CHARLESTOWN — As Tim Stark of
Wildlife in Need faces a litany of accusations recently filed by the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, an administrative law officer has upheld a ruling that allows the Charlestown animal refuge to keep its license.
Kevin Shea, an administrator with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, formally asked for Stark's Animal Welfare Act license to be revoked in February 2015. Shea claimed that a 2008 U.S. District Court case in which Stark was convicted of violating the Endangered Species Act made him unfit to hold a license. APHIS also claimed that Stark had been found to have harmed animals in his care.
In January, USDA Administrative Law Judge Janice Bullard ruled in Stark's favor, finding there was no evidence that Stark harmed any animals and that APHIS "routinely renewed" Stark's license since the 2008 conviction. The following month, APHIS filed an appeal of the judge's decision. On July 15, Judicial Officer William Jenson issued a 16-page decision in response to the appeal, again in Stark's favor.
While Jenson found that APHIS is not barred by a statute of limitations to initiate a termination case, he did note that similar termination cases that have come before him came within four years of a conviction. In Stark's case, APHIS did not file for termination until more than seven years after the conviction.
Still, Jenson disagreed with Judge Bullard's opinion that the continued renewal of Stark's license since 2008 showed that APHIS determined that Stark was fit to hold a license.
"The regulations require that APHIS annually renew each Animal Welfare Act license upon ... licensee's payment of an [AWA] license fee and filing an annual report and an application for license renewal ... " Jenson wrote. "As long as the [AWA] licensee meets these three requirements, APHIS must renew the licensee's [AWA] license."
USDA-APHIS spokeswoman Tanya Espinosa did not answer as to why APHIS waited so long, but said in an email that the agency is "reviewing our options" in light of Jenson's decision.
As for whether Stark harmed animals in his custody, Jenson ruled that the 2008 conviction related to Stark’s illegal sale of an ocelot to a woman in Texas, was not enough to show he harmed any animals.
Stark responded to Jenson’s decision in a post on Facebook saying, “WIN (Wildlife in Need) WON AGAIN!!!!” Stark has also used Facebook to respond to new charges filed by the USDA on July 8. Those charges — which include accusations that Stark verbally assault USDA inspectors and that he euthanized a leopard with a baseball bat — were filed a week after Jenson’s decision.