MICHIGAN -- A Buchanan area woman will face trial in August on an animal cruelty charge. Karrie Lyn Gleason is charged with neglecting horses left in her care since last fall. Three horses died and six others were found in bad condition.
Gleason, 32, is charged with cruelty/abandonment of four to 10 animals by failing to provide adequate care for them between Sept. 1, 2013 and Feb. 20, 2014 at a property on Buffalo Road in Bertrand Township. The charge carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, a $2,000 fine and up to 300 hours of community service.
A preliminary hearing on the charge of cruelty/abandonment of four to 10 animals concluded Tuesday with Berrien County Trial Judge Dennis Wiley ruling that there had been sufficient evidence presented to bind Gleason over for trial on the charge. Wiley's ruling came two weeks after he heard testimony from the horses' owner, two veterinarians and an animal control officer.
The trial is scheduled for Aug. 20 to Aug. 22 in Berrien County Trial Court in Niles with conferences June 6 and Aug. 8. Gleason remains free on bond.
Wiley summarized the testimony heard on April 22 before making his ruling, noting that horse owner Deborah Redding had left the horses in Gleason's care when Redding moved from the property on Buffalo Road and that veterinarian Aarie Houseknecht euthanized one horse in late January after finding it in shock and otherwise poor, emaciated condition.
Wiley cited the testimony of another veterinarian, Garry Fedore, who saw the surviving horses in early February and found them to be suffering from malnutrition, as well as testimony of animal control officer Dan Atherton who inspected the horses on Feb. 3 and found the water frozen in buckets. Fedore saw the horses a month later after they had been moved to Coloma and found them making a rapid recovery.
The case has raised criticism of Berrien County Animal Control by neighbors and a representative of the Michigan Horse Welfare Coalition. While they claim they made complaints to Animal Control as long as two years ago with no response. Animal Control Director Val Grimes, however, responded that her office addresses all complaints promptly.
Grimes said her officers go out the same day or the next day when they receive complaints and followed that procedure in this case. "We have been out there over and over again," she said. "We did follow through on every call. No matter what the complaint was, we went out and investigated."
(South Bend Tribune - May 6, 2014)
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