Atlanta Humane Society serves legal notice to critics

Posted 8:37PM on Thursday 31st January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

MARIETTA - Don't like the way the Atlanta Humane Society does business? Tell it to the judge. The agency is suing two people for a total of $300,000, claiming they made false, defamatory statements about its services and its executive director, Bill Garrett. Barbara Harkins, a former Humane Society employee, was named in a $225,000 suit after she was featured in a WSB-TV investigative report into the agency aired in November. Harkins and her lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union say the society is trying to intimidate her into silence with the lawsuit, which they say is an illegal Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, designed to intimidate critics. ``This is the Atlanta Humane Society, worth $15, 20 million, and this is me, making $8.50 an hour,'' Harkins said Thursday after a hearing in the case. ``For me, this is devastating.'' Humane Society attorneys say the suit is appropriate and necessary to restore the society's reputation after it was ``falsely and unjustly maligned.'' In the TV report, Harkins said the society does not investigate animal cruelty reports, does not use its ambulances and does not keep its clinic open 24 hours a day contrary to claims she says the society makes. Garrett said Thursday that the Humane Society in 2001 prosecuted more than 80 cases of animal cruelty. He said he has not been advised by his attorney how to respond to the ambulance claim. He said the Humane Society posts its clinic hours of 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, on its Web site, buildings and promotional materials and has never claimed to have a 24-hour clinic. Kathi Mills, the other defendant, wrote her comments to a list-serv of Atlanta animal lovers after the report aired. The $75,000 lawsuit alleges she referred to Garrett as ``Mr. Kill'' and demanded the society hire ``a leader who does not delight in slaughtering pets for fun and profit.'' According to the lawsuit, Mills also said, ``Bill Garrett is not worthy to lick the dog or cat poop off our shoes. He is evil and it is time for the Atlanta rescue community to unite in ending his long and tragic career not only at AHS, but in every pet-related capacity.'' Mills who has never been involved with the Humane Society and said she gets her information about it from other people said the lawsuit won't scare her off. ``It's a violation of my First Amendment rights, and I intend to fight it,'' she said. A University of Georgia law professor said a motion to categorize a lawsuit as a SLAPP suit is an aggressive move by the defense, normally filed against a plaintiff with superior resources. ``One of the things that I would look into is has there been an effect or damage from the alleged defamation,'' professor Jim Ponsoldt said. ``And if it is indeed real, calculable damage, that would tend to undercut that this is a SLAPP suit. ``If there is vague or no real damage, then that would tend to support the defense's theory,'' he said. He said moving the attention in the case from the defendant to the plaintiff can be a victory in itself. ``If you can deflect attention, public or otherwise, you have won half the battle,'' he said. Humane Society attorney Jim Zito said both defendants have been offered settlements if they will apologize and retract their statements. He said legal costs to the society which is funded by both public donations and expense reimbursements by Fulton County have not been determined but could be substantial if it is not resolved quickly.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/1/199408