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Protests Planned At Pet Shop

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By RAY REYES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

PLANT CITY - Residents say they will continue to picket in front of a pet store owned by a registered sexual predator charged with animal cruelty in an attempt to force him to close shop.

'We'll be protesting every single weekend until we put him out of business,' said Plant City resident Linda Penny, of forming picket lines outside of Pet City Center at 1103 N. Wheeler St. 'We want to keep the momentum going on this.'

A handful of picketers lined the sidewalks along Wheeler Street on Sept. 22 and another protest was held Saturday.

The target of Penny's - and other pet owners' - ire is Pet City Center owner Gary Mark Hicks, who was charged by the sheriff's office Sept. 20 with two counts of felony animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of improper confinement of an animal.

Hillsborough County Animal Services investigators say Hicks, 37, is suspected of harming animals brought into his store for grooming. Penny said her 2-year-old Shih Tzu, Diva, suffered razor cuts to the face and genitals during a grooming appointment at Pet City Center on June 2.

Diva's claws were also clipped too short, Penny said, and her pet bled in the car on the ride home.

'I was totally irate,' Penny said. 'He does not need to do this to another animal.'

Animal services spokeswoman Marti Ryan said authorities received complaints about Pet City Center for several months before Hicks' arrest.

Hicks received a civil citation in an animal cruelty case in August, and he was fined $320. Ryan said a Lhasa apso was choked when it was brought into the store for grooming.

Although pet boarders and kennels must be licensed, it is not required for pet groomers, Ryan said. The investigation into Pet City Center is ongoing, Ryan said.

Hicks, who was released from Orient Road Jail on Sept. 21 after posting $4,500 bail, denied the allegations.

'All the charges are false,' said Hicks when he was contacted at his store last week. 'I'm going to fight them. I'm going to clear my name.'

Hicks said he did not groom Diva and was not at the store during the Shih Tzu's appointment. Hicks said the charge of improper confinement of an animal is also false.

When Hicks and his girlfriend, Heather Morrison, were arrested at their Dover home at 5311 Holly Berry Lane on Sept. 20, authorities found an emaciated boxer on the property that was 25 pounds underweight, according to animal services.

Morrison, 19, was charged with one count of felony animal cruelty and one misdemeanor count of improper confinement of an animal. She was released from Orient Road Jail after posting $2,500 bail Sept. 21.

The boxer was a rescue dog that was 'already in that condition' when Morrison took it into her care, Hicks said. He said he feels that animal services has a vendetta against him because he is a convicted sexual predator.

Hicks was convicted in 1999 of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, attempted sexual battery on a victim younger than 12 and lewd and lascivious acts with a child younger than 16, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

In 2004, he was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for violating his probation by selling turtles and fish at a kiosk in Westfield Shoppingtown Brandon. An appellate court overturned the decision and said the terms of his probation did not prohibit him from running the kiosk, which was near shops frequented by children.

Hicks served 11 months in state prison from March 2003 to February 2005, law enforcement records show. He had three years left on his probation until Circuit Court Judge Manuel Lopez granted Hicks an early release last year, said state Rep. Rich Glorioso, who has had an interest in Hicks' case.

Three years ago, the Plant City Republican sponsored an amendment to a House bill that banned convicted sexual offenders from working or volunteering in the vicinity of children. Before the amendment, the law could be interpreted to apply only to schools and day care centers, Glorioso said. The law was changed to include pet shops, zoos, shopping malls and amusement parks.

Because Hicks owned pet stores in Brandon and Plant City before the law was changed, he was grandfathered in and his businesses were unaffected by the amendment, Glorioso said.

With Hicks' recent animal cruelty charges, Glorioso said he hopes prosecutors can build a strong case against the pet store owner.

'I hope they're successful,' Glorioso said. 'I hope this is enough for authorities to put him away for a while.'

Penny, the Shih Tzu owner, agreed.

'This guy's just sick,' Penny said of Hicks. 'Ultimately, what we want to do is close this guy down.'

Fliers advertising the weekend protests started to appear in Plant City last week. One flier called the protest a 'Rally for Protection of Pets and Children' and another reprinted a newspaper story about Hicks' Sept. 20 arrest.

The pet store owner said he will pay no mind to the protesters.

'It's free advertising,' Hicks said of the picket lines. 'Business is as good as it's ever been. People know me. People know I take care of their animals.'

Tribune researcher Melanie Coon contributed to this report. Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 865-4433 or rreyes@tampa trib.com.

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