top
Santa Cruz IMC
Santa Cruz IMC
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

South Beach Pizza Company Owner Allegedly Orders Employees to Destroy Baby Opossum With Bleach

by Santa Cruz News
Via Petition Hub: Dany Pena, 35, now former head chef at South Beach Pizza Company in Santa Cruz claims that he came into work Saturday to find two employees of the company standing next to a garbage can with a baby opossum inside.
south-beach-pizz-santa-cruz.jpg
The employees were ordered by the owner of the restaurant to destroy the baby opossum by poring bleach on it.

The head chef freaked out and tried to wash the animal off, and when that didn't work he rushed the animal to a nearby animal rescue center. The animal died an hour later.

Pena also quit his job before taking the animal to the rescue center. He stated : "The lack of remorse they had about this act of cruelty led me to quit. None of God's creatures should be treated in this manner."

South Beach Pizza Company representatives have not returned calls requesting comment on this incident.

Please sign the petition and join me in asking the authorities to investigate this case of animal cruelty and punish the owner of the restaurant for ordering his employees to destroy the baby opossum.

Also send a message to the restaurant via e-mail here info [at] southbeachpizzaco.com

Sign petition here:

Punish South Beach Pizza Company Owner For Ordering Employees to Destroy Baby Opossum With Bleach!
http://www.petitionhub.org/Punish-South-Beach-Pizza-Company-Owner-For-Ordering-Employees-to-Destroy-Baby-Opossum-With-Bleach-t-451

§Photo of the Opossum that was killed
by Trevor
opossum-south_beach_pizza_santa_cruz.jpg
"The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is investigating claims that a pizza restaurant owner ordered an employee to kill a baby opossum on Saturday, according to Rebecca Dmytryk of Wildlife Emergency Service."

Read more:
CHEF QUITS AFTER RESTAURANT OWNER ALLEGEDLY ORDERS EMPLOYEE TO KILL OPOSSUM
http://abc7news.com/news/restaurant-owner-allegedly-orders-employee-to-kill-opossum/337856/
§Update: Owner's attorney denies allegations
by (A)nimal Lover
"A former chef at a Santa Cruz pizza restaurant says that he quit his job Saturday after finding out that his coworkers were trying to kill a baby possum trapped in a garbage can, but an attorney for the business says that management never ordered the possum killed and the chef had been fighting with management for weeks over unrelated issues."

"But Brad Brereton, an attorney for the pizza restaurant, said that Pena had been fighting with management for weeks over unrelated issues and the argument boiled over that day."

"Brereton said Pena left the restaurant with a possum that had gotten stuck in a garbage can, but that management did not know the possum was there and did not order it killed."

"Brereton said his client does not know how the possum got into the empty trash can, but said that the weather was extremely hot that day and that the trash cans had been cleaned with bleach and its death was not intentional."


Pour Bleach on Baby Opossum? No Way, Says Santa Cruz Pizza Eatery
http://patch.com/california/watsonville/pour-bleach-baby-opossum-no-way-says-santa-cruz-pizza-eatery-0
From KSBW:

Police arrested Alan Thomas Rockwood, 31, of Santa Cruz, on Thursday and charged him with one count of animal cruelty. Rockwood was released and not booked into jail.

Animal Control Officer Todd Stosuy said that Rockwood, "admitted he had made a mistake, and he gave a full confession. He was very remorseful for his actions."

"Alan Thomas Rockwood allegedly poured bleach on the opossum in an attempt to kill the animal that was trapped in a trash can," Stosuy said.

There was one part of Pena's story that investigators did not confirm as true. Pena previously told Bay Area news outlets that his boss had ordered the employee to use bleach.


Read More: Santa Cruz man killed opossum with bleach at pizza parlor, shelter says
http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/santa-cruz/santa-cruz-man-killed-opossum-with-bleach-at-pizza-parlor-shelter-says/29055270
Add Your Comments
Listed below are the latest comments about this post.
These comments are submitted anonymously by website visitors.
TITLE
AUTHOR
DATE
Brian Alderson Smith
Mon, Oct 6, 2014 2:47PM
John Colby
Mon, Oct 6, 2014 12:55PM
K.
Mon, Oct 6, 2014 12:21PM
Frank Bevivino
Mon, Oct 6, 2014 11:31AM
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$80.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network