Welcome to Animal Abuse Alert!
Hi, My name
is Lennie and I am 25 years old. It's been almost nine years since I began this
site, and a lot has happened to me since I first "met" many of you. For those of you who are the new to the site, Welcome! I hope you learn a little about the horrors of Animal Abuse and what you can do to help ensure a better, safer life for our animal friends. For those of you who are returning to the site, I just want to say Thank You - for your constant support, belief, encouragement, and standing by me through all of this. Together, we fought and we won! Animal abuse is now a felony in the State of Virginia! You guys are truly wonderful ... 
Now, as for how I got involved ...
Durng my sophomore year in high school, I found out that some kids I
knew were involved in killing a cat - what we later learned to be someone's
pet that they had picked up off the side of the road. Everything inside
of me screamed that this was wrong, and I just somehow knew that if anyone
was going to stop this - it was going to be me. In telling their story,
they had "bragged" to the wrong person this time.
My decision was not a popular one, and my life changed a lot on that day. Many
of my former "friends" no longer wanted anything to do with me. They couldn't
believe I had turned in our friends, they were mad and angry
with me for "getting them in trouble". I couldn't seem to make anyone understand
that I am not the one that got them in trouble - they were in trouble - serious
trouble - long before I ever turned them in.
Yet despite their feelings, I knew I had to follow my heart - and my
heart said this kind of thing had to stop. So this page is dedicated
to all the beautiful animals out there, all the animals that have
suffered at the hands of those they trusted.
It is my one hope, my dream ... that this page will reach at least
one person who feels as strongly about this as I do, and somehow, it
will show them that its okay to do something ... it's okay to stand
up and say it's wrong. And maybe, just maybe, more teenagers will start
standing up for what they believe in, and know that we can make a difference.
But we have to try.
When all of this first happened, my Mom and I put up a small note on my home page about what I was going through. But the further along we got in the case, the more we realized just how much opposition we faced in every direction. Virginia was one of those states that still only treated Animal Abuse as a misdemeanor. My class mates were still excluding me and giving me a hard time. It just seemed that no one was taking us seriously. One day, we were suppose to meet with our case worker from PETA. The police had asked me to write out a statement as to what had happened, along with the others who were with us that night. When my friend called me to tell me that her Mom and Dad refused to let her submit a statement, I got really upset. I met Mom at the restaurant and told her what had happened. I remember telling my Mom that day that although I could understand how her parents might be a little worried about her involvement, that I thought it was really sad what they were teaching her - that to do the right thing was wrong. That's where my Mom got the whole theme for this web page.
Well, I might have been upset, but my Mom got angry. She was tired of the way my friends were treating me and thought it was really rotten the way so many of my friends just turned their backs to what was happening. And that's how this whole web page started - because my Mom got mad! Originally, my whole idea was just to reach other teens, to show them that it was okay to do something, okay to tell when they heard about something like this happening. But over the last several years we have gotten so many emails, asking for our help, for information, for advice ... I guess we just figured that maybe our web site could not only bring attention to what I was going through personally, but it could also help educate others to the horrors of animal abuse and provide information to those who wanted to do something to help.
I told my Mom from the very beginning, if I could just reach one person - could convince one other teenager to "do the right thing" then I would have succeeded in what I wanted to accomplish. So that's what I want to do here, to reach out, to make people see "It's not wrong to do the right thing."
Update!!! The petition is no longer active. All total we collected over 60,000 signatures from people all across the United States and many, many foreign countries - the support was phenomenal and I thank all of you for your participation. Virginia now treats animal abuse as a Felony on the second offense. This is a huge victory, and with the continued efforts of people like you, it is only the beginning.
And so, I just wanted to say "Thank you" to all of you who have been so wonderful in helping us. There were so many days when I felt like I was all alone, that nobody cared, or at the very least, that it wouldn't make a difference anyway - you meet so many stumbling blocks along the way! But thanks to all of you, I know that there are many, many people out there that DO care, and that just one voice - no matter how young, or small or inexperienced - can make a difference. Perhaps more than anything, you've made me believe in myself and for that, I will always be grateful, and it is something I will carry with me throughout my life. By creating this web page, I guess what I am really saying to each of you is that never once have I wavered, never once have I doubted, never once have I been tempted to give up ...
And I never will. Thank you
While you're here, please take a minute to sign my guest book!
Our first guest book is FULL!! If you'd like to read the entries, click on the book below!
Want to Link to This Site? Please feel free to take a banner!
A Quick Personal Update
As I said above, it's so hard
to believe that it's been almost nine years since I met many of you.
