Monday, October 5, 2009

Tiger Ranch Linda Bruno Jailed Today ~ Sentencing Delayed! Update Oct 5, 2009!

Linda Bruno has violated her bond by having come in contact with animals on her Tiger Ranch in Frazer Township. Under her bond she was ordered to have no animal contact or their care.

Cat food and litter were found by deputies sent to investigate the property. Proof that cats were still being cared for and cats also found on the Tiger Ranch property.

Linda Bruno was to face charges for animal cruelty and record tampering today, but she was instead ordered to jail by Judge Jill Rangos, allowing Ms. Bruno to find another place to live! She had also lived with her mother who had animals, which was also a violation! Her sentencing has been postponed until Dec 4, 2009, pending a mental evaluation!

Tiger Ranch was raided in March 2008, and 240 of the cats were put up for adoption by the ASPCA ~Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on August 31, 2009. Anyone interested in adopting the cats can find them on Route 322 in Shippenville.

Another twist as the Tiger Ranch saga continues. I can't help but feel sad for Lin Marie! I had high hopes of her vindication. Seems she's now become a victum of unfortunate circumstances! I've been following the story since the very beginning, and I do believe one thing: anyone who helps animals has a good spirit! What will happen next!

Read all my Tiger Ranch Posts Here

18 comments:

terrymcdermott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
terrymcdermott said...

Thanks for sharing thid. I dont really understand what this lady did to go to jail? Sounds to me she had food and water for them. I may be missing something when I read this.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hi Terry,

She violated her bond by having contact with animals. I was thinking she had no where to go or stay, but at her mother's which had animals too! Tiger Ranch was to be shut down, but strays were coming back, and volunteers were feeding them. They need to come back and get the rest of the cats, maybe then this issue can be closed!

Anonymous said...

Check out this website I found just tonight. I never saw this one before.

http://fluffy77.livejournal.com/

It has some very interesting information on it. It also has some very disturbing pictures of the conditions at Tiger Ranch. This was not a good place! Do not feel sorry for this woman!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hello Anon,

I welcome your comments! I know this case has divided many great animal activists. I truly believe that Lin Marie's intentions were good.

I did visit your photo site, and saw many other photos taken of Tiger Ranch during and after the raid! I can say one thing, you can go into any shelter and find sick animals, there's no preventing that.

I do feel that Linda Bruno got in over her head, and maybe had she been able to have more resources this may have not happened! She had no right to forge records however, and she will pay for that!

I live in the country, and see the demise of many feral cats like the ones in your photo! They come to my home and try to find scraps in my veggie barrel. I want to keep them, but they are wild and keep reproducing. My area is full of feral cats, its a sad and hopeless truth!

I know there's a program to go around and fix these ferals so they don't reproduce. But I haven't seen them in my area yet. I've a feeling that there are'nt enough volunteers to help with the program. Catching them is the real clincher!

In conclusion I believe it's the love of animals which is the most important. What can we do to change and ultimately end their suffering!

By sticking together we can all make a tremendous difference, I've a tremendous respect for anyone who tries to help in animal welfare! Keep up your animal crusade! It's all worthwhile especially when you look into those loving innocent eyes!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Anon ~ P.S. Cats dropped off at Tiger Ranch were originally ill in the first place!

Anonymous said...

My husband and I know Linda on a personal level and I will tell you that without a doubt she is one one of the sweetest most caring individuals that we have EVER met in our lives..the news/media is painting a very skewed picture of her and her motivation behind rescuing these cats-Her main goal was to help provide some form of shelter/food/water/medical care for them..she begged people dropping them off to keep them/take care of them vs just dropping them off because they just didnt feel like keeping the animals anymore..I just want to know where all this help to adopt them out/take care of them was when she was trying to do the same? It was hard for her to say no because 90%of the time people who dont want their animals anymore or have feral cats around will just take them and drop them off somewhere to starve/die so that they dont have to deal with them anymore-people just do not see the bigger picture-how bad this problem really is..its just terrible what is going on, but knowing Linda, shes probably thinking that if it took all this to find those cats good homes then it was worth it-she would live in jail if it knew that it would help people to realize this ongoing huge problem and get these cats homes..but I can almost guarantee that at least half of these cats that do get adopted out will end up back in a shelter or thrown out on the street after the owners decide they just dont want them anymore because they are moving..or the cat is urinating in the house..or the cat scratches the furniture..or the cat doesnt get along with the dog...or they are to much money to take care of..or they shed to much-the list of reasons to make the cats disposable goes on and on-

Anonymous said...

I also would like to add (in adjunct to prior comment) that I am aware that L. took in way more than she could handle, and Im happy that the cats are able to get the full ongoing attention/care that they needed;however, it just is so sad that she is made out to be a hoarder&animal tormentor-she did not WANT all the animals but couldnt stand the thought of them not having access to food/water..the reason why we have our one cat is because she begged me to foster her (knowing I would fall in love with her)-she just wanted to find these cats homes, but yes, she got in over her head, but again, she wouldnt of gotten in over her head if people helping these cats now wouldve helped prior (and I will state that some of the conditions that the cats were in were dropped off that way..I actually was there one day when someone dropped off a cat that they had found stating that had been abused/burned by teenagers-)

Elliemae said...

One of the problems that I saw at Tiger Ranch was Lin's Philosophy on euthanasia. She didn't put anything down and that is a problem. Cat's who are beyond help and so sick they are suffering really need to be euthanized. When my pets are old and beyond medical help and comfort, the humane thing to do is end there suffering but she did not do this. She allowed them to suffer and die. I don't think she is a bad person, just one who can't let go. I feel bad for her, she really had a nice setup for ferels that otherwise would have been put to death. We need more education and low cost spay/neuters so this doesn't continue.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hello Anon,

We are easily swayed to believe the worst about someone when horrible pictures are splayed across T.V. screens.

