Amy Verder: Accusations by a LTL Foster of Physical Assault, Threats & Trespassing

November 6, 2013:

Amy Verder has gone way too far this time and she has crossed boundaries that no decent person would cross. She violated the basic rights of an innocent person and her young child and now animals that were safe and well cared for are at risk again for God knows what fate awaits them.

The allegations are that Amy and others went into her foster's home without her permission, then after the foster asked Amy to leave many times, Amy physically assaulted her, removed all of the animals that were in Let Them Live Rescue's name and she made horrible threats against the foster. The police were called (911) for assistance at least twice.

This latest attack was Amy's typical MO (but with an added element of very disturbing, violent behavior). Harassing, bullying, threatening and trying to intimidate those she perceives as her enemies. You know, people who know the truth about her shitty rescue practices and could damage her already very poor image.

Formal criminal charges are expected in Louisville, Kentucky very soon as a result of Amy's alleged criminal acts.

Here are the specific details as reported by the foster:

Earlier this evening, Elisha Rutan, a Let Them Live foster, informed us that Amy Verder came to her home uninvited and "barged her way inside" her home. She said that Amy brought her daughter, LeAndra Verder, Barbara Trimble and Barbara's husband to her home with her. Barbara and LeAndra also entered Elisha's home without her permission, per Elisha. 

After they pushed their way inside, an argument ensued between Amy and Elisha and Elisha called 911. Amy came there under the pretense that she wanted to reclaim the animals that Elisha was fostering. Amy was upset because Elisha had told her that either she put the animals in her name or else she needed to find another foster and pay for all of their expenses. 

Amy could not handle this ultimatum apparently based on tonight's events.

A little of the back story for a moment. 

Amy allegedly sent many animals (mostly dogs and puppies) to Elisha to foster yet there was never a foster contract given to her for any of them. Elisha also adopted a puppy named Jack from Amy and no surprise, there was no adoption contract given to her for him either. Elisha has witnessed many things that Amy was allegedly doing that are unethical and very irresponsible at the least, some of which are very possibly criminal.

It wasn't until Amy refused to pay for the medical bills of puppies that got sick as a direct result of Amy sending unquarantined puppies to her home to be fostered, that Elisha became frustrated and upset. These are puppies that Amy reportedly told her had been quarantined and vaccinated. In addition, Amy knew that Elisha was fostering another litter of 11 puppies and their mom at this time. 

So Amy endangered all of these puppies, plus Jack, by sending these sick puppies there which were found to have parvo shortly after they left Elisha's and were sent to Michele Barnes (Michele's Rescue) in Michigan. Jack did in fact get parvo but he was treated and he recovered.

Amy wanted Elisha to provide all of the vetting, the food, the physical care of these dogs and she wanted Elisha to pay for it all, yet she wanted the donations for the dogs to go to her paypal. Allegedly Amy told Elisha that she could adopt out the dogs as well. Essentially, Amy was only the rescue in name only. She did none of the things a responsible rescue would do.

Trouble had been brewing lately and LeAndra was letting it show. 

Were the Verder women already planning this gang effort to enforce the outcome they wanted and to assault Elisha?

Back to tonight's saga:

So Amy and Elisha were talking inside Elisha's home and Amy was raising her voice. Elisha said she must have told her at least 20 times to leave but Amy refused. 

Amy then allegedly proceeded to grab Elisha by her neck and also her arm, hard enough that there were still red marks there quite some time later.

Then Amy attempted to walk towards Elisha's young daughter's room. Elisha could not allow that to happen and she intercepted Amy but never touched her. Elisha merely advanced towards Amy in what I imagine may have been an intimidating way and Amy backed up and then left the house. 

But soon afterward, Amy allegedly came back and somehow entered the home again and also attempted again to try to walk towards Elisha's daughter's room. Presumably Elisha once again intervened and blocked Amy from being able to do so.

Then according to Elisha, Amy threatened her, stating that she was an unfit parent, that she would report Elisha to Child Protection Services, and said that she would take her daughter from her. 

The police were called again by Elisha, 26 minutes after the first 911 call was made.

Sometime during all of this, Elisha claims that LeAndra also entered her home without permission. Barbara was allegedly going through Elisha's home and trying to forcibly remove dogs.

The police finally arrived and Amy and the others were allowed to leave with the mother dog, her 10 puppies and two bunnies. Elisha was told that she could press charges for assault once she came to the police station to do so.

Two of the puppies were being quarantined at Elisha's due to having parvo, which they were being treated for (and they were responding well). Elisha feels that these pups also got sick as a result of Amy misleading her and sending unquarantined puppies to her home previously. Amy put all the puppies together in the vehicle when she left Elisha's property.

It is anyone's guess where any of these poor animals will end up now. Most likely they will be shuffled off to another shady rescue or just end up missing and unaccounted for like so many others do.

Here is Elisha in her own words on her page tonight. I'd say this woman is beyond upset and she has every right to be angry after the way Amy and LeAndra have treated her. She was a good foster for LTL, she seems to have been very dedicated and diligent and extremely careful with how she managed to care for sick dogs and healthy ones at the same time. I also think it's important to note that we've been in communication with her for awhile now but her first priority, and rightly so, was the well being and safety of these animals that she was caring for.