Many of you have become like family to me, and have been here for
me through so many of my life's ups and downs, challenges and accomplishments,
and I just 
wanted
to take a few minutes to write you guys a more personal note and
to let you know how things have been going for me. I do want to apologize
for not having the time to write the personal emails that I used
to be able to - there have been many changes in my life, and I just
don't have the time anymore, but I do miss hearing from you guys,
and Mom and I both speak of you often and wonder how many of you
are doing.
As you know, our story was featured in numerous magazines, newspaper articles, I was even included in the 2001 edition of McGraw-Hill's 3rd grade History Books in a chapter entitled "Making Laws" to show kids that one person can make a difference! Many of these articles you can see and read in the links to the left at the top of this page. It was hard work, often times discouraging, but we fought hard - and we won!
As for now, today ... Well, I finally graduated in May 2007, from James Madison University in Harrisonburg. I now have a BA in history, and am looking forward to building my career! When I first graduated, I came home to take over co-ownership of our family restaurant that Mom had opened, but many of you know that we have both longed to move back to the area where I was born - and when the opportunity presented itself this past fall - we jumped at the chance to be back here! And it wonderful to be home. It is an area rich in history, which I adore, but it also an area of small town values and ideals, where walking down the street, you know everyone you see by first name. An area where you recognize all the cars, and where you read the newspaper not so much to see what's going on - but to make certain the news staff got it right. (smile)
I still continue my work with animal abuse awareness as much as possible with my hectic schedule, and I still try to answer as many emails as I can, particularly to those seeking information, if nothing more than to direct them to websites that might be of help. We still have our large, extended furry family. Gizmo, many of you remember from when this all started, is now our "old man" of the family, and is happy and healthy, loving life in his new home. Four other cats complete our feline family, including a very special Mr. Rhett who has seemed determined to cause me the most grief and worry, as we laugh and call him suicidal - when he was only 5 months old, he managed to ingest over four feet of curling ribbon from a gift under the tree - after emergency surgery, he is fine and quite spoiled now, as I'm sure you can imagine - I pampered him ridiculously during his recovery! During the surgery, we found out that he has a heart murmur, so the surgery itself was dangerous, and I feel very blessed to have him, he truly is my special baby! Mom has a similiar story of Potamus, her special love, who underwent blood transfusions and hospitalization this past summer - his red blood cell count was down to 8 - the vets said it was amazing he was alive. The illness literally came on overnight - and no one to this day has any clue what caused it. Now, Potamus is even more spoiled rotten than he was before, and doing beautifully. This is not to say the other babies aren't equally as spoiled - they all seem to know that this is in fact THEIR house, not ours - and we feel thankful that they allow us to live here! Our family consists of Gizmo, who is 10 years old, Potamus who is five, Scarlet and Rhett who are 4, and the baby, Nemo who is only 3. We also have two beautiful little dogs, Flip Flop and Beach Ball, that add many, many hours of joy to our lives. I do stay busy, but I still find time for the important things in my life. Spending time with my Mom who has been the best Mom one could ever ask for as wall as my very best friend in the whole world. Trips to the beach; reading, camping, horses, all the things I've always loved - and of course, curled up on the sofa with my furry family gathered around me is a crucial part of my day.
Today, as I sit reading the
guest book comments, and the emails that continue to come in, I am
as shocked now, as I was when all of this started that what I did
is considered unusual. And when I look into the eyes of our beloved
pets, and I see the trust, the truly pure and unconditional love
that they bring into our lives - I shudder that anyone could be so
cold and heartless as to harm one of God's truley innocent creatures
in any way. 
There are so many things I want people to understand. Animal abuse is truly just the beginning, and certainly the most obvious of crimes. Yet, there's so much more. Each time I ride down the road and see a pet laying dead in the highway, I want to knock on the closest door and scream at the people inside, demanding to know why, WHY did you let you pet roam free? Every time I go to our county dump, and see the dozens of thin, starving cats and kittens there, I want to cry, there are many spay and neuter clinics located in almost every major city - it would be so easy to prevent this problem from happening if only people would accept responsibility for their pets and have them spayed and neutered.
I guess my favorite quote from The Little Prince best makes the point I am trying to convey here:
"What does that mean, to tame? It means to establish ties. You become responsible forever for that which you have tamed."
The responsibility of a pet does not end with feeding and veterinary care. There is so much more, it is a lifetime commitment, and one not to be taken lightly. Please, take care of your pets, make sure they don't run free to meet a horrible death in the road, or by another animal. Spay and Neuter them to make sure there aren't homeless, starving animals living in the wild, with no one to love them and take care of them. BE RESPONSIBLE.
So, thank each of you - from the very bottom of my heart - for standing beside me every step of the way - you all have each played an important role in my getting where I am today - and I will never forget that - or you.
We Must Never Forget ...
