D.A. Seeks Stiffer Penalties for Wildlife Refuge That Violated Probation

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has asked a judge to impose stiffer penalties on the Wildlife Waystation for violating terms of a three-year probation for polluting stream beds.

The request represents the first potential criminal action against the animal sanctuary since it was closed two months ago for violating state caging and environmental laws.

The refuge has been on probation since 1997 for altering the creeks that run through its 120-acre campus. The environmental crimes unit of the district attorney’s office wants Newhall Superior Court Judge Floyd Baxter to revisit the case in light of new evidence from the state Department of Fish and Game showing that the refuge has continued the practices and committed more serious violations.

“We are much more interested in remediation of the problems than in any punishment,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Miller said. “We certainly don’t want to allow the repeated problems. Some of the offenses have proven to be more tenacious than we originally thought.”

Miller, who filed the request to revoke probation two weeks ago, said the action is based on a Fish and Game videotape that reportedly shows Waystation employees disposing animal waste in Little Tujunga Wash.

The court could impose fines or other penalties, such as an extended probation, Miller said. But the district attorney’s office is first trying to negotiate a deadline with the Waystation for cleaning up the stream, he said. The refuge has six months left on the original probation.

“Punitive aspects or elimination of the Waystation are not objectives of this case,” Miller said.

At least 16 agencies ranging from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Los Angeles County Planning Commission have postponed punitive action to allow time to remedy violations.

The 25-year-old Wildlife Waystation says it has rehabilitated more than 4,000 injured native and exotic wild animals annually, with as many as 1,200 in its cages at any given time. More than 300,000 people a year have visited the facility. But in April, state fish and game officials closed the sanctuary to the public and to any new animals.

Waystation director and founder Martine Colette said the actions by other regulators were set off by fish and game’s order.

“This is not an unusual thing,” Colette said. “Any agency comes out, then there’s a chain reaction up and down the line. It’s like at your house, if electrical inspectors found something wrong with your electrical connections, you’d get a call from the fire marshal next. It just jumps from one to the other to the other.”

Fish and game has recognized the Waystation’s efforts to clean up the stream, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board has said that the Waystation met its deadline to file a plan of action.

The numerous inspections and investigations have forced Colette, a celebrated animal rescuer, to become an almost full-time contract negotiator, she said.