18 criminal neglect charges filed against F.L.O.C.K.

If the cats at either the "sanctuary" OR Ms Allen's private property were being provided with necessary care, it would not have been possible for so many of these very sick cats to improve so much simply with medical care, food and water.
The cats were suffering and dying.
Now they're not.
Period.
It is not a miracle. It is the result of the caring and hard work of competent people.

This flock group is still out there working with animals.
Heaven help the animals "rescued" by flock
because we KNOW their track record and it is documented.
What will their next mess look like?
How much will it cost both in $ and in suffering?

It reminds me of that saying..."if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention"

Can't help wondering if FLOCK board-members and chronies helped to relocate Mike Marsischkly out of the State of NV in order to make it too costly for the Nye County DA's office to subpoena Mike for factfinding and testimony. Wouldn't surprise me if FLOCK types helped to salt this eyewitness and enabler/collaborator away - especially to safeguard FLOCK's current and ongoing profits from exploiting vulnerable animals!!!!!

It is a great day in Nye County history. District Attorney Bob Becket took his time making us all nervous but his final decision to charge FLOCK as a group now gives him more time to investigate further.

As for Petsmart, FLOCK should not move forward like nothing happened and continue to rescue and adopt out cats. Have they ever said they were sorry for what happened to the cats?

At the Petsmart on Decatre and Charleston Janet E. Differ has been holding adoptions there for FLOCK for years. When Sherri Allen was president she was on the board of directors as the "Director". In April 2007 I spent over an hour with her in the store telling her how terrible the sanctuary was being run. I know others told her too. She knew, she did nothing. What if she would have driven out to Pahrump and confronted Sherri Allen? Locked out?...call the Sheriff. Maybe the cats wouldn't have suffered. Nobody wanted to confront Sherri Allen nor did they want to take care of all the cats.

After Nye County took over and FLOCK was asked to leave Petsmarts she continued to hold adoptions at the same store under Homeward Bound. Recently when FLOCK once again started adoptions at the store, there was Janet . She is on the board under Maggie Ward as "Director" and recently became "Resident Agent".

I heard that Mike Marsischkly, Resident Agent under Sherri Allen and Maggie Ward has left the state. Gee I wonder why? Mike and his wife worked at the sanctuary under Sherri and Maggie. I know they saw terrible things going on.

From being around Janet I know she cared for the cats under her care. She made vet appointments, made sure they ate the right food and cared about their time spent in the small kennels at Petsmart. But when it came to the cats in Pahrump under the care of Sherri Allen???

Look at the current officers at http://www.nvsos.gov/ type in F.L.O.C.K.

Old board info at http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs/PostDetail.aspx?g=68d1ed2beabd415dbf0dc137a5ec1224&bp=5866

First, a belated thanks to "pinkys" for providing the info to get to Julie Schmaltz at PetSmart. I do think that our emails helped make the difference as to how they decided to handle this and the "temporary suspension" is better than nothing.

I also agree with Carrie Fosters that they are "drinking the kool aid" and believe that Sherri Allen is the only perpetrator of this crime. We know that she was not alone... That said, I think we need to continue to share info with Julie Schmaltz and Petsmart to the contrary. It is sad that there are probably some good volunteers, fosters and good adoptable kitties in their care, but what do you do? I do believe that it would happen again if left to their own devices. They do still own that property in Pahrump...

Oh, and Fletch, I'm with you, my friend. I don't care if it was 115 or 125 cats... it's all the same horror show. You and I saw with our own eyes what happened in Pahrump... Did you, bcaila?? If not, you should have. Sadly, it was beyond eye opening... It was a man-made disaster that ranked up there with Katrina, and I was there too!

I would invite everyone to visit my latest BF blog entry, "DEALING WITH DEADLY DENIAL - Exploiter-Hoarders' 'Loyal Followers' " - and compare the warning signs there with a lot of what's popping up from Sheri Allen and/or FLOCK "apologists." The cult-like troll-commentaries are popping up like poison mushrooms after the rain!

