December 17, 2021

DEAR FRIENDS, 

2021 has been a productive year for the SHARK Team on multiple issues - rodeos, pigeon shoots, cockfighting, exotic animals and more. Tenaciousness is key to achieving victories, and no one is as stubbornly focused as we are. When you combine dedication with innovation, the result is victories for animals.

No one is more productive with your donations than SHARK! That’s why I am proud to send you this mailer showing you what your financial support has accomplished. See the entire mailer here.

For the first few days of 2021, SHARK investigators crisscrossed Kentucky checking on known cockfight locations. On January 3, we moved to southern Ohio to investigate a tip about an active cockfighting pit located just outside the town of Ironton. 

Soon after arriving, SHARK President Steve Hindi legally launched a drone to document the illegal activity. Two cockfighters - James Newcomb and Shannon Clark - attacked SHARK president Steve Hindi and investigator Adam Fahnestock. See video here.

Newcomb grabbed the drone controller, smashed it, and then proceeded to viciously assault Steve. A second cockfighter joined in, leaving Steve bloodied and battered with a broken rib, a gash in his head, a separation in his back and many bruises and abrasions. They took Steve's Sony camera and two body cams. What they didn’t know was that Steve had a hidden camera on him that recorded the attack. 

Adam's vehicle was repeatedly rammed by the cockfighting thugs forcing his vehicle into a ditch, totaling it.
Trial was held for James Newcomb on Thursday and Friday, November 4th and 5th at the Lawrence County, Ohio courthouse. After deliberating several hours, the jury found Newcomb guilty of one charge of felony theft, one charge of felony assault, and one charge of misdemeanor assault. On November 10, Newcomb was sentenced to 4 - 6 years in the Ohio State Penitentiary, effective immediately. SHARK appreciates the fine investigative work of Detective Sergeant Bollinger and Assistant Prosecutor Steve Nord's handling of this case.

The trial date of the second attacker, Shannon Clark, is still to be determined.  
In November, some of SHARK's drone work was featured in a docuseries on Discovery+ entitled Carole Baskin's Cage Fight, as well as in the Netflix series Tiger King 2 (Ep. 5). As you know, SHARK has for years worked with the Baskins to gather evidence against the animal abuser known as “Joe Exotic.” In an attempt to evade a judgement against him, Joe transferred his Zoo over to Jeff and Lauren Lowe.

Using our drones while working with Big Cat Rescue, SHARK documented the horrid conditions at the Lowe Zoo. See video here.

SHARK documented the long-overdue removal of the suffering big cats to sanctuaries earlier this year. SHARK followed up with the US Department of Agriculture until they finally removed the remaining animals from the Lowe Zoo and transferred them to acceptable sanctuaries. See video here.
 
Carole Baskin's Cage Fight documents the investigation into the treatment of animals at the Lowe Zoo. Said Baskin: “This is a unique opportunity for audiences to come behind the scenes with us for an unfiltered look at how we expose the cub-petting exploiters and roadside zoos we feel are mistreating animals. This is our real-life work within a dangerous world, and viewers will see it comes with our people being threatened, guns pointed at us and the bad guys shooting at our drones.”
 

Cockfighting is illegal nationwide - on both the state and federal level, yet Kentucky law enforcement refuses to stop these cruel and dangerous events.

We will soon be putting out a report/video showing that in other parts of the country where the police are not as corrupt, cockfight busts are happening! Everywhere except Kentucky and Lawrence County, OH, which is more like Kentucky than Kentucky.
  SHARK shared this with you last week, and we are sharing it with you again this week, because more calls and emails are needed for these terribly emaciated dogs and rabbits. Please call and share so others can call and email too.

SHARK was contacted by Desiree Flanery, Director of Pitful Paws Rescue regarding a horrible case of dog and rabbit cruelty. See video here.