Dennis Jones, owner of Greenwood Pets & Plants, could have faced up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine on the felony charge. In a plea agreement with a judge, Jones, 57, likely will be sentenced to probation when he returns to court on Aug. 20.
Jones also pleaded no contest in a separate case involving alleged mistreatment of a goat and other animals at the store in 2012.
Formally, he is accused of failing to provide adequate care or negligently allowing at least four but less than 10 to suffer unnecessary neglect, torture or pain.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt, but it is treated as such for sentencing purposes.
“Anytime an individual goes to trial, there’s risk involved,” defense attorney Stephen Rabaut said Friday. “After having a full discussion with Mr. Jones, the evidence in the matter about how he was most likely to get a better outcome, he made the decision to enter the no-contest plea.”
Last May, Warren and Macomb County animal control officials removed dozens of animals — including birds, kittens, a puppy, two roosters, an iguana, a tarantula and a 10-foot python — from the landmark business on Nine Mile Road near Schoenherr because the facility lacked electricity and water service because utilities were cut off. Most were mildly to severely under-nourished.
Of the three dozen cockatiels, several were bloodied and some had broken wings and toes. Two died less than 24 hours after being removed.
Around the same time, Jones remained the target of a garnishment effort filed last autumn against Greenwood Pets & Plants by an attorney who had previously represented Jones in an unrelated case.
That lawyer, Robert Binkowski, claimed in September 2012 that he was owed more than $2,000 for handling a 2007 civil lawsuit against Jones that resulted in the dismissal of a claim against the pet shop owner.
In late March, 37th District Judge Jennifer Faunce — now a judge in Macomb County Circuit Court — found Greenwood in default and ruled that business property could be seized. Due to issues involving storage of live animals, Faunce ruled that the animals be sold immediately.
Most of the injured and malnourished animals were taken to Parkway Small Animal & Exotic Hospital in Clinton Township. Some of the cockatiels were expected to undergo months of treatment, including a few that faced amputation of toes.
Under Faunce’s order, all the animals were briefly under the legal control of court officer Paul Zalenski.
“The only thing I sold was the remaining tropical fish, which was the cheap fish, because the power was being shut off,” Zalenski said Friday. He said four fish distributors declined to buy the approximately 250 fish for $100 before one dealer agreed.
“The problem was everybody who came to look at them … were afraid if they put the animals into a tank with healthy ones, the risk of (spreading) disease would be too great,” Zalenski said.
Faunce’s order last spring was trumped in late June, when prosecutors initiated a forfeiture case against Jones and his business. Jones agreed on June 24 to relinquish ownership of animals that had been for sale, including: a dog, five rabbits, a dozen cats, an albino Burmese python, three iguanas, the roosters, the tarantula, one tortoise, nine chickens, 31 rats, five dozen mice and several lizards. Under the agreement, Jones essentially surrendered the animals to two veterinary hospitals and the Macomb County Animal Shelter.
Meantime, nine other birds — including four macaws — and a cat were ordered to be placed in homes or with caregivers that could provide adequate care and living conditions, according to court records. Those animals were considered Jones’ pets but could not stay with him because of bail restrictions against him in the animal cruelty case that prevented him from possessing animals.
Rabaut said he thinks any ailments or injuries suffered by animals at Greenwood may have been due to challenging economic conditions faced by the business.
“He is an animal lover and he never meant any harm to any animals,” Rabaut said of Jones. “The bottom line is he thought it in his best interest to resolve this.”
An animal welfare organization that pushed Warren officials to take action against Greenwood had hoped Jones would face more severe punishment.
“We wanted jail time (for him),” said Pam Sordyl, founder of Puppy Mill Awareness of Southeast Michigan. “We’re going to be at sentencing, for sure.”
The sentencing agreement that calls for probation was reached in July with Macomb County Visiting Judge Thomas Brookover. Brookover was filling in for Circuit Judge David Viviano after Viviano was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court by Gov. Rick Snyder.
Faunce, who had ordered in May that the animals at Greenwood should be sold immediately, was appointed by Snyder last month to fill the vacancy on the Circuit Court bench. She takes over Viviano’s caseload, but Brookover is expected to return to handle the sentencing of Jones.
The current whereabouts of all the animals was not immediately known Friday.
(The Macomb Daily - Aug 2, 2013)
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