Animal cruelty complaint filed
Donnie Biggs
Sandra Cortes, president of Assisi’s Animal Rescue Foundation, right, speaks with Manassas Park residents Natalie Kerns, left, Alyshia Juliano and Ashley George who allegedly filed an animal cruelty complaint with the Prince William County Police Department against Cortes on Sunday.
Officers from the Prince William County Police Department's Animal Control Bureau were at a dog rescue for the better part of Monday after receiving a complaint of animal cruelty that provided police with new information into an ongoing investigation.
Sparking police action was a complaint 18-year-old Ashley George and her mother, Natalie Kerns, filed on what the two described as "filthy" conditions at an animal rescue operated out of a house at 7605 Old Centreville Road.
Although authorities could not confirm the names of the complainants, police spokeswoman 1st Sgt. Kim Chinn said residents who brought a puppy adopted from Assisi's Animal Rescue Foundation to the Western District police station Sunday and filed a complaint.
"We did have an ongoing investigation into this place and that really helped us get in there [Monday]," Chinn said.
Police were in the process of
obtaining search warrants as of mid-afternoon, Chinn said, adding that more information would be available today.
Sandra Cortes, who said she started the rescue 18 years ago ha
operated it from that house since March this year, denied all the accusations.
Standing across the street from the rescue, George and her friend, 18-year-old Adrian Jackson, described the events that led them to Assisi's Animal Rescue Foundation and to filing the complaint.
The two Manassas Park residents said they went to the rescue Sunday after seeing an advertisement by the rescue on the Web site Craigslist.
But what the two saw when they got there was disturbing, they said. Mason, the dog they ended up adopting, was covered in feces and some of the others looked emaciated, George and Jackson said.
After that, the two told George's mom about the situation and went back to the shelter almost immediately.
During that visit, dogs were biting each other and a man kicked a couple of dogs that had gotten into a fight, Kerns claims.
After leaving with Mason, they said they took the dog to the police station and filed a complaint.
The operator of the rescue organization walked across the street to confront Kerns and George minutes after they and arrived to speak with the Potomac News.
"No matter what they say, we do love the dogs," Cortes said. "It's not a puppy mill."
The rescue, she said, takes in dogs from people who surrender their pet to them and from so-called "kill" shelters that euthanize animals.
And, she said, they do not breed dogs or mistreat them.
According to Cortes, animal control and zoning authorities arrived around 10 a.m. and was later given a letter revoking her kennel license.
She said she has been given the option of
surrendering the 96 dogs and puppies or possibly face criminal charges, and wanted to consult those options with her attorney.
One of the red flags Kerns and her daughter noted was that the paperwork they were given provided conflicting information. One, they showed, claimed the dog was a Labrador while the dog's shot record, which they believe is a fake, lists him as a hound mix.
"I actually want them prosecuted," Kerns said, leaning on the hood of her car. "You shouldn't do this."
Staff writer Elisa Glushefski can be reached at 703-878-8062 or .
Reader Reactions
also paw prints…if the animals in Assisi’s were taken so well care of..why is it that my puppy has seen two vets this week and has been diagnosed with multiple worms, malnourished, he had bite marks from other dogs and his fur was permanently stained from never receiving a bath…also he has an odd little scar on his stomach that both vets said was due to someone STITCHING his hernia closed..that was NOT done by a vet… I have to pay more then three hundred dollars for his health ALONE just this week ..he is on multiple medications and in being treated for kennel cough..something that a dog his age should have been vaccinated for!
please explain to the public again how well those animals were treated.. :(
and to the people defending assisi’s keep an eye open as the case continues to unfold.
THIS IS FOR ***** ***** or as she likes to call herself on here to hide who she actually is (PAWPRINTS)
First let me start by introducing myself again. My names Ashley George and I am the one who turned your “rescue” into the authorities. I personally witnessed and TOOK PICTURES while i was there of the condition those poor souls were in. As soon as I left your home i went to the police station and filed my complaint. I then took videos of the puppy and also turned those in.
EVERY SINGLE thing you have posted has been a lie! and your time will come in court because we will all be there to testify against you to the fullest.
And since you like to post FULL names with out consent and post false statements I will be filing a slander law suite and deformation of character first thing Monday morning.
The FACT is :
I did NOT steal the dog.((in your own post you stated that i stole the dog and the police questioned me about it…hm-mm seems to me that the police were on a roll that day..don’t you think instead of taking pictures of MY puppy and noting his psychical condition they would have arrested me or even taken him with the other 100 + animals they took from your home?)) I actually told you i would be back Tuesday to pay the ridicules amount of 300$. And correct i never paid, because your house was raided the next day and you turned all the animals over to the authorities. I spoke to the assistant state prosecutor and she was the one who informed me that the puppy was 100% ours. (and as far as my motives they were to help each and everyone of the dogs i had seen.. NO LIVING thing should be subjected to the living conditions those animals were in..and as far as the dogs being fed 3 times daily.. I was at Assisi’s for 4 hours! yes that’s right 4 HOURS gathering information and did not see and fresh water or food given to those animals..ALSO “BJ” as you like to call her told me that the dogs would be fed later that night when everyone was gone..and that my puppy kept running to the trash because he was hungry..! )
Since the raid Monday I have had two manassas park police officers come by my house to THANK us for turning you in. One actually saw the puppy minutes after we left Assisi’s and made a comment that his “spirit was back”...guess what…SHE will be testifying against Assisi’s as well 
I really hope you enjoy your free time..because you will soon be locked up in a cell for 23 hours a day. The sad part is you are going to be treated better in PRISON then those poor souls in your home! you deserve every charge you are going to recieve and Ill make sure of it. I will go to the end of the earth and back to make sure you never own an animal again in your life!
