Joseph Viles

From Rofflehaus

Apparently, the science of zoology doesn't require a love for animals. Or else ISU would've fired zoology associate professor Dr. Viles long ago for his more than 30 charges of animal abuses in 7 years. Half of those charges resulted in convictions and fines.

In September 2002¹, Viles was brought to trial for two counts of animal neglect, for beating his dog inside his car. He was also facing other charges of animal neglect for leaving two dogs in his car on an 85-degree day while parked outside the Story County Justice Center (apparently, this happened while he was in court fighting the previous dog-beating charges)². In the case of the second charges, he tried to subpoena³ Story County Attorney Stephen Holmes to testify on Viles' behalf, on the grounds that Holmes sometimes brought his dog to work in his car. The judge called the subpoena "ridiculous".

On Sept 3. he was found guilty⁴ of animal neglect for beating his dog and received a 30-day suspended sentence, a $500 fine, and one year of probation. On Sept 26. he pled guilty to the two charges of leaving his dogs in the car and received two $50 fines⁵.

Viles also ran for the Fourth Ward Ames City Council seat in 2003. He came in fourth place, garnering only 19 votes out of 1220⁶. It's not clear if his weak showing was due to poor campaigning or his reputation for animal abuse.

During a debate in the 2003 election, Viles said that since 1991, he had only voted in the 2001 election⁷ (and presumably, his was one of the 19 votes he won in the 2003 election).

The university has taken no action and will appear to take no action despite Viles's long history of abuse. This is because the issues are "very complex" and besides, they happened off-campus and didn't involve actual people, according to Peter Rabideau, former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Paul Tanaka, university legal counsel ⁸.

[edit] References

[1]: The article, Professor to go on trial for animal neglect charges, in the 09/03, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/03/2002)
[2]: The article, ISU professor racks up additional animal neglect charges, in the 07/25, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 07/25/2002)
[3]: The article, Judge rules against subpoena in Viles case, in the 09/26, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/26/2002)
[4]: The article, Professor receives guilty verdict, in the 09/04, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/04/2002)
[5]: The article, Zoology faculty member 'cuts losses,' pleads guilty, in the 09/27, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/27/2002)
[6]: The article, Runoff, in the 11/05, 2003 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 11/05/2003)
[7]: The article, Candidates' voting records questioned, in the 10/30, 2003 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 10/30/2003)
[8]: The article, Issues with professorâ€™s personal life, job complicated, in the 08/01, 2002 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/01/2002)