November 21, 2021
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Rochester, NY – Tyler Thomas of Fragile Planet Wildlife Center, has levied several false accusations about another business from which he had stolen several valuable exotic animals back in April 2017. The victim of the ordeal has reason to believe that such baseless accusations have detrimentally affected pending litigation in her quest to regain possession of several more animals she boarded at another facility.
The director of Caring for Cottontails Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc., Carrie Leo, has been pursuing legal action since August 2017 to get three animals stolen by Thomas returned to her. Since ownership cannot be disputed, as seen by Thomas’ admission in an August 2018 hearing in a case pending in the New York State Supreme Court of Jefferson County, he has opted to levy false accusations in secret and relies on corrupt government officials to manipulate court staff of pending cases, including the one in Jefferson County, furnishing a statement of “blatant lies” (as characterized by Leo) through an insincere animal welfare effort on Facebook called "Roadside Zoo News". “I regarded him as a good friend at the time and because of that, we were on good and friendly terms with no problems in the friendship”, Leo stated. “I still cannot wrap my head around all that he’s done to maintain control over property that simply is not his, and never will be. Clearly other people are disposable to him due to his insatiable greed and sense of entitlement over the property of other exotic animal owners.” On November 7, 2017, Thomas was served the commencement papers for the suit by the Sheriff’s civil division of Madison County, Texas. On the same day, he called the director of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Special Licenses Unit for support. Thomas then received a “phone summary” as promised in an email sent by the director to Thomas. Leo states such an action by a government official constitutes misconduct. However, the agency has refused to hold the staff member accountable even going so far as to protect him by continuing to deny Leo a copy of the statement although it has been circulated broadly throughout the public in New York and Texas, as well as possibly other states. Thomas has passed out the statement with photographs of a facility never owned or run by Leo and claims it is the facility belonging to Leo. He also claims the animals were either surrendered to, or seized by, either the DEC or the USDA, but the story seems to change depending on the day of the week. “He can’t keep his story straight hence it constantly changes. He will tell one person one thing then on the same day, he’ll tell another person another thing.” There is no paper trail providing evidence of any surrender, abandonment or seizure of Leo's animals. There is, however, an admission by Thomas that the animals belong to her in a pending case between the two parties in New York State. Leo also states she had reason to believe that the lies have had adverse effects on her pending cases since the judges and court staff can be hostile to her interests and even go so far as to violate certain rights guaranteed to a litigant, whether she represents herself or can afford counsel for representation. “He [Thomas] knows he doesn’t have a leg to stand on, so he makes things up and lies like a banshee. Since he has friends in the NYSDEC and USDA helping him and who also frequently commit misconduct in scenarios involving exotic animal licensing, he has opted to be sneaky and underhanded by submitting falsified evidence, including this ‘summary’ emailed to him by the DEC back in November 2017. Their actions are reprehensible.” Leo states she is working on ways to counter such influence of the courts and the use of government positions in agencies like the DEC by the introduction of legislation in the near future as well as educating the public and other licensees about how these schemes are carried out and by whom. |
Contact for Communications and Public Information
The curator, Carrie Leo, is the point of contact for the public and members of the press with
questions about Caring for Cottontails' mission and to request information concerning this press release.
Contact by phone:
Main Line 315-538-8316
Contact by email:
caringforcottontails@gmail.com
Mailing Address:
Caring for Cottontails Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc.
3199 Walworth Road
Walworth, NY 14568
questions about Caring for Cottontails' mission and to request information concerning this press release.
Contact by phone:
Main Line 315-538-8316
Contact by email:
caringforcottontails@gmail.com
Mailing Address:
Caring for Cottontails Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation, Inc.
3199 Walworth Road
Walworth, NY 14568
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