Carol Vaughn

cvvaughn@dmg.gannett.com

A rally will take place Monday to protest a family pet's killing by animal-rights activists.

The rally will start at 10 a.m. Monday in Accomac, Virginia.

Protestors' goal is to see the case against two PETA workers brought to trial.

Accomack's Commonwealth Attorney declined to prosecute, saying he did not find criminal intent.

UPDATED on DelmarvaNow.com: Dozens rally against PETA, prosecutor in Accomack

A rally will take place Monday, Nov. 24, in Accomac to protest the death of an Accomack County family's pet at the hands of Norfolk, Virginia-based animal-rights activists.

Hundreds are expected to show up in the sleepy county seat for a march beginning at 10 a.m. to protest the euthanization of Maya, a Chihuahua owned by Wilbur Cerate of Hopeton.

The march will end in front of the Accomack County Commonwealth's Attorney Office, where protestors will ask Commonwealth's Attorney Gary Agar to reconsider his decision not to prosecute the case.

"The ultimate goal is to take it to trial," said organizer Edward Armstrong, Cerate's friend.

The saga began in October, when two workers from People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals came to the Hopeton mobile home park where Cerate lives and took the Chihuahua from a porch while the family was out, police records show. The dog, a gift for Cerate's 9-year-old daughter, was later euthanized.

The area has had an ongoing problem with stray dogs. Cerate said PETA has been there several times before, picking up strays.

"There are probably about five or six other families" that have had their dogs taken in similar incidents, Armstrong said, noting, "PETA admitted themselves they took a total of three dogs" that day from the mobile home park.

But in Cerate's case, a security camera on the property captured the scene — it showed a PETA van in the yard, then a woman entering a porch and leaving with the dog, which Cerate admitted had no collar or tags.

Cerate, upon returning home, found the dog missing. The security footage told the story.

He called PETA; then, on Oct. 20, he called the police.

The Accomack County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 4 obtained arrest warrants for PETA workers Victoria Jean Carey, 54, and Jennifer Lisa Woods, 52, both of Virginia Beach, Virginia. They were arrested the next day, charged with larceny of a dog and released on personal recognizance bond.

One of the women visited Cerate a couple of days after Maya was taken and told him the Chihuahua had been destroyed. She apologized and handed him a fruit basket, he said.

Maya's death has sparked outrage far beyond the Eastern Shore of Virginia, with the report making headlines in news outlets across the nation.

But Commonwealth Attorney Gary Agar declined to prosecute the case, saying there wasn't criminal intent.

"In reviewing the case, I did not find that there was criminal intent in the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt," he said.

Armstrong and other supporters disagree.

"Don't pretend like a crime hasn't been committed because you don't want to prosecute it," he said.

Protestors at the rally will ask that a special prosecutor be appointed to the case.

Support on a Facebook page called ESVA for Maya, set up to show support for the family and their pet, swelled from about 40 "likes" when Armstrong left work at 6 p.m. Nov. 20 to more than 800 Friday morning.

Given those statistics, Armstrong is optimistic the rally will exceed the original goal of 100 participants.

"We can't allow corporations to dictate what our law enforcement can and can't do," said Armstrong, adding, "I definitely don't believe anybody has the right to go on someone's property and take a life, take a member of the family away from that property and kill them the same day."

cvvaughn@dmg.gannett.com

757-787-1200, ext. 115

on Twitter @cvvaughnESN

Read the prior story: PETA, an Accomack County dog's death and the fallout

Rally planned

A rally to urge the Accomack County Commonwealth's Attorney office to prosecute a case against two PETA workers accused of taking a Hopeton family's pet Chihuahua will take place at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 24, The Commonwealth's Attorney's office is located at 23392 Front St., Accomac, Virginia.

Additional details about the march and rally will be posted on the Facebook page, ESVA for Maya.