Indiana: This is why animals continued to be abused and neglected: DA's office agrees to dismiss 19 COUNTS of cruelty so breeder Laura King will plead to 1 COUNT of cruelty. Is the Orange County DA's office lazy? Or are they too scared to take something to trial? -- Oh wait, now they did fine her $1. Yes, you read that right. $1.

INDIANA -- A Paoli woman is looking to spend a lot of time at home, after being sentenced to home incarceration for animal cruelty charges.

Laura J. King, 40, was sentenced last week as a part of her plea agreement with Orange County prosecutors.

She will serve the sentence through home confinement.

Ooh, what punishment. She gets to sit home and watch tv, play video games, eat, sleep, check her email... she is a veterinary technician. She understands more than just about anyone - health issues, starvation, ammonia, matted fur on poodles, etc. Why wasn't her butt put in a jail cell? Or at the very least, why don't you make her get off her butt and go do community service? How about she go stand with a sign saying 'I'm an animal abuser'? What moron approved this? And why didn't the judge reject it? 

An earlier article said that Orange County, Indiana Prosecutor Mr. Kelly C. Minton was assigned to prosecute the case. 

Or is this a case of Laura King being related to someone 'important' in Orange County? Law enforcement? Mayor's office? County commissioner? 

King pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to an animal with the remaining 19 counts being dismissed.

King was sentenced to one year at the Orange County jail, with 185 days suspended, including credit for 14 days previously served and day-for-day good time credit for each day of actual incarceration.

A final judgment and sentencing order in the case shows that the balance of King's executed sentence will be served on home incarceration with electronic monitoring through the Orange County Probation Department.

She also was ordered to pay a $1 fine, court costs of $168 and probation user fees totaling $210.

King was arrested in Louisville in May after the removal of 20 poodles from her home east of Paoli on May 8.

King was arrested in Louisville on 20 counts of cruelty to an animal in connection with a case involving the removal of those poodles from a home east of Paoli on May 8.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department received a notification from a local utility crew about dogs being confined in an abandoned home on U.S. 150 near Tater Road.

 

Veterinarian Dr. Bill McDonald was called to the scene. He found two dogs that were suffering from maggot infestations and took them to his office for treatment. The remaining dogs, all of which were covered in their own waste, were taken to the Orange County animal shelter in Paoli.

One of the dogs died the night the animals were found.

 

According to those on the scene, the dogs were found standing in 2 to 3 inches of feces and someone had been feeding the dogs, but only enough for them to be kept alive and the food had been dumped in the dogs' crates in the dog's waste.

40-year-old King is the owner of the property and works as a vet technician at Metropolitan Veterinary Specialist in Louisville.

(WBIW - Dec 22, 2014)

Earlier:

• Indiana: 20 Poodles found covered in feces in Paoli home belonging to vet tech Laura King