Inquiry Harry Wessels - Monster Snakes inquiry

[sally-dog]

So if this neglect was known for at least six months, and these pictures date to then, I'm waiting on you to tell me you contacted authorities.

You did contact authorities, didn't you???

Several people have contacted the authorities on this guy, recently, and over the years. Nothing has been done, obviously. He lives in a podunk town in AR. They really don't seem to care much.

 

[sally-dog]

I personally didn't know about this until this September.

 

[amercnwmn]

I'd never kept retics, and I was anxious to learn from this man who seemed to know all there was, and claimed to have "invented retic breeding". I'd offered to assist Brenda whenever she cleaned cages, in the event there was an accident, I was instructed to get Harry. Brenda had taken a couple of serious bites while working alone, and Harry was too busy on Facebook. I have bad knees, and a bad back, so I never really handled anything that didn't live in a 4ft cage unless I had help. Brenda was the one who grabbed snakes. I cleaned baby cages, refreshed water. I was mostly cleaning up right before company came. It is my understanding others have been used in this capacity as well. I drove Brenda everywhere since she doesn't have a license, did their grocery shopping when his mom went on her annual winter vacation. My husband mowed their lawns (his mom's and his) and cleaned their yard. The rent was supposed to be discounted, but never was. To be quite frank, my family and I are low income, if I could have afforded to feed those poor snakes, I would have. But i just couldn't. I feel terrible. I did wind up freezing all the rats I had bred: about 77 of them, for the smaller snakes in Harry's collection, in the hopes they would at least be fed. Unfortunately a month after I moved Harry messaged me just looking for a set of keys to one of the hot cages, which means they'd gone 5wks without care before he even thought of them (the keys were in the cage door!)

 

[amercnwmn]

Not while I lived there. I protected my family. I have a small special needs child. I moved out as fast as I could. Once out, I spoke to a friend who shared the pics with someone experienced with dealing with neglected animals. Harry was contacted by someone they thought he respected and asked if he needed help, he was notified the pics existed, he knew who took them (obviously). He threatened my life, to which I have a witness. (Not that Im concerned now that Im out) He also threatened to turn in others whom he had information on. Several people expressed concern if the pics made it public, and if the authorities were involved it would become a PR nightmare. I held off taking any action in order to allow them to stage an intervention. The pics have made it through numerous channels and yes, authorities were notified.

 

[amercnwmn]

In fact, that's why I held off posting anything on public forums. I've only spoke of this with friends that I know wouldn't turn this over to anyone campaigning to end reptile keeping. I'm not expecting action here, the pics speak for themselves. I made no bones about making sure Harry knew I was planning to contact authorities in the hopes he would rehome/sell the snakes quickly, as he was losing interest anyways, and make necessary changes to avoid legal trouble. From what I have been told, he has downsized considerably, but no one has seen the animals, and he has disappeared from the online communities.

 

[sally-dog]

The only other instance where I have contacted authorities was when all the drama regarding Ashley Caspillo went down. They didn't seem too terribly interested that she had venomous animals or that she was keeping illegally. You'd think with the way the media loves to jump the gun on reptile owners, the authorities would be all over this. Same for this. Court gave me the appropriate contact info and the only response was "We'll look into it."

I posted the pictures because they were mentioned, and I wanted to point it out that they were real.

If you've ever personally dealt with Harry, you will know how manipulative and conniving he can be. He has convinced dozens of otherwise competent individuals that he was an honest businessman who cared for his animals. He also has a criminal record so I don't know if I'd act any differently than Court if I was in the same position. You don't know what he's liable to do or how he's going to respond. Most rational adults don't go into temper tantrums or threat you if you so much as say one word to someone they don't like. This guy isn't a rational person, and he's obviously been scamming for years now. It's all he knows.

 

[Lucille]

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

 

[Magic]

Several people have contacted the authorities on this guy, recently, and over the years.

