That ends with me. This is my public statement of why I have done everything I could legally do to prevent him from being the face of Reptile Rescue in Utah.
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| From a tank found in Mr Dix's possession a leopard gecko who starved to death |
To my knowledge, I have never personally met Mr Dix. You may decide that this immediately invalidates my arguments, but I ask you to bear with me and keep reading. Most of the stories will have a link to my original blog post so you can verify the dates and stories. My stories are all word of mouth and lack the "Substantiation" required for court cases. Those with the first hand knowledge and pictures of his abuse & neglect also have first hand knowledge of how Mr Dix retaliates against those who go against him. They are scared to death of what he might do. My hope is that if I stand first, I can give others the strength to stand behind me.
Mr Jim Dix is a bully, not a rescuer.
There is a public Jim Dix who is often rather charming and portrayed as a picked on "Good Guy" who has gotten a bad wrap. I've talked to people who have only met this side of him. It is the Private Mr Dix who is a Monster--yes, a monster!-- who needs to be stopped from ever rescuing another reptile.
My Own Experiences:
1- I began my own private reptile rescue out of my own house in December of 2012. I didn't really publicly advertise until the Spring of 2013. I heard of Mr Dix as being the main reptile guy for Utah. I was also warned to steer clear of him. One friend said "Jim can be a powerful ally or a terrible enemy. Don't cross him." I had just left another animal rescue because of the continual drama and assumed reptile rescue would be far less dramatic. I didn't pay much attention to the warning.
2- My first real experience with Mr Dix came in September 2014 with Fido, a large male iguana. At that point I was only focusing on bearded dragons and did NOT want an iguana. But someone claimed to have "rescued" Fido from Mr Dix who apparently had him in a plastic tub under a table all weekend at a local reptile expo. I was told the iguana would be "put down" by Mr Dix after the weekend and could I save him. "But if he needs to be put down, what can I do for him?" The answer horrified me-- Mr Dix's way of euthanizing iguanas (healthy or sick) was to tightly wrap them alive in plastic bags and put them in his chest freezer to kill them. I could not believe it! I had the iguana taken to my vet for a humane euthanasia. Imagine my shock when my vet called to say Fido was the healthiest iguana he had seen in a long time. I ran to a local pet store, bought a 55 gallon tank (the biggest size they had), and brought Fido home even though I was scared to death of him. I had him for two weeks before I found him another home.
3- In June 2015, a friend showed up at my door with another plastic tote containing another iguana. This iguana, Junie, had spent the last two weeks in the tote (instead of just two days) at Mr Dix's facility. Junie had been left behind after a local murder-suicide and Mr Dix stepped up to take him. If you read my first post about Junie, you'll see that I didn't mention anything about where he came from. Over time, I got tired of looking the other way instead of calling out Mr Dix for what I was hearing; the second post is more vocal against him (even though I didn't name names).
Over the years in between, I received many stories about Mr Dix along with very dire warnings to "not cross him." Most of these don't have proof more than my own memory and so I'll leave them out. I hadn't been in rescue more than a year before I realized that Mr Dix was a bully and a sham at being "Utah's Mr Reptile" even if he made the news every few months.
4- My biggest (and worst) experience with Mr Dix was in April 2016 when I took in 12 reptiles that were pulled out of a burning house by firefighters. At first I thought the reptiles were simply owned by the known meth user and producer who owned the house, but found out that they had been placed there by Mr Dix who needed more homes to put his rescued reptiles
In the beginning, I kept details of the fire victims' story private. I did not mention names or places and focused mainly on getting the reptiles healthy and adopted out. When my rescue partner started receiving threats and harassment, I put my foot down and called out Mr Dix and the meth user on my blog HERE. That call out earned us two weeks without harassment. But then it started up again (HERE). I refused to return the reptiles (only 11 of which were still alive) to Mr Dix or to the meth user living in his car. I delivered a list of requirements I needed for the reptiles to be returned and had it delivered by certified mail. A reply never came. It took about a month, but we were finally left alone. All the reptiles were adopted out into good homes and lived "Happily Ever After." There are many posts on the Fire Victims and you can read through the list if you click HERE. During one of the post-fire inspections, an insurance adjuster found tanks and bags in the attic & crawlspace of the house that contained hundreds of animal skeletons. We begged him to make a statement to the police or animal control. As far as I know, nothing was ever done with the information.
