Most of the evidence against Steven Yaroslaski, 60, was inadmissible because the Humane Society didn't have a search warrant or Yaroslaski's consent to a search when its animal control officers seized 34 bedraggled dogs at 141 N. Bodine Road, said Deputy Prosecutor Lacey Skalisky.
Yaroslaski filed a motion July 5 to suppress the evidence the Humane Society observed and collected March 3, 2011, as well as testimony from veterinarians regarding the dogs' condition after they were seized.
Skalisky said she consulted with Humane Society officers about Yaroslaski's denial of allowing the March 3 search, and "it became clear that we would not prevail on (Yaroslaski's) motion." So the prosecution asked District Court Judge David Koss to dismiss the case.
"Animal cruelty is a terrible crime. However, we have to make sure that individual rights were not violated before we can obtain a proper, fair and just conviction," Skalisky told The Daily News on Tuesday.
Law enforcement officers must obtain a search warrant before entering or seizing a person's property, and nothing in this case exempted them from that obligation, Skalisky said.
Yaroslaski had pleaded guilty earlier this year to the second-degree animal cruelty charges. However, he withdrew the plea on the grounds he didn't know he would be barred from owning dogs for two years after his conviction. Each charge, a misdemeanor, is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine. His jury trial was scheduled to begin July 12.
The Humane Society first visited Yaroslaski's property March 1, 2011, in response to a report of animal cruelty. The officers returned two days later with a sheriff's deputy and took the dogs. The Humane Society gave Yaroslaski a $98 citation for running a kennel without a county permit and a $294 citation for keeping animals in unsanitary conditions. He has paid the fines, according to court records.
Prosecutors filed the animal cruelty charges in September; those were the ones dismissed last week.
The Humane Society's photographs of the property show the dogs — mostly pugs, Chihuahuas, Pekingese and Huskies — living and sleeping in outdoor dog runs and sheds caked in mud and excrement. Their water bowls were black with slime. According to the Humane Society, some dogs' tight collars were embedded in the flesh of their necks. Veterinarians saw cases of dehydration, tooth problems, ear infections, fleas, long nails and foot irritation.
Yaroslaski told The Daily News last year he considered the dogs pets and didn't think the situation was nearly as bad as portrayed.
The Humane Society cleaned up the dogs, spayed and neutered them, nursed them back to health and adopted all of them out.
Because Yaroslaski was not convicted of any crimes, he's still allowed to own dogs, Skalisky said. However, he would have to apply to the county for a kennel license — and submit to inspections — if he wanted to own 10 or more dogs.
Humane Society Executive Director Rick Johnson declined to comment.
"It is what it is. You win some, you lose some," Johnson said. "It would've been great if it would've went forward, but there's not much I can do."
(TDN - July 17, 2012)
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