Betty Ann Gould accepts the 15-year ban as part of a plea bargain in a case involving abuse
OREGON -- A longtime breeder of Persian cats is now banned from owning any domestic animals for the next 15 years — the main provision of a plea bargain that led her to be convicted of trying to kill two felines by tossing them into the Willamette River in late November.
[Witnesses told police the two abandoned Persian cats were found inside of a trash bag that was snagged on a tree branch near Island Park in December 2012.
Responding officers from SPD immediately set to work trying to rescue the cats from the Willamette. They managed to retrieve both felines, who officials said were scared but safe.]
During an appearance in Springfield Municipal Court on Thursday afternoon, 62-year-old Betty Ann Gould entered “no contest” pleas to two misdemeanor counts of attempted aggravated animal abuse.
City prosecutors dismissed two charges of animal abandonment as part of the plea deal.
Springfield police arrested Gould a few days after officers rescued a pair of calico Persian cats from the river near Island Park.
The cats had been placed in a bag before being thrown into the water, police said.
A judge sentenced Gould to three years of probation, ordered her to pay a $1,500 fine and barred her from possessing domestic animals for the next 15 years.
“She’s not real happy about it but accepts that’s the way it’s going to be,” Gould’s attorney, James Kolstoe, said Friday of the no-pets restriction.
Gould also was sentenced to five days in jail, but will not serve any additional time behind bars because she spent about four days in a Lane County Jail cell after her arrest on Dec. 3.
Gould had been scheduled to contest the charges at a trial next week, but instead agreed to resolve the case through a plea deal with prosecutors.
By pleading no contest, Gould avoided formally admitting guilt but faced the same penalties as she would have had she entered guilty pleas.
Springfield Animal Control officer Brian Austin said he conducted a thorough check of Gould’s Thurston area property on Thursday afternoon, and found no evidence that any cats were still living there.
The city will make follow-up visits to ensure that Gould continues to comply with the animal ban.
“I went in every room and did not see a cat in the entire place,” Austin said. He added that Gould was “extremely cooperative” during the visit and thanked him.
Investigators found an estimated 50 to 60 Persians at Gould’s home while she was in jail. The cats were being cared for at the time by her son, police said.
Gould told authorities that she gave away all of her cats to breeders and friends in recent weeks, Austin said.
For years, Gould has operated the Snowbunnies Persians cattery out of her home.
The two cats that police rescued from the river are healthy and living with a family in Eugene.
Intense public interest surrounded Gould’s case. Protesters picketed outside her Springfield hair salon after her release from jail, and several petitions were circulated in the community among people who wanted to see Gould lose her right to own animals.
“We never stopped receiving calls regarding the cats and (Gould’s) conduct,” Austin said. “It was definitely overwhelming at some points.”
Kolstoe, a Eugene attorney, said the public reaction to the criminal allegations played into Gould’s decision to settle the case rather than contest the charges at a trial.
“People do react emotionally to these kinds of things, and that has to be factored in when you think about whether or not to take something to trial,” Kolstoe said.
Jill Winans of the Willamette Animal Guild in Eugene said Friday that she was pleased to hear that Gould will not be permitted to own animals for the next 15 years.
Winans had written one of the petitions regarding Gould.
“This is good news,” Winans said. “We don’t care about the ($1,500) fine or jail time. We just don’t want these kinds of people to have animals.”
(Register Guard - Jan 26, 2013)
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