board of Supervisors, "When I was a 9-year-old little girl, my pet dog was the most important thing in the world to me." She was referencing the age of the child who owned Maya.

She asked supervisors "to defend the rights of Accomack's lawfully owned pets" and said she expects local authorities to "protect us and our pets from anyone or any organization who would intentionally or unintentionally inflict horrible and intolerable acts of cruelty upon a 9-year-old girl and her family."

Wright also thanked Godwin and his staff for their actions related to the Chihuahua, noting "their exemplary commitment to protect the people, property and pets within our jurisdiction."

After Wilber Zarate found his family's dog missing when he returned home from a shopping trip, he called police on Oct. 20.

A security camera on the property showed a PETA van in the yard, then a woman entering a porch and leaving with the dog, he said.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 4 obtained arrest warrants against two PETA workers. The women were arrested the next day, charged with larceny of a dog and released on personal recognizance bond.

But Accomack County Commonwealth's Attorney Gary Agar declined to prosecute the case, saying there wasn't sufficient evidence of criminal intent.

A Nov. 24 rally outside his office and a petition signed by more than 2,000 people did not change his mind.

Since then, a California-based group has petitioned Virginia's state veterinarian to revoke PETA's status as an animal shelter and Sen. Lynwood Lewis has written a letter to Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Sandra J. Adams urging her to use the department's regulatory authority in regard to PETA's actions.

A Facebook page called Stand for Maya started after the incident now has more than 8,500 likes, and there has been an offer of donated land in Nelsonia to start an animal clinic named for the deceased Chihuahua.

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