Has anyone seen this???

Can anyone help???

This is very upsetting:

 — In rabbitwiserabbitrap@yahoogroups.com, Jennifer .> wrote:

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x833720428/Stoughton-animal-rescuers-forced-to-sell-pets

Please read the patriots ledger article.

Stoughton animal rescuers forced to sell pets

Neighbor complaints force Stoughton couple to get rid of goats and rabbits
saved from a farm.

_____

By Paula M. Donnelly
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jun 26, 2008 @ 08:32 AM
_____

STOUGHTON –

What started out as a kindhearted rescue is now becoming a difficult
goodbye.

When the Bridgewater farm on which he’d spent most of his career closed
seven years ago, Joe Silva took several of the animals which were going to
be abandoned home with him. Today, his backyard is home to four adult
goats,
a kid and a family of 80 rabbits.

But tomorrow, the animals will all be auctioned off after a complaint came
into police last week about the animals.

Joe and his wife, Maria Silva, were shocked when police and animal control
knocked on the door of their Morton Street home last Wednesday.

They’d lived in the house for 37 years, for the past several with a small
farm in the backyard. The couple has attempted to take care of the animals
as best they could – creating a shed in their backyard and feeding them
homegrown vegetables from their large garden.

“I love my animals,” Silva said. “I just didn’t want the animals to be
injured, so I took them home … I never thought I was doing anything
wrong.”

Police responded to the home after an anonymous phone call was placed to
Stoughton officials complaining about animals, according to Stoughton
Animal
Control Officer Kristen Anderson.

The couple would have to apply for a permit to keep the animals, since
they
live on a street zoned for residential use. But Anderson said she doesn’t
believe the home would be approved for a permit from the Board of
Health if
they applied – that the area was just too confined to house that many
animals.

“The animals were very healthy, but the facility was very unsanitary,”
Anderson said. “While it is legal to keep rabbits in your backyard, the
number of rabbits on the premises at the time was not.”

Neighbors approached by The Enterprise said they have never had an issues
with the Silva family or the animals in their backyard. One new homeowner
even said she bought her house because of the “beautiful’ yard abutting
hers.

The Silva’s neighbors aren’t the only ones saddened by the news. Anne
Zaporetsky, a Weymouth animal lover, said when she read the June 19
article
in the Enterprise she wanted to reach out to the family and assist them in
any way she could.

“I was just so shocked and sad for them,” said Zaporetsky. “I have always
gone the extra mile for animals and my heart went out to this family.”

Zaporetsky said she was willing to pay for a permit for the family so they
could keep their animals in the event they could not afford one on their
own. She also said she was willing to help find the animals a new home
if a
permit wasn’t an option.

“I knew from the article that they loved these animals,” Zaporetsky said.

“I want to make sure they all go to good homes,” Silva said. “But we are
very grateful for the support.”

— End forwarded message —

newsroom@ledger.com

Edit: the link to Patriots Ledger article now works