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UnitedStatesDepartment
of
AgricultureDmceofAdministrativeLawJudgesHearingCleO<
Room
1031
SouthBuilding1400lndependenceAvenueSWWashington,DC
20250-9200(202)720-4443(202)72O-9nS
fax
USDA
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CERTIFIEDRECEIPTREQUESTEDJuly18,2010ColeBros.CircusJohnJ.Mercurio,Reg."Agent13SouthOrangeAvenueSarasota,FL34236GeorgiannaDavenportd/b/aGigi'sExotics1165C.R.6723Natalia,TX78059JohnW.Pugh47FlowingWellRoadDeland,FL32721DearRespondents:Subject:JohnW.Pugh,anindividual;ColeBrothersCircus.Inc.,aFloridaCorporationd/b/aColeBros.,ColeBros.CircusandClydeBeatyCircus;andGeorgiannaDavenport,alsoknownasGiGiDavenport,anindividualdfbaGigi'sExotics,Respondents-DocketNo.11-0316EnclosedisacopyoftheComplaint,whichhasbeenfiledwiththisofficeundertheAnimalWelfareAct.AlsoenclosedisacopyoftheRulesofPracticewhich"governtheconductoftheseproceedings.Youshouldfamiliarizeyourselfwiththerulesinthatthecommentswhichfollowarenotsubstitutesfortheirexactrequirements.Therulesspecifythatyoumayrepresentyourselfpersonallyorbyanattorneyofrecord.Unlessanattorneyfilesanappearanceinyourbehalf,itshanbepresumedthatyouelectedtorepresentyourselfpersonally.Mostimportantly,youhave20daysfromreceiptofthislettertofilewiththehearingclerkanoriginalandthreecopiesofyourwrittenandsignedanswertothecomplaint.
It
isnecessarythatyouranswersetforthanydefenseyouwishtoassert,andspecificallyadmit,denyorexplaineachallegationofthecomplaint.Youranswermayincludearequestforanoralhearing.Failuretofileananswerorfilingananswerwhichdoesnotdenythematerialallegationsofthecomplaintshallconstituteanadmissionofthoseallegationsandawaiverofyourrighttoanoralhearing.Intheeventthisproceedingdoesgotohearing,thehearingshallbeformalinnatureandwillbeheldandthecasedecidedbyanAdministrativeLawJudgeonthebasisofexhibitsreceivedinevidenceandsworntestimonysubjecttocross-examination.
ANEOUALOPPORTUNllYEMPLOYER