But have you?? Are you one of the several? Has there actually been a police report filed on him concerning these particular photos by you?

 

[sally-dog]

But have you?? Are you one of the several? Has there actually been a police report filed on him concerning these particular photos by you?

Go read my latest post. I contacted them. I'm unaware of a police report, but it's not my place to file one since I was not directly involved in the events. All I could say was I had proof of animal neglect.

I did not have any contact with Harry or Courtney from August 2012 to September 2013. That's over a full year. I was not aware any of this was happening. Stop questioning me as if I was there to witness this. I called and did what I could, which is all anyone could do. I posted what I did here because the community needs to know. He is liable to turn up again, just as he did back in the early 2000's under Sonny Wessels.

Lots of threats were made by Mr. Wessels that if the authorities were contacted, he in turn would contact the authorities on other keepers that he suspected called on him. He would often brag about this in person. He had beef with so-and-so, and all he had to do to "ruin" that person was have his wife call the authorities on them. That is a BIG part of why more people didn't call. I had nothing to lose from him and I called. I got nothing accomplished.

I noticed that the photos had finally been mentioned in this thread, and I posted my account of how I came to know him and how I came by the photos. I can attest that the animals are his, that I have been on his property, and I can attest to Harry's bullying and conniving nature. That's it.

 

[amercnwmn]

Lucille, very true. There's nothing anyone here will accuse me of not doing properly that I didn't think myself. Let's do a refresher for those who have had run ins online with the man: he ain't right. He bullies women, period. I honestly though the was an ok guy who just slipped. Originally, the snakes appeared well cared for. It was approximately winter of last year I started to open my eyes to the truth: some snakes were being passed over for care based on their value at first. Then it progressed to where even the pied was laying in filthy water in a cage with fuzzy mold growing in it. It was on March when I really realized how foolish I had been to believe him, we were down at his house and he actually teared up about "not being able to afford feeders" and how he just couldn't bear to see his snakes in such a condition. I felt terrible for this kind soul, then I looked around at his new big TV, 8 custom built PCs that cost tens of thousands of dollars, and thought of the $25,000 motorcycle he never rode once..and I realized "what a con!" I was furious, sick to my stomach. I felt nauseous. I withdrew from his groups and didn't post much online at all. I felt like a fool, and I had defended this monster I thought of as a rough-around the edges brother. I'm actually about to cry as I write this because it devastates me that as much as I wanted to help the animals, I failed, and he won. He's conning a whole new set of people. Anyways I've told my end, I have no excuse for not doing better by the animals.

 

[sally-dog]

Yellville is a tiny town in AR. Most of the houses out there are backwoods in the hills, including Harry's. Animal control really isn't a priority that far out in the country. It's pretty commonplace for dogs and cats to run at large. It's a perfect place to house large exotics with little interference. Their attitude as far as addressing my concerns was pretty uncaring to say the least. They really don't have animal control. Sounds like they conduct things through the PD and I think they use Marion County animal shelter. Like most rural shelters, its one of those horrible buildings that's barely fit to house the number dogs and cats taken in on a regular basis, much less dozens of large constrictors!

Having worked in municipal animal sheltering, I know that contacting animal control in more urbanized areas the response is often slow as they operate based on complaints. Rural places seem even worse. Sometimes by the time of the intervention, things are really far gone. Again, I've called about this, and I've also called AC during the whole Caspillo debacle two years ago, and nothing was done. In fact, it seems that in both instances, word got out and animals were moved prior to investigation. Again, in this case, I was only able to act after several months had passed.

As far as Court's character being brought into question, I can't honestly say I would have done anything different in her position. Harry could be pretty volatile, his moods switch from pleasant to irritable over the most trivial things, and there was a child involved. I don't envy her position having seen all this firsthand and not knowing what to do about it, and finally having to release what she knew after the fact the damage was done. She also knew she'd have people come down on her for not taking more aggressive action. Would I trust her with my own animals? Absolutely. I know her well enough to know that this is not her fault. Harry would have done this without her in the picture, now that he had found a new hobby and way to scam people.