Read the last sentence. She buys the "it was all Sherri Allen" argument and feels good about the organization in general.

Sadly, I am sure that there are a lot of volunteers who are very good people and very concientious foster parents for this organization and that there are many, many adoptable cats in their care who now have no access to a large number of potential adopters. I hope that they put the blame where it belongs . . . on their board of directors that at best looked the other way and at worst . . . well, you know.

GREAT NEWS!!!! PETSMART temporarily suspends its partnership with FLOCK. Great job with the emails everyone. Here is what Julie Schmalz had to say:

We have made the decision to temporarily suspend our partnership with FLOCK, due to the charges being filed against the agency. The cats that are currently in our store are being allowed to stay until adopted, additional cats will not be brought in.

The guidelines for our in-store program are very stringent in what we require, and during FLOCK’s participation we have never had a situation brought to our attention that involved improper care or poor health from the cats in their foster network program. We are however aware that the sanctuary, which was operated separately, but under the FLOCK organization was in a terrible situation and we are very saddened by what occurred by the person operating it.

Sincerely,
Julie Schmaltz
Adoption Operations Manager

bcalia:

You are an excellent dissembler. Maybe you should take a run at politics. Pardon me if I was 10 cats high, although I'm not going to take your word for it. Anyone who defends Allen is suspect in my book.

I noticed that you said nothing about the dead cats and cat tails found in her house, nor did you address the condition of those cats. How do you account for Lover Boy's condition. He was hardly the picture of health. What about the rest of those cats? hmmm... I'm listening? Instead of addressing these things, you point the finger at emergency measures taken by animal control? Go spread your rhetoric elsewhere.

so please explain to me how that is not to be considered animal cruelity?

That's called a crisis of a proportion that even a big city shelter could not have handled . . . caused by a hoarder.

Oh, and whether it was 115 or 125 hardly matters. Either is far too many animals for one person to adequately care for.

fletch

you seem to have left out a few details according to what dawn moore (NCSD) had testified. ms moore testified in court that only 115 cats were seized from five(5) different areas, 1700sq foot area (total). some of the cats had been seized from two(2) seperate cat rooms located in her office, also cats were seized from a seperate catery in which the not so friendly and or feral cats were placed, some from her home and lastly the cats that were allowed to roam free in her office/yard. it is also my understanding they seized 2 rabbits, 3 ferets, 2 chinchillas and 2 uryomastyx ( whih ms moore called them yellow throated monitors). ms moore also stated they had seized a hedgehog which apparently they didn't and two(2) dogs.
for the life of me i can't see how that ends up being 125& cats.

i had been to animal control when ms allens pets where there and yes i saw all the ones they said were hers except the 2 rabbits and the 2 uryomastyx. what shocked me most that all but about 5 cats were stacked wall to wall, cage on top of cage with the cats being in to small of a cage for its size or 4 or 5 cats together in one cage. i also must admit a couple of cages had only one cat in it but the only place they had enough space to lay down in was their litter box.

so please explain to me how that is not to be considered animal cruelity?

I can appreciate that you are looking at both sides of the story. You should know, however, that Ms. Allen had 125+ cats in her house. When they raided her house, there were dead cats and cat tails on the floor. There were cats so deathly ill, that we didn't think they were going to make it, for instance, Lover Boy: http://network.bestfriends.org/nyecounty/news/20227.html and Shelley's story: https://www.bestfriends.org/guardianangel/index.cfm?csid=2550&csii=2554&csit=Set&entry=956C8F7D-BDB9-396E-96BC00C59346F4DC.

