Kathi Mills Wins Libel Suit Brought by Atlanta Humane Society

ATLANTA (June 3, 2005) — The Court of Appeals of Georgia today dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Atlanta Humane Society against animal welfare activist Kathi Mills.

   In November 2001, WSB-TV aired a three-part Whistleblower Report criticizing AHS's management of Fulton County animal control and contending it inflated its adoption figures in fundraising literature, lied about the existence of a 24-hour pet hospital and pet ambulances, and failed to assist in investigating animal cruelty cases. After watching the reports, Mills posted a summary of each on a private Internet message board for Atlanta-area pet rescuers, followed by her comments. Mills referred to AHS executive director Bill Garrett as "Mr. Kill" and contended he was "evil," "not worthy to lick the dog or cat poop off our shoes" and "it is time for the Atlanta animal welfare community to unite in ending his long and tragic career."

   In December 2001, the AHS sued Mills and Barbara Harkins, a former AHS employee who appeared in the Whistleblower Reports, for libel. Both parties fought the suits as illegal Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP). The same court ruled in Harkins' favor June 1.

   Mills raised a variety of defenses in addition to SLAPP. She argued the AHS is a government entity barred from suing for libel; that Garrett is a public figure who must prove actual malice to prevail; and that the statements at issue were either true, non-actionable statements of opinion incapable of being proven true or false, or rhetorical hyperbole that a reasonable person would understand to be a figure of speech rather than a statement of fact.

   In today's decision, the court ruled in favor of Mills on all of these issues, stating AHS was at the time of the lawsuit filing a government entity, Garrett is a public figure, and Mills did not act with actual malice. The court concluded the case should have been dismissed on summary judgment by the trial court (Gwinnett Superior Court).

   Fighting this lawsuit for 3½ years at a personal expense of more than $71,000 was worth it, Mills states.

   First, it's a victory for the citizens of the state of Georgia: "More and more people are being sued for expressing opinions big companies don't like, and they are retaliating with lawsuits like this, designed to silence critics.
My victory is a warning that Georgia citizens will not surrender our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and to petition our government for redress of grievances. We can fight these suits and we can win."

   Second, it's a victory for the animals of Fulton County: "The publicity resulting from my lawsuit helped show the public the truth about the Atlanta Humane Society. They were killing almost all of the animals impounded at the shelter in 72 hours without offering them a chance for adoption or checking them for microchip ID to reunite lost pets with their owners. They refused to investigate even the most gruesome cruelty cases because they 'lose money on every cruelty investigation,' according to their executive director. For 20 years, Fulton County paid them as much as $2 million a year to make the county shelter into a Death Star of gargantuan proportions. The citizens no longer consider massive slaughter acceptable animal control, and when the will of the people was made clear to the Fulton County Commissioners, they wisely opened the contract to competitive bid and awarded it to Southern HOPE Humane Society, which has drastically reduced the number of animals killed and improved animal services to county citizens."

   Lawrenceville, Georgia resident Mills was an independent cat rescuer for 13 years before "retiring" in October, 2004 after personally fostering and placing approximately 300 cats. Mills also launched the Web site Kitty Village at kittyvillage.com, which has helped other rescuers and humane societies find homes for cats in metro Atlanta. Mills hopes to begin an advocacy and support group for SLAPP victims like herself.