-ASHLEY GEORGE
“Pawprints” sounds like another of Sandra Cortes’ masquerades. She likes to defend herself and attack the facts that underscore her guilt. Maybe Pawprints is NOT Sandra—but is the young lady who worked with Sandra. Pawprints, why did the police need to be there in the first place? You claim that the dogs were healthy and clean—and that the newspaper misrepresented the truth. Given that there were many statements and witnesses to the contrary, what relationship have you to Assisi’s? You should insist on coming public with verifiable facts (that are given to the newspaper for publication under your REAL name)—so that your independent facts can be verified. Others can tell you that if Sandra is using you to defend herself—and if she convinces you to lie or cover up for her, she will then blame everything on you (after all, you are the liar) and leave you holding the bag. Do you think somemone who sells dogs and just PRETENDS to be a rescue is really doing a good thing for the dogs? Come on, Pawprints, come clean and identify yourself!
Whoever is ShutAssisDown needs to shut themselves down because they don’t know what they are talking about. I have seen vet bills to where she had taken many of the dogs to the vet so stop your lying to people. Get a grip and stop lying !!!!!!!! WATCH CHANNEL 7 NEWS and you’ll see the dogs.
I was personally a volunteer with this rescue group for a little less than 1 year. I had stopped volunteering with them when they moved up to Manassas and was able to assist on occasion at their new location. I can personally say that when I was there I saw the shelter manager cleaning the kennels 2-3 times a day and giving the dogs a few hours exercise per day. There were volunteers out to the house to help out throughout the week to help with the load of dogs that were there. Although I never saw 96 dogs as was rounded up by animal control I did see that there was plenty of love and care for each dog.
From what I do understand, from someone there at the time of the seizure, when animal control came out to the home they had the dogs stay in the kennels from 10 am – about 8pm. Which in that time the dogs did get dirty from their feces in their kennel since they were not able to stay on their normal schedule of outings to go potty. As any rescue worker or someone familiar with dogs can tell you, a dog will potty in its kennel if not let out and of course get dirty. I’m sure that many more comments will come after mine but many dogs that have come from rural shelters came in skinny and timid. Each one is given time to be socialized and be fattened up. I’d be willing to back it up in court to say that I have seen firsthand many dogs that were nursed back to health and adopted to a forever home. As a matter a fact I understand the so called “heroes” Ashley George and her mother, Natalie Kerns didn’t even pay for the pet they adopted.
I challenge the Animal Control to state how many of the dogs they “protected” were euthanized because of lack of space in the local shelters. I can also say that sometimes paperwork looks as if it does have conflicting information when you have a breed listed by the vet as hound dog but by appearance the dog looks like a lab. How can someone wanting a hound looking dog adopt a lab looking dog just because it’s papers say it’s a hound? Sandra Cortes has received many accolades from local vets who were surprised about how well her dogs were cared for and that it came from a rescue. Everyone who ever adopted a dog was told up front about the worming treatment that the dogs and pups received if needed and everyone was asked to visit their vet within the first week of adopting their dog to insure the health of their new pet.
Hope this helps some people make an educated decision.
Angie
Those of you who are defending Assisi will soon realize that you are dead wrong. Sandra Cortes is a liar. She is unethical. She doesn’t care about animals - she only wants to sell them. These are NOT adoptions - she is not a 501(c)(3) - she is a business - a dog SELLING business. She has been reported to the IRS for not paying taxes on her sales. She supports herself on her “adoption” fees while animals die. Some have died in her home because she does NOT provide vet care. She has adopted out several pregnant dogs. When she’s in jail, you’ll have to admit that you’re wrong - dead wrong.
Well maybe the truth will get out thru the news since the news paper doesn’t what to tell the truth. They only what to tell the lies that are going around but doesn’t what to hear or tell the side of Assisi’s workers. The dogs were on the news today and they didn’t look sick and dying to me. They look as though they were being taking care of to me.
I have read all these comments and i think that she should lose her shelter and do time in jail. She calims shes saving animals when in reality shes just making it worse for all of them. I HATE people who abuse animals i think if i had a say so id let those who abuse animals be abused the same way they do to animals and i hope shes loses EVERYTHING and someone with the abilty to take over the shelter and make sure these helpless animals are taken care of and treated like they should be. All i hope is someone in the court system cares and prosacutes this woman to the FULLEST!!! I think shes a poor excuse of a human being.
Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 12:50 pm “Mrs. Cortes did not sign the dogs over to avoid proscesution, in fact she signed the dogs over so they would not be held in the shelter without medical care as stated by Officer Shetley said “ Pawprints I was wondering did I miss an article where Officer Shetley spoke about this case so far? I have so far read two and cant seem to find any others where she made this statement.
Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 12:50 pm “The dogs and cats would have been kept int he shelter until charges were brought” Well pawprints as of 05/08/08 5:00pm the animals are still there undergoing Evaluation no ETA on when they will become available for adoption.
Posted by ( pawprints ) on May 08, 2008 at 12:50 pm
“If this was such a clear cut case of animal creulty I would like to know why they were not charged”? Well keep in mind pawprints that all animals are still being checked plus they have to still await lab results.
She could have 10 dogs and they would be filthy as she also has 4 kids to raise under 7. 10 dogs or 100 they still dont go to the vet unless somehoe forced by a volunteer and then the bill gets skipped out on.
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