PETA Seeks Investigation Into Killing Of Dogs At An Overgaard Residence

By Linda Kor
   PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is demanding a criminal investigation of the killings of 55 dogs at the residence of Edward Harvey of Chevelon Retreat in Overgaard.
   According to allegations by PETA, the animals were destroyed by Navajo County Animal Control officers in an inhumane fashion following the arrest of Harvey, owner of the dogs, on May 6, in an unrelated event.
   In addition, PETA is calling on the county to implement a policy requiring authorities to euthanize animals that have to be killed by properly administering an injection of an approved barbiturate.
   Sheriff’s deputies arrested Harvey on May 6 for carrying a concealed weapon and being on school grounds with guns in his possession. This took place as deputies were serving Harvey with an emergency change of custody order provided by Harvey’s former wife Stacy Hernandez. She had also provided deputies with a copy of an order of protection for herself and her daughter that had been issued from Maricopa County.
   When deputies approached Harvey during a traffic stop near the school, he informed them that he was carrying a firearm in his jacket pocket and stated that he had other firearms inside of his vehicle. The deputies received consent to search from Harvey and located three other firearms in the vehicle.
   Once in custody, Harvey also told deputies that he had approximately 30 to 40 firearms at his residence as well as approximately 30 dogs. The order of protection out of Maricopa County prohibited Harvey from having any firearms, so a warrant was obtained for Harvey’s residence and deputies, along with three animal control units, went to the Harvey home.
   According to deputies, the property consists of a single-wide mobile home situated on half an acre of land surrounded by a high fence. There were a large number of dogs within the fenced area and as animal control officers opened the front door of the residence, approximately 20 dogs ran out of the mobile home and into the yard.
   The residence reportedly had no electricity or running water, and there was no evidence that the dogs were being cared for. A report by Deputy Brenda Clark, who entered the residence, stated, “As we walked through the kitchen and down the hallway, I noticed dog feces everywhere. You could not take a step without stepping in some. As we arrived in the master bedroom the smell was almost unbearable.”
    After searching the residence, deputies discovered 37 loaded weapons, including a sawed-off shotgun, and a total of 55 dogs at Harvey’s residence.
   Navajo County Health Director Wade Kartchner described the scene as horrific.
   “The inside of the home was in horrible condition,” he said. “Some of the dogs were feral and aggressive, and the officers didn’t want to use their catchpoles for concern that other dogs might attack the dog being caught as well as the officers.”
   When deputies and Child Protection Services investigators returned to the residence on May 8, animal control officers had put down most of the animals. Three of the dogs were discovered dead by the time the officers had arrived due to their living conditions, there was still no food nor water, and the other dogs had turned to cannibalizing the dogs that had died.
   “It was such poor conditions that it was decided that involving other agencies and the transport of so many traumatized animals would only worsen their condition,” Kartchner reported. Newborn puppies were found in a bathtub in the home and officers attempted to transport the pups, but they died while in transit.
   The method of destroying the animals that officers utilized was gunfire.
   “We have limited resources and the situation was a difficult one,” said Kartchner, who also noted that the owner’s claim that he returned home after being incarcerated to find the dead bodies of the dogs strewn across his property and in his home were false. “We removed most of the dogs from the premises. The reason some were left behind was because their location was such that it posed a danger to officers to retrieve them.” Kartchner added that he believed photos showing a dead dog in the home were staged.
   “The officers were put in a bad spot and nobody wanted to do what was done, but with limited resources we had to make a choice,” stated Kartchner.
   In statements made by the arresting officers on May 6, they noted that they asked Harvey numerous times if he had anyone who would be able to care for the dogs while he was in jail and he replied that there was no one.
   “It was the worst situation I’d ever been involved in,” stated Ron Jones, program manager for animal control, who admitted that not all of the animals had been removed from the property after they were killed. “There were about 17 dogs that we didn’t remove. The reason was that these dogs had buried themselves back into both animal and human feces, and I didn’t want to risk the health of our officers to retrieve them. No animal was left wounded and absolutely none in the home.”
   Harvey said that a dog was still alive on the property when he returned home, but Jones stated that the animal was not on the property while officers were there.
   “It was a bad situation but we were operating under time constraints due to the condition of the animals and the fact that investigators were en route to the scene from Child Protective Services and the county,” said Jones.
   “None of those dogs would have been adoptable. We would have traumatized the dogs even more by transporting them two to three hours in the heat and then putting them in a kennel only to be euthanized three days later. It wasn’t a decision anyone wanted to make, but it’s what had to be done,” explained Kartchner.
   Authorities are reluctant at this time to file charges of animal cruelty against Harvey, primarily due to the apparent concern Harvey had for the animals, despite his living conditions and the conditions that the animals were in.
   Commander Bernard Huser with the sheriff’s office stated that Harvey was very cooperative, and he felt that it was a situation in the home that got out of hand. “Maybe he (Harvey) felt that he was helping these animals and wanted to help them, but simply did not have the resources,” said Huser.
   Although PETA officials stated Monday afternoon that they had sent an urgent letter to the Navajo County Attorney’s Office to pursue charges in this matter, County Attorney Brad Carlyon said later that day that he had not been contacted by the organization.