Despite the horrors uncovered at the property of Mackinac County, Michigan, resident Larry Rooney, Prosecuting Attorney Alfred Feleppa returned 16 animals who had been seized by animal control to this alleged hoarder and newly convicted animal abuser.
As you may recall, we asked you to call on Feleppa to charge Rooney for allegedly abusing a large number of animals. While animal control seized 56 animals from Rooney, Feleppa had charged him with just one count of misdemeanor cruelty to animals. In addition, we asked that you urge Feleppa not to return Rooney's animals to him and to ensure that those left behind during the initial seizure were immediately taken into protective custody.
Feleppa took offense at being asked to do his job, which is to uphold the laws that protect animals from cruelty and abuse. In fact, he went so far as to announce publicly that he was being bullied and blackmailed by local and national animal advocates, whose only desire was to see Rooney's animals spared from further suffering. In an apparent effort to prove to the world that he would not be told what to do, Feleppa went ahead with and succeeded in his plan to return 16 animals to Rooney, who pleaded guilty to the one count of misdemeanor cruelty to animals. The remaining animals either stayed in their foster homes or were euthanized because of their poor health.
Please let Feleppa know that his handling of this case made a mockery of the law, set a dangerous precedent, and severely undercut the efforts of animal control to protect animals from cruelty and abuse. Please ask him to reconsider his apparent approach to cruelty-to-animals cases in the future for the sake of animals and the community alike.
Please send polite comments to:
Alfred E. Feleppa
Prosecuting Attorney
100 Marley St.
St. Ignace, MI 49781
906-643-7329
906-643-6530 (fax)
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