At first I was so mad about it, and condemned Tiger Ranch. But as the story unwound I saw another side. I know how easily some folks can just drop off animals without a thought, and that doesn't just pertain to cats. Dogs are also a big part of the drop off population of animals.

For the life of me, I cannot understand how a person can adopt an animal keep it for a year or two, and give it up! Thanks for bringing to light this very situation we hear of time and time again! I like to say adopt for life, unless there is a very good reason.

For most of us animal lovers it's hard to let go of our animals when the time comes, which is way too soon for me! The feral cat problem is very huge and widespread. I hear you loud and clear on this subject!

What is the answer, what can we do to help the problem? I knew some of the cats were dropped off sick, I knew it in my gut! Thank you for sharing your personal side in witnessing actual events at Tiger Ranch.

I wish for a lenient sentence for Linda Bruno!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hello Elliemae,

Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts here with us! I totally understand your feelings here, but each case can be different. My cat died here at home with me, it was too late in the evening to reach a vet. He was almost 17, and died in my arms.

You're right not to let an animal suffer if possible. It's a very hard thing for some to let go. For others a shot in head is the way to go, you see it with horses, and deer.

If an animal is dying what really is humane! My mother was drugged up in comfort measures until she took her last breath, what really is humane!

I agree education is the key, and it would be nice if neutering were a free service to control the pet population!

Thanks again for your input and personal views on Tiger Ranch!

Julie said...

For anyone who was not able to be in the courthouse during the sentencing, here is the following information:

Financial records were presented and proved that Lin Marie did not spend money on the thousands of cats that were taken in yearly except "for the shipping on the food they were too sick to eat and for their burials in the 12 foot by 12 foot wide pits.

Lin Marie finally admitted that she never had a veterinarian when the financial records proved this to be true.

Over 7,000 cats died due to exposure to diseases at Tiger Ranch in just 14 months! :(

I just want to cry after hearing this.

The judge saw her for what she was, a habitual liar and animal abuser.

Jo A. T.B. said...

Hello Julie,

Thanks for stopping by to elaborate further on Tiger Ranch. I've been receiving many accounts of those who were there, and now from you about court records.

How horrible I wondered what had happened to the unaccounted cats! I only wish that someone had stepped in sooner, to stop this or even help her with all those cats!

I agree with what someone had said that we cannot let another Tiger Ranch happen. There must be a limit as to the amount of anmials allowed on or in a shelter or sanctuary!

Anonymous said...

Julie-I do know some of the food/materials that Lin received was donated; therefore, it probably wouldnt show up on financial records-also some donations were given in form of gift cards-I know Linda's heart and it wasnt to purposly abuse animals-dont get me wrong-she needed help and got in over her head-but she is not a bad person-also, as far as the vet-I know she was tryingvery hard to get a staffed vet-one that she could say was a Tiger Ranch vet-but she had vets that did volunteer/probono or low cost care-I saw many cats who came in sick look so incredibly healthy after a few wks of treatment and then adopted out-of course many people arent going to adopt the sick looking cats-anyway, I am sure a lot of the cats may have gotten sick, as I know I have three and if one sneezes its only a day when they are all sneezy with icky eyes so its very contagious..but again, originally this was a place for feral/stray cats and people brought there 3year old house cats there..which again I was there one day when this man brought 2 BEAUTIFUL cats that he said he couldnt care for anymore and my husband and I asked if he had searched out all options as this was a home for stray cats-we knew these cats werent going to be comfortable in a wild type setting-he admitted that he didnt research anything out and that Tiger Ranch was close...I had a few words with him-not in an immature manner, but I had to try to get him to understand that he should at least try to find someone who would adopt them, especially because they were indoor house cats-then there would be people who kept bringing kittens because the cat they had was not altered-I tried to convince this man to get this cat spayed, but he said why?? I just bring them here...ahhhh!!! careless people-I wish there was a law on owning an animal in regards to spay/neuter or something to control not only the over population but the suffering due to no care :(

Anonymous said...

Someone who habitually lies to gain the trust of people is NOT A NICE PERSON!

It was shown in court that she was using DONATED MONEY to pay for restaurants, hair dressers, dental work, her horse breeding business, a humane agent (now that's interesting), ... oh yes, and to pay the backhoe driver to dig the MASS GRAVES for all of the cats she neglected to death! Wake up!!!!

Her heart was not in the right place. She was lying to everyone and she knew what she was doing. She took in thousands of animals and let them suffer and die under the pretense of a sanctuary and used the donations of kind-hearted people for whatever she wanted - not for the cats. There is no excuse for that!!!

Jo A. T.B. said...

Thank you for your insights Anon! I see the pendulum swings back and forth on this case. I haven't had the chance to go through the court manuscripts in the Tiger Ranch case.

I hope a Tiger Ranch never happens again, if there is another one I hope there is enough funding, and public help. It seems there are so many folks who point fingers and never lift one if you get my drift!

If Linda had only asked for help, I'm sure the outpouring would have been tremendous, especially from all the animal lovers I know on facebook and all over the world!

As I said before let us all be united for the sake and love for animal welfare!

SeZzY said...

This woman is a monster. She had a killing ground for the cats. gaves so thick you couldn't go without stepping on bones of a cat. This is so horrible and sick it makes me want to cry. I wish this lady did go to jail for 24 years. I am a huge animal lover and I don't think this womans sentence was harsh enough!

SeZzY said...

**graves

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