 

Oppose Amy Verder and this is the result.

Dare to challenge her and threaten her source of "income" and this is what happens. Harassment, attacks (verbal and now physical), threats, intimidation and stalking behavior.

Ironic that she claims to have stalkers. She does not. She merely projects her own shit onto others, accusing them of the BS she does.

There is no basis for Amy Verder to report Elisha to Child Protection Services. Furthermore, she has made these exact same threats before against another person (a rescuer in Georgia) who found out that Amy was collecting money for dogs that she did not have and were not hers. Amy acted on her threats too and reported the rescuer to CPS but the allegations made by Amy were unfounded and therefore, the case was dismissed.

This is merely Amy's way of hurting people where it will hurt the most. It's done out of vengeance and revenge against those she seems to believe are out to get her. Her enemies.

We will be covering all of the irresponsible and crappy things that Elisha has knowledge of re: Amy Verder in other posts very soon. Hopefully this will open some eyes to how she REALLY operates Let Them Live Rescue.

P.S. Sorry for saying the word "allegedly" so much but hey, we have to cover our asses too. 

Update 11/10/13:
We  spoke to Elisha Rutan again today and went over everything that occurred the night of this incident again. There are a couple of things that we need to clarify in the interest of being as accurate and fair as possible. There was some misinterpretation at the time we spoke to her earlier, even though we tried to verify that we understood her correctly. We apologize that these details were not available to us at the time and we want to make these things clear now.

• There were 10 puppies (not 11), plus their mother and the two bunnies that Amy removed from Elisha's home and left with. This was purely our error. The litter was originally 11 puppies but one of the puppies, Layla, died a couple of weeks ago. (We did change this in the post above)

• Elisha had told us previously that Amy had "grabbed my throat and my arm" and this is what our notes state from that conversation. However, she informed us today that a more accurate representation of the alleged assault would be:
  
  
  Amy then allegedly proceeded to attempt to grab Elisha by her neck but she got a hold of her by the chin instead, touching a small part of her neck as well, and she also grabbed her arm, hard enough that there were still red marks there quite some time later.

•  We were told initially that Amy had "barged in" to Elisha's home when she opened the door and that Amy had not been invited in when she arrived. However this is not accurate, although Amy did allegedly enter her home without permission later. After speaking to Elisha today, this is our understanding of what actually happened. 

1. When Amy first knocked on Elisha's door, Elisha opened the door slightly and told Amy to hold on so she could put her dogs up and then she shut the door and got her dogs situated.
2. Elisha stated she went back to the door, opened it and then moved back to allow Amy entry into her home. This was what I would describe as nonverbal consent to enter.
3. Elisha claims that they were standing about two feet or so from the front door and Amy immediately began speaking to her in a raised voice. Elisha said she told Amy she did not have a problem with her pulling the pups but that Amy needed to leave if she was going to raise her voice because her daughter was sleeping.
4. Elisha said that Amy allegedly got even louder, yelling and calling her names, and she also moved closer to Elisha's face and acted in an aggressive manner. Elisha told Amy repeatedly to leave her home and that she was not welcome there. She told her that she needed to leave as it was now going to be a civil matter.
5. Barbara allegedly entered the home without permission during this conversation and once things escalated, she intervened and pulled Amy out of the house. 
6. Elisha claims that Amy allegedly entered her home a total of 4 times, the first time was with her consent and the final 3 were without her permission and Barbara escorted Amy out of the home all four times, Amy never left voluntarily. 
7. Elisha said that she never gave her permission for LeAndra to enter her home and she allegedly entered the home twice. Barbara also helped to escort LeAndra out of the home, per Elisha.
8. Barbara's husband allegedly also entered the home without permission, at least once. 

• Elisha stated that Amy allegedly told her that she was going to call CPS on her and that she would take Elisha's daughter away from her, raise her as her own and adopt her and that Elisha would have to live with that the rest of her life.

• There was another woman who arrived at the residence later and allegedly came to Elisha's doorway but did not enter. Her identity is unknown.

Elisha was still running on adrenaline from the evening's altercation and she was naturally upset after this and we may have misunderstood her true meaning re: certain words she used, leading to the misperception of what she said had occurred. These are understandable factors, but we regret that we did not have a better understanding prior to posting what we fully believed was accurate at the time.

We were also asked to add some additional info re: the transfer of the animals.

Elisha wanted to make it clear that she voluntarily gave the animals referenced above to Amy. In no way did she refuse to do so, although she did not want them to go. Barbara was allegedly trying to get the mother dog out of the home while Elisha and Amy were arguing but Elisha handed the puppies to Barbara herself. Elisha explained that she gave Barbara information about the puppies and their needs and she insisted that Barbara use bleach on her hands and arms after handling the two puppies that had been diagnosed as having parvo recently. Barbara cooperated with this and the puppies and other animals were safely removed from the home.

There are more details that could be elaborated on but this is sufficient for now and we are still hoping to see this addressed through the court system. Information that does not jeopardize the case may be forthcoming at a later date.