<< Previous   of   Next >> Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Residents, including Oliver Saal (far left), of unincorporated Mill Creek, tour the Mays Pond neighborhood park, Monday, July 21. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Resident Shawn Cantu, of unincorporated Mill Creek, looks at graffiti on a tree near a garbage-strewn hangout, Monday, July 21, 2008 at Mays Pond Park in unincorporated Mill Creek. Residents gathered at the Mays Pond Community Center for a town meeting to discuss a recent string of animal killings in and around the park. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Residents observe the presence of a reclining chair hidden behind trails after a town meeting to discuss a recent string of animal killings in and around the park, Monday, July 21, 2008 at Mays Pond Park in unincorporated Mill Creek. Enterprise/CHRIS GOODENOW  (click to enlarge) Residents observe a garbage-strewn hangout following a town meeting to discuss a recent string of animal killings in and around their Mays Pond neighborhood park, Monday, July 21.

ADVERTISEMENT

CONTACT THE ENTERPRISE Jocelyn Robinson, Copy editor jrobinson@heraldnet.com

They won't take it anymore

• Residents stand up against animal cruelty, other crimes in Mays Pond

By Alexis Bacharach
Enterprise editor

In the woods surrounding Mays Pond is a small clearing littered with beer cans, plastic baggies, empty packs of cigarettes -- even pornography.

Locals call it "the Happy Place" -- an oasis for juvenile delinquents and presumed drug dealers.

Criminal activity in the once peaceful Snohomish County neighborhood has skyrocketed in recent months with a string of reported animal slayings and other disturbing incidents.

Residents discovered the first batch of mutilated animal carcasses in June, and the story grew only more gruesome as the bodies of small, wild animals turned up in greater numbers in the park and other public areas surrounding Mays Pond.

Lisa Freiss was walking her dogs on July 15, when she came across a dead Canadian goose -- decapitated -- in the roadway on Brook Boulevard.

"I could tell right away somebody had intentionally cut the animal's head off," she said. "It made me sick."

The incident was quickly reported to 9-1-1, but dispatchers said no one from the sheriff's office would respond until an official report was issued by the county's animal control unit. By the time residents figured out which agency to contact and an animal control officer arrived on the scene, the goose had been on display -- just outside the neighborhood's community pool -- for more than 12 hours.

Animal control confirmed the goose had likely been killed at another location and dumped along Brook Boulevard sometime during the evening of July 14.

That was the extent of Animal Control's involvement; the case was passed onto the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and will likely not be investigated for lack of manpower in the local Mill Creek office.

"How can this be?" Freiss asked. "I found a wounded rabbit just the other day in the park and I don't know if it was injured by a dog or the same sick person or persons that have killed all the other animals."

Reports of dismembered rabbits and squirrels strung up in trees have terrorized residents like Freiss for more than a month.

"I can't deal with this," Freiss said on the verge of tears. "I carry these images with me; I can't get them out of my mind."

The killings are bad enough, but Freiss and her neighbors are even more troubled by the apparent lack of interest demonstrated by local law enforcement personnel.

Mays Pond residents grilled Sgt. Darrell O'Neill, the sheriff's crime prevention coordinator for the south precinct, at an emergency neighborhood meeting on Monday, July 21.

Among their questions: Why aren't the incidents being investigated, why won't the sheriff's office dedicate a patrol officer, why is it left up to residents to police the neighborhood?

"I wish we had enough patrol officers to send someone out to your neighborhood every night," O'Neill said. "Use 9-1-1. Tell the dispatchers you want to talk to the cops. Don't ask for an area check, don't report suspicious activity anonymously. Keep calling until you are contacted by an officer and maybe those repeated phone calls will finally send the message that we really do need more cops."

O'Neill advised residents to take charge ­-- to establish a block-watch program and thin their park of the thick shrubs and overgrowth that beckon criminal activity.

Resident Sally Dagna was leading a friend and former police officer through a few of the park's trouble spots on Monday, when they happened upon a group of teenagers and a smouldering bonfire. Two of the youngsters were reportedly lounging in a La-Z-Boy recliner -- a fixture in the park for a little more than a year -- tattooed with juvenile anecdotes and drawings of marijuana leaves.

"They were horribly offended that we even dared disturb them," Dagna said. "A couple of them tried to run off but we kept them there until the police and firemen arrived."

Residents chased off a second group of teenagers that same afternoon.

"It's up to you; you can give up on the park and just sell it, or you can start using it," O'Neill said. "If you clear out the brush there will be nowhere to hide, and we all know the dope trade and everything else works in secrecy."

Many people in the neighborhood are fearful of even leaving their homes.

Someone is out there killing and torturing animals for fun, they commented.

Mental health experts have linked animal cruelty such crimes as rape and murder.

"This is the stuff the Jeffrey Dahmers of the world were doing as children," Dagna said. "We need to find whoever is doing this and get them the help they need, get them out of our neighborhood and hopefully prevent them from hurting anyone in the future."

For now, it will be up to residents to secure the streets of Mays Pond.

Some folks have threatened force against anyone caught hurting an animal or otherwise disturbing the community's peace and quiet.

O'Neill responded with a strong warning.

"Before you go after little 'Johnny' with your fists or a weapon, make sure you're willing to lose your house and everything else ... little 'Johnny's' parents will hire a good attorney and you will lose that battle in court," he said. "I have the county budget in my corner; you have your houses and your retirement plans and your children's college savings accounts."