He had to be force fed he was so weak and traumatized and he came from Allen's house. He also had ring worm. Allen must put up a pretty good show to outsiders, but the bottom line is that she is a hoarder and an evil person. Lover Boy made it out of her concentration camps for cats but others were not so lucky. How many others we may never know. I hope she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and is never allowed to have an animal again.

hi

i'm new to this organization and it sure seems like everyone belonging to this website is crazy. now before you get in an uproar i personally have 6cats(1 is a baby), 2 dogs, 1 horse, 1 chicken & 1 rooster so i am an animal lover & owner. i've also lost some of my babies. being a life-long resident of nv i've really seen & heard alot of crazy things but i was taught if you want the truth about anything get as many facts as you can & to only believe 1/2 of what you read or hear.

so me being me i checked things out myself. i found out that the people who took over FLOCK after sheri allen are the same ones who turned it over to her in yhe first place. i also found out that while FLOCK was located in sloan nv they only had a charter for 150 cats yet when they high-tailed out of sloan they took 800 or more cats to their place in pahrump. also FLOCK while located in sloan was being investigated by clark county animal control for the same thing this allen lady is being accused of, that's why they left sloan as fast as they did.

now i don't know ms allen personally i do have to admit i have used her services when a couple of my babies passed on. also after seeing the animals that she has taken in, which can be seen from her gate & i really have to say i don't think, no i know after seeing how well cared for those animals are there is no way in HELL i would believe that she would treat her cats any differently. on the other hand i do believe those on the board of FLOCK prior to and after ms allen would be guilty of the charges filed against FLOCK.

I agree with veganmarcy: fines and other moneys need to be ordered from FLOCK and those funds need to be donated to Best Friends for all the care and rescue financial costs still ongoing for the Pahrump rescue kitties - and to continue to honor those precious kitty angels who were forced across the Rainbow Bridge before their time! Just like with the Vicktory Dogs placed at BF - the FLOCK rescues need the moneys from FLOCK's ill-gotten gains!!!
JUSTICE FOR ALL THE KITTIES!!!!!

I too just emailed Julie at PetSmart. One of my cats came from a PetSmart in Kansas City years ago! I would hope once they investigate FLOCK they'll boot them out. And where is FLOCK getting the cats they're adopting out? Remember Cabbie and Chaos? Is FLOCK back to stealing people's pets?

I too am concerned that a PetSmart would support FLOCK, but I'm also torn because if the cats are in the store, at least they are in the public eye rather than in some hole somewhere with who knows what kind of care.

I just can't imagine how people would be willing to let these people have cats.

I have just sent off an email to PetSmart. Thanks for the email address. I would hope they would rethink their support of FLOCK.

I went to the court house today and picked up a computer generated copy of the complaint.
It says there is an arraignment hearing on July 28th,2008 @ 2:00 pm here in Pahrump .

Mamakitty 2
Several letters were submitted to Petsmart regarding this matter. I received a response stating "We are currently investigating their current standings in the community as well as why the decision was made in allowing them back into one of our store locations." The store in question is located at Decatur and Charleston in Las Vegas. If you would like to send letters of concern, the Adoption Operations Manager is Julie Schmalz, email JSchmaltz@SSG.PETsMART.com. As soon as the charges were filed, I forwarded the link to Julie. It shouldn't be a difficult investigation at this point.

Words cannot express....long overdue. For my Duchess - who thankfully survived - and those I knew that didn't ...Stone, Fozzie, Bob, Suri, etc. Even more importantly - for the hundreds STILL struggling to overcome their abuse. F.L.O.C.K. - do us all a favor and shut yourself down, pay your fines, go to jail and leave the animals alone. You offer only heartache and misery for the creatures you accept funding to allegedly care for...

This is indeed a red letter day!! There is a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes that the horror that is FLOCK will finally have to face charges.

My blood is still boiling over the news article about FLOCKS re-emergence and the shocking "It's not my fault" statements they so casually made. I'm speechless that they believe they should simply be able to pick up where they left off... We need and want justice for all the voiceless ones as well as some level of assurance they can't ever do this again.
Hopefully their 501(c)3 status will be revoked and I think we all should write to PetSmart Charities to "encourage" them to undo their new relationship with these criminals. I'm confidant that PetSmart would certainly not want the bad press!!

