Defending Animals - Case Histories

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Case Histories

Bear	Guinness	Sheila
Belle	Kino	Simon
Cabo	Livermore Cat Shooting & the Injustice System	Sonny Jim
Cammie's Cats	Lucky	Sugar
Cole	Oakland Goat Killings	Tiger
Dean	Pleasanton Torture Case	Tom
Duke	Sara	Trapper

Sugar

Oakland, CA

On September 23, 2002 Sugar, a black and tan tabby, was home alone with De Schbazz, the caregiver for 100 year old Madeline Mason. While Madeline was attending senior activities at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, caregiver DeSchbazz stabbed Sugar with a steak knife.

Granddaughter Carla was told what had happened, picked her grandmother up at the church, and drove home to look for Sugar. Carla said, "I left my grandmother in the car because I did not want her to find her cat dead." Carla looked for Sugar and was about to give up the search when she saw two small eyes looking out from under a desk. Carla said, "I tried to get Sugar to come to me, but she wouldn’t." Carla brought her grandmother in for assistance, and she was able to get Sugar to crawl out from under the desk.

" I was amazed at what I saw," Carla said. "My grandmother’s cat Sugar had a knife embedded into her body. My grandmother began crying. Sugar is her constant companion and my grandmother loves her cat." Sugar was taken to the Broadway Animal Hospital in Oakland for emergency surgery.

De Schbazz admitted to the Oakland Police that she had stabbed Sugar. The Oakland Police did not arrest Schbazz and did not even make a crime report. Instead, they dropped her off at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro, but because there was no arrest and no hold, Schbazz simply walked away after the police left.

Sugar’s family called Voices for Pets and I met with grandmother Madeline, daughter Clara, and granddaughter Carla at Madeline’s house in Oakland. I obtained signed statements from all three, along with De Schbazz’s job application in which she claims, "Over ten years experience in the health care field." De Schbazz said she had obtained a certificate in Home Health Aid, Nurses Aid, and Nutrition at Oakland’s Laney College in 1987. That certified her to provide, among other things, "medication, psychological, and neurobehavioral assessments." I then went to Oakland Broadway Pet Hospital and obtained pictures of Sugar.

The Oakland Police Department, after ten days of repeated phone calls, finally made a crime report.

De Schbazz (alias Diane Williams) has repeatedly returned to the grandma’s house. After many more calls to the Oakland Police, on October 29, more than a month after Sugar was stabbed, I talked with investigating officer Smith. Smith said that since Schbazz had already been technically arrested, she could not be arrested again for the same crime. I faxed witnesses’ statements, pictures, and the police report to officer Smith and he said that he would take it to the District Attorney’s office.

On November 7, officer Smith said that Deputy D.A. Paris Coleman declined to prosecute because of the delay and that he felt that Voices for Pets was pressuring the family into pressing charges.

On November 8, I called Deputy D.A. Coleman. I told him that the family had called me after becoming frustrated with the system and definitely wanted Schbazz stopped. I also told him that Schbazz still claimed to have training that qualified her to give care for the elderly, and that it was only a question of time before there would be another victim. I added that the only thing that would stop her would be to bring her before a judge who could order her to get psychological help and order her to discontinue offering care for anyone.

Deputy D.A. Coleman said he would call the family to find out if they wanted the case prosecuted. Over a month later, Coleman has not called Sugar’s family and has not returned repeated calls from them.

Please write a letter to the Alameda County District Attorney, Thomas Orloff. Send your letters to Voices for Pets at the address below and we will forward them to Orloff. We will also send copies to the Mayor of Oakland, each City Council member, the Alameda County Supervisors, and the media with full documentation of what has happened. Without media coverage future victims will not be protected and there will be no justice for Sugar.

Madeline Mason, with 100 years of wisdom, said, "Sugar is a friendly, nice, loving cat. I guess I am very lucky De did not put the knife into me."

Sugar is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery.