The silent death of animals at Loonie Farms
Loonie Farms in Ludowici, GA started back in 2010 when a woman named Christiane came to Georgia from Germany with her three children and married James Judd. Christiane and James (Jimmy) Judd opened Loonie Farms and planned a grand animal rescue. They were praised by many from the very start and dubbed as the “Hometown Hero” back in October for the rescue efforts within the community. Many people supported them, helped them, and donated to them in their efforts of rescuing animals and saving lives. What so many do not realize is behind the gates to Loonie Farms was far from “Hometown Hero” material. They were providing a silent death to many animals that came to their rescue. Some deaths were long and slow while others were quick.
Back in April, Jimmy Judd was arrested for violating his parole for possession of a firearm. He was also being investigated for fraud for creating chip-ins for animals that there are no records of them ever having possession of. He was also being investigated for having stolen property on his property. All the charges have not been sited yet due to further investigations. Although since this was a parole violation of gun charges he was sent back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence. Jimmy Judd has a history of crime stemming back to 1988 for five counts of burglary. Then in 1990 it was burglary, theft by taking, and escape. In 1992, it was livestock theft and possessing a firearm of a convicted felon. In 1997, there was theft by taking, three counts of forgery and three counts of burglary. This last sentencing left him to be in prison until the year 2012 but was paroled in 2008.
Now this couple had a rescue and was getting people to donate for animals they had. If people only knew what kind of person Jimmy Judd was, would they have donated? People change everyday, but does a leopard really ever change it’s spots? Look at the track record of the past 20+ years. Once he was arrested again, Christiane had the rescue all to herself and was not managing very well. She was letting everything go as she had done for quite some time, based upon the finding when rescuers got there on May 16th. Christiane had posted everywhere that Loonie Farms was saying good-bye. She even said, “But besides four technical failures Loonie Farms passed every issue concerning the health, welfare, treatment and humane care of every dog in our care” based upon the Craigslist posting dated April 14, 2011. Was this true? Could it be true that she passed inspections from the Department of Agriculture with what was found that May 16th day?
On May 16th, several rescuers including Kim Hankerson came to Loonie Farms after receiving a call from Christiane stating she was leaving and they needed to come to take care of the remaining animals. They could take anything they needed. Upon getting there, they realized their friend had a horrible, horrible secret they had been kept from everyone. Or did they? The rescuers saw so much devastation that day that they were in disbelief. There was so much death everywhere including cats, dogs, puppies, horses, donkey’s and even a small horse (maybe a baby). There were only three baby kittens, maybe a few days old, and four dogs that were barely surviving that day. They were scooped up and saved.
Upon this discovery they called the Long County Sheriff’s department for help with this matter. As now it was apparent that this was an animal cruelty situation. There were barrels of bones, a wheel barrel full of approximately 20-30 different animals, piles of garbage with bones in them and bones scattered everywhere. They even found where there were tethers with bones still attached as if the dogs were dying there and now nothing more than a pile of bones. These animals suffered more than anyone will ever know. They were put into crates to die and the crates were fastened to never open, never allow the dogs to get out, never allowing them to live. Christiane was providing them their death sentence. All while her three children lived there to watch their suffering. Her children are growing up with this knowledge as if this is the correct way to handle and protect animals. This is clearly NOT the way.
Now the Long County Sheriff’s Department is doing an investigation. The Sheriff’s Lieutenant, Tom Sollosi said in a recent press release on WSAV that Christiane could be facing animal cruelty charges. Could be? What exactly does this mean? In April the Loonie Farms was hit with an unannounced inspection by the GA Department of Agriculture. They, at that time, removed two horses and a donkey due to neglect. They also told Christiane that she needs to properly dispose of the dead animals. The Sheriff’s department did not seem to see any other signs of neglect to any of the other animals at that time. Really? Where did all the bones come from since April? How could the Dept. of Agriculture or the Sheriff’s department not realize this rescue was nothing more than a concentration camp for animals. A place to come and die. Yes, they did adopt animals out, and they did have the public fooled into believing that they were a great rescue.
Now based upon the Department of Agriculture, the Animal Health Division on Dead Animal Regulations section 40-13-5-.02(1) “No person shall abandon on any property any animals which have died or have been killed.” Well Christiane has abandoned this property and these animals and broken this regulation. Based upon Section 40-13-5-.03(4) “The Commissioner shall approve the methods and places for disposal of dead animals.” Do you honestly think Commissioner Black even knew about this situation? Section 40-13-5-.04 “Methods which may be used for the disposal of dead animals are burning to ash, incineration, burial, rendering, or any method using appropriate disposal technology which has been approved by the Commissioner , provided disposal of dead animals is carried out within 24 hours after death or discovery of the dead animal.” Most of the decomposition on the site had been from months ago, not 24 hours, therefore she is violating this regulation as well. Section 40-13-5-.07 “Any person, firm, partnership or corporation violating the provisions of this act, or any rule or regulations made pursuant thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished as provided by law.” What happened to this conviction when inspected by the Dept. of Agriculture back in April? Where is the justice for the animals that were wronged?
There were even dogs that had bullet holes in their skulls that were found. Jimmy Judd was found to have in his possession guns, therefore these dogs must have been shot by him. Is this illegal? The sad part is it may not be for a small shelter. Per Section 40-13-13-.07(4) “Any animal shelter licensed under this chapter that is located in a county having a population of 25,000 or less (Long County has under that amount) according to the most recent decennial census is exempt from the requirements of Rule 40-13-13.08 (making euthanasia only deemed by a licensed veterinarian) of this chapter. However, the exempt animal shelter shall provide a humane method of euthanasia recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association.(AVMA)” Based upon the AVMA they do approve gunshots as a form of euthanasia for the exempt shelters. Therefore the dogs that were shot in the head may not be animal cruelty to the law, but the many animals found tethered, crated or just bones were all possible neglect cases and that is a form of animal cruelty. The Sheriff’s department has released a statement stating they are looking for Christiane Judd for questioning and the possibility of animal cruelty charges. If you see Christiane Judd please contact the Sheriff’s department at .
If this matter concerns you and you feel it needs to be further investigated, please voice your opinion to the authorities below and provide a voice for the many animals that suffered at the hands of Loonie Farms. Ask why this matter was not addressed back in April.
City Hall - The Mayor’s Office
Mayor Myrtice Warren
Email to office coludowici@alltel.net
Long County Sheriff’s Department
Sheriff Cecil Nobles
GA Department of Agriculture
Be on the look out for more information concerning this story. There are many leads as well as so much more information that comes in daily on this.
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