Thank you (finally) District Atty Becket... it's about time.

Thank you to Best Friends and to everyone else who cares about these kitties...Keep up the good work as we are certainly not done yet with the victims of this atrocity... We will never forget.

It's a good day! A very good day.

I read this post first thing this morning, but was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even post a comment. I'm not sure that I'll do much better now ... of course I feel so positive that these charges have been filed, albeit a little too close to the deadline for filing them for my comfort, but thank God it's been done. These cats deserve this and so much more. Thank you to everyone that have worked tirelessly to bring it to this point and for all of the work I know you still have ahead of you. May these people realize the horrors and pain they've inflicted on these beautiful beings and may this case establish a precedent.

Finally! It's good to hear charges are finally brought against F.L.O.C.K. I hope they're fuond guilty on every count and that this finally stops these people! You cannot sit on a board and run an organization abusing hundreds of animals and then say "not my fault" and carry on!

R.I.P. to Lollipop and the others who crossed over, including before the rescue began. I can't express all the feelings boiling over in my right now (esp re the parallel situation in PA - see kittychump's comment) but thank all that's good in this crazy world that this stage has finally been reached. And they better not get off with a slap on the wrist or community service, either. I want their money taken and given to BF for the cats rescued, and so they can't fund any more horrors. And a ban on them doing anything like this again.

Thank you to all of you for seeking justice for my Acacia, my Bilbo and all the kitties for whom help came too late. My babies still bear the scars from F.L.O.C.K. but they are learning that loves doesn't always have to hurt. And a special thank you to my Lord who has answered my prayers for justice. May such cruelty never again be perpetrated on the innocent. Now the healing can truly have a beginning.
And THANK YOU to D.A. Beckett and all the wonderful people of Pahrump. I am so grateful to you all that words cannot do my feelings justice.

This is a day of vindication and of truth. How long and hard we have all worked to achieve this day! My family's parallel case in Pennsylvania against Virginia Kresge Justiniano/"Cats With No Name" is still in the frustrating stage of ups & downs that the FLOCK case was in for so long prior to these charges being filed finally against FLOCK. It is a blessing to hear the news about FLOCK - now comes the fight to make these charges stick!!!! Prayers and solidarity.

(Please see my web forum about our case; go to Yahoo Pets Groups, "Cats" section, and search for CATS WHO NEED JUSTICE. You can read/view the materials as a visitor; and you can become a member of the forum to post messages and share information. Thank you so much for your support.)
JUSTICE FOR ALL THE KITTIES!!!!!

Hug your kitties and know that justice will prevail.

Thank you so much to everyone who has put in so much time and hard work .... and tears to bring this case to the courts.

There will be justice 4 cats!


Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about little Bantam. The very first cat I rescued from the sanctuary and had to return never to see again. (tears) We will never forget.

This is a good day! I agree with whitecatmom, short letters should be sent supporting this action and a close eye needs to be kept on this case through the end.

I believe that this is not about Sheri Allen, since she was not officially with FLOCK at the time of the charges (and has been charged separately anyway regarding the animals found in her home), but it does include the new President.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!! We do indeed need to keep watch, however. I wonder who answers the charges against the corporation? I don't recall much about its structure. I wonder if both Allen and the new President will face these? Anyone know the skinny on that?

There are no words - only tears. I am so glad, I can't express it.

Thank God charges have finally been filed!

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard for this to happen.

Thank you to everyone who sent letters, I was told by someone at DA's office they were flooded with them. Send a new short one supporting this action!

Now we must keep watch through to the end that they are convicted of these charges.

Such a shame all the FLOCK people can't be locked up at Bond Street for the summer in the conditions they left the animals in.