5- Last year, I received a call from one of Mr Dix's volunteers (he contacted me several times through someone else but never called me directly) asking if I knew why a tank full of 12 bearded dragons would all suddenly start throwing up blood and then die within an hour. Why? Because his rescues just had. I even asked my vet if he had any clue. Neither of us had any idea, but the vet stopped questioning it the second he heard that it had happened to Mr. Dix.
6- 140 snakes were seized from Mr Dix over a month ago. It was during this seizure by animal control that 83 turtles & tortoises & snakes were put into boxes and bins and moved into a plumber's warehouse. Approximately a week and a half later, Mr Dix was admitted to the hospital. By the time the remaining 83 were found, they had gone two weeks with little to no food and water and no heat. Remember that the reptiles were in the warehouse for a week and a half before he went to the hospital. Last week even with a broken foot and a full house, I took in 12 of the reptiles abandoned by Mr Dix and confiscated by the county animal control. Why? Because for the first time as a rescue I could publicly do something to help save the animals from him. Here's a News Story on how the reptiles were adopted out after being quarantined at the county shelter.
Other stories I've heard:
-when volunteers would get angry and quit, Mr Dix would call their work, declare who he was, and lie about having to let the volunteer go because they'd been caught stealing. More than one employee lost their job because Mr Dix lied. Volunteers became terrified to quit because they feared they'd lose their jobs or he would have animal control take their animals.
-one volunteer went to change the water and add food to the water turtles' horse trough only to find that the living turtles could only get above water by crawling up on the backs of the dead ones. And yes, there were more than a few dead ones.
-Elvis, the alligator that appeared at every Utah's Reptile Rescue event, was actually several different alligators because they kept dying from poor care. One would die and a new one would be put in its place as Elvis.
-Mr Dix has been evicted no less than a dozen times in the last 3 years. It is always for non-payment of rents on houses and storage units. Though he may claim he has been discriminated against because of his reptiles (especially the venomous ones), a simple phone call will show you how many thousands of dollars each storage unit owner or homeowner lost because of him.
-Centerville city had so many residents complaining about the smell coming from the garage of the house where he was staying that the city council actually rewrote city ordinances to prevent wild animal rescues from operating within in city boundaries. That law was changed about the same time he was evicted again for non-payment.
-I am aware of several cases of Animal Cruelty and Neglect being pursued by multiple government agencies at this date. That's all they will say in an effort to keep their case strong and defendable. And yes, they know how to contact me and the pictures documenting the neglect have been forwarded again.
-As I have watched the #metoo movement on social media, I have wondered how many women wish they could stand up and say #metoo because of their time spent with Mr Dix. If you are carrying the heavy burden of guilt and shame because you were sexually assaulted or abused by him, I invite you to stand up in courage. I know of several sexual assaults committed by him that were shared in confidence.
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To you who don't know Mr Dix, I invite you to consider this testimony. If you'd like more pictures, I can supply them for you. I don't expect you to believe me immediately. I do simply ask you to consider all sides of the story. You can take my side or leave it, but at least now you know my side because I'm not remaining silent any more.
To all who have experience with Mr Dix and who have kept quiet out of fear, I invite you to take a stand with me. He has lied about his power over you. He has lied about how he can hurt. He has lied that no one will believe. He is a liar and a manipulator. His power thrives in the silence and dark (like black mold or fungus). Silence will let Mr Dix win. You don't need to be afraid anymore. All of us together cannot be attacked.
To all those who have looked the other way and kept quiet because "it doesn't effect you," I ask this: How many more animals have died and how many other volunteers have been abused and how many lies have been told because you remained silent? What good has it done to look the other way? How has letting this abuse go on in plain sight helped any of us in the reptile industry? It hasn't. He makes us all look like fools. Take your own stand on what it means to REALLY rescue & own reptiles in Utah.
To Mr Dix himself and his devoted followers, I invite you to change. I'd like to believe at some point that y'all had good intentions and really wanted to help. But time and power has degraded you and you are doing more harm than good. Those reptiles that you left cold & starving are now happy, full, & healthy. Leave them be. Let them move on as you move on.
Your first reaction may be to attack me and try to discredit me or ruin my life-- Please don't waste your time. The more you fight, the more public I will become with the private information shared with me. A smear campaign against me will ruin you further. This is not a threat, this is a promise. The buck stops with me.
If you have your own experiences (good or bad) with Mr Dix that you would like to share, please feel free to email me: sw_southerlands(at)yahoo(dot)com