If anyone is still interested in contacting Marion County, by all means do so. Chances are Harry's moved all the animals out after he caught wind of this, but maybe they will make it a priority if it keeps getting brought to their attention.

 

[ShadowAceD]

I find it hilarious y'all are jumping on them for not contacting animal control.

Let me tell you about how many times I have contacted animal control on people for similar situations.

Unless you can get a local reptile group on your side, it is RARE that AC gives any sort of concern for abused reptiles. There are several reasons for this, the primary being that they lack the funding or ability to house these animals so obtaining them would likely mean mass euthanasia. And that is when AC exists, it does not sound like this place even has one.

Animal protection laws for mammals are awful, they are even worse for reptiles.

Court was in a crappy situation, what did you really expect her to do beyond what she has done?

I, like Rachel, would trust Court with every one of my animals.

Stop shooting the messengers. That is even a sticky for the BOI rules.

 

[Lucille]

I find it hilarious y'all are jumping on them for not contacting animal control.

Let me tell you about how many times I have contacted animal control on people for similar situations.

Unless you can get a local reptile group on your side, it is RARE that AC gives any sort of concern for abused reptiles. There are several reasons for this, the primary being that they lack the funding or ability to house these animals so obtaining them would likely mean mass euthanasia. And that is when AC exists, it does not sound like this place even has one.

Animal protection laws for mammals are awful, they are even worse for reptiles.

Court was in a crappy situation, what did you really expect her to do beyond what she has done?

I, like Rachel, would trust Court with every one of my animals.

Stop shooting the messengers. That is even a sticky for the BOI rules.

Just my two cents.

While our country and government are currently having some problems and issues with freedom, the origins of our country show that there are those who actually gave their lives for what they believed in.
What is at stake in whether or not to notify someone who might help is not some business disagreement, it is the issue of what to do if one suspects abuse.

Some of you know that I spent much of my adult years as a school nurse. There is an actual legal requirement to report suspected abuse of children. I did not need the law to push me to report, I did so because I believed that no child should suffer physical or sexual abuse in silence. I did so even in the face of those who at times opposed me, one time I suspected abuse of a teacher's child and a police officer came to my school and he and the principal told me to drop the issue, I did not.

I do not think anyone who mentioned the subject of notification did so in a derogatory manner. I understand that many times it is difficult to report abuse, many times one might feel helpless because one thinks the report might be ignored, or one might fear reprisal, or for any number of reasons. But when we do report, we speak for those abused whether child or critter that cannot speak for themselves.

As long as we are courteous, speaking our thoughts of notification is not shooting down anyone, and if those thoughts are trying to help those who cannot help themselves, they are worthy of voicing.

 

[amercnwmn]

Shortly after I moved out, someone who is well versed in animal cruelty, and a reptile keepers advocate was contacted. I spoke with this person, and it was expressed to me to let them see what they could do behind the scenes without contacting animal control. I was asked to wait, I did. They contacted Harry, informed him the pics existed (which he already knew as they were making the rounds via PM) and he declined help, said everything was fine. So, yes.. Steps were made to try to address the problem. Was I happy about the way this was handled? No. I know, at the very least, he panicked of the thought of possible authority involvement; therefore he was more likely to rehome, sell, or even euthanize sicker animals, and clean up his mess. At least I had the consolation that they were not likely being held in such deplorable conditions. I cannot say that if I were reading this, I would not ask the same questions and feel like the situation was not handled satisfactorily. I wish I'd have been able to think clearer and pursue this in a better fashion. Now I am just out to ensure no one falls for his and his wife's cons as I did.

 

[Lucille]

Now I am just out to ensure no one falls for his and his wife's cons as I did.

I am glad you are doing that, I think any step taken in that direction is a good step.

