Olympic Animal Sanctuary Protest is being held Feb. 1, 2014, Diane Hawkins, Mother of Steve Markwell, Owner of the property of OAS, and prior Treasurer: A private school in San Juan Capistrano is a new target of an ongoing animal-rights protest involving a former dog sanctuary in rural Washington state. Diane Hawkins, who is on leave from her job as an elementary school teacher at St. Margarets Episcopal School, owns property in Forks, Wash., where her son, Steve Markwell, housed more than 120 dogs as part of the Olympic Animal Sanctuary, for which Hawkins was board treasurer. Markwell, a San Juan Capistrano native and former St. Margarets student, gave the dogs to an animal-rights group in Arizona last month amid mounting criticism that included an investigation by a Seattle TV news station, a criminal probe by Forks police and a flurry of protests from animal-rights activists across the country who took to the Internet to encourage action. The controversy has led to restraining orders against Markwell by protesters, and Markwell is wanted in Clallam County, Wash., after failing to appear at a court hearing Jan. 2 in a misdemeanor case in which he is accused of kicking a protester’s car last month, according to a court clerk. A report last year by Seattle TV station KOMO called Olympic the sanctuary of sorrow and described deplorable conditions that kept dogs in filthy crates and the warehouse covered in feces. Protesters began visiting the property daily. Now a group of Los Angeles-based animal activists is targeting St. Margarets to try to stop Hawkins and Markwell from owning animals again. The unwanted attention has prompted officials at the school to warn parents about possible protesters and to deny any ties to the sanctuary. St. Margarets Episcopal School has absolutely no business connection to this sanctuary, is without any understanding of its operations and does not support or oppose it, Head of School William Moseley wrote in an email to parents Dec. 18. In the event that a demonstration takes place near our campus, we respectfully request that you avoid the area and any engagement or conversations with those demonstrating or members of the media, Moseley wrote. Please know that we are being vigilant in bringing an uneventful close to this distraction, and to our highest responsibility of caring for and keeping our children safe.� Moseley said school officials asked the activists to go somewhere else. A Facebook group dedicated to a protest scheduled for Jan. 24( changed to Feb 1, 2014 please go to https://facebook/pages/OAS-protest-2014-in-San-Juan-Capistrano-California/556014134485788 for more details) includes a photo of Hawkins, apparently taken from the St. Margarets website. A woman describing herself as a protest organizer said Hawkins was heavily involved with her sons work and pointed to her use of St. Margarets address on La Novia Avenue in a 2011 tax document related to the sanctuary. The woman would not give her name to the Register. St. Margaret’s spokeswoman Anne Dahlem told the Register that the use of the school’s address on the tax document was not authorized “and until recently was unknown to the school.” A man who answered the phone at Hawkins’ home Friday said she had left for the night. Dahlem said Hawkins is “on leave from St. Margaret’s for an indefinite period of time.” She did not say why. Hawkins’ information has been removed from the school’s website. Hawkins has owned the land where Markwell kept the dogs since March 2007, according to the Clallam County Assessors Office. Forks, famous for its role in the popular “Twilight” books and movie series, is about 140 miles northwest of Seattle. The 124 dogs arrived in Golden Valley, Ariz., on Dec. 24 after traveling in a tractor trailer driven by Markwell, said Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue. We built an entire emergency shelter outdoors with kennels and everything you can imagine, Misseri said. This is a big endeavor. The New York-based animal-rescue group offered to help Markwell after seeing photos of the property in Forks. Misseri said most of the dogs came to Markwell because they have behavioral problems that prohibit them from being adopted. A 2009 Los Angeles Times article said Markwells sanctuary caters to the worst of the worst from around the country. I think that it very well probably started off with great intentions, and I think that he certainly got overwhelmed, Misseri said. Misseri said hes looking for experienced animal-rescue groups willing to help care for the dogs, which he said are many, many months from being adoptable. Contact the writer: mcuniff@ocregister or (949) 492-5122. Twitter: @meghanncuniff.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 05:25:52 +0000
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