 

[Skiploder]

Don't know the guy, not into retics. I did however have a bizarre little message from him a couple of years ago.

Now keep in mind that I never talked to the guy, nor as far as I know anyone associated with him. I did join his forum after following a google search on Indigos (at the time, you could not view any forum content without joining). One day I checked back in and found a little message for me in my inbox.

I asked Donnie on RTB if anyone else had any similar nastygrams from Harry. I'll not post his response - if he chooses to come here and post it, so be it.

The following is a copy of what I wrote Donnie:

[I]Donnie:

A week or so ago I got an e-mail from MonsterSnakes saying I had a message from Samhain. This was after dropping in after following a Google search to the site on Indigos.

I never have posted there and have never communicated with him in any way - even in a forum discussion.

So I was a bit surprised when I opened the PM and found that he had written this:

"Come to see what a real forum looks like........huh dick?".

I'm guessing he's referring to something I posted here, although I'm at a loss as to what since he and I have never had a forum chat of any kind. I checked the other forums I post on and he isn't active there - only here.

I'm not complaining, and I'm not asking you to do anything about it. Just thought you ought to know that he's apparently making half-assed attempts at bullying (and for very strange reasons) on things that occur here on his site.

Again, I'm sure that this isn't a TOS issue and I'm not all that upset about it - just curious and wondering if anything else like this has happened (that you know about).

If you'd like, I can send you a screen shot of his little hissy fit.

Regards,

Craig[/I]

 

[sally-dog]

Craig, I'll bet at the time he sent you that message he was in his phase of trying to pull members off other forums to populate his own. I remember when he frequented RTB, he'd get members to register on his forum and post there and bully them into staying there.

Maybe he noticed you from another forum and thought you had actually come to stay at his?

I'm well aware of his interactions with Donnie and Michelle Smith. In fact, that was why he confronted me the second time, because I was friends with them and he didn't like it.

 

[sally-dog]

I have a feeling that there will be a lot more people coming forward about their dealings with Harry.

 

[tatmeup]

ill be the first to say im at my wits end trying to deal with this situation.. and i cannot believe the amount of lack of care or basically dont give a sh*t attitude that ive encountered during this process. everyone who knows the history betweenharry and myelf know that ive been number one on his list for year to destroy. hes attacked my animals, my friends, my family, my wife and my tattoo shop.. hes tried everything possible to deface and ruin me for the last 8 years orso. many a story, screenshot, pic, jab, pm, email has been sent back and forth about me to many a person. so needless to say when i first saw these pics as they surfaced the first thing i thought of was..... those poor animals. i could care less that it was harry adn by no means was a personal vendetta about him. but the conditions and circumstances the animals had to endure and sustaine was horrific and absolutely untolerable. i have all the information on sonny wessels even some that had been "locked"up by his late father due to ties i have with investigators and hire ups in the federal offices. so i started calling the authorities, the closest animal control officer, dnr, state funded facilities, and every single one told me that this wasnt a problem for their "county".. the marion county sheriffs dept told me theyd look into it, but seemed nonchalant and didnt even take my info until i offered it to them. this man has been a menace to our hobby and many in it but hes also a criminal for doing this and as a so called advocate for the betterment and defender of animals should be forced to stand trial or at least be held accountable for his actions and the death of those poor creatures, not just snakes, the dead rotting dogs covered in ticks and mites. the hundreds of bloated dead rabbits left outside in plastic totes because it was too warm to dispatch or freeze them properly, bobcat, racoon, venomous animals which if let go could cause a major issue in the community.. please anyone who knows anything or any organization that can make sure this situation is taken care of id would love to help in any way possible.. its good that hes gone from our hobby and will no longer harrass nor hurt any of our keepers and friends.. but at the same time he needs to know we wont stand for his actions and what occurred..

 

[reticguy76]

Well put Gav. Ultimately, its the animals that suffered not us.