Former Radford pet shop owner guilty of animal cruelty

VIRGINA -- The owner of a former pet shop in the city was found guilty of 15 counts of animal cruelty Thursday in General District Court.
 
Alexander Montgomery Nelson IV, of Roanoke, was sentenced to pay $1,500 in fines and was barred from selling or possessing any animals by General District Judge H. Lee Harrell. Nelson will cease operation of Classy Critters, formerly located at 1031 E. Main St. He was also sentenced to 15 jail sentences of 180 days, all of which were suspended.

In June, Radford police and animal control responded to a complaint of a foul odor coming from inside the pet shop, according to a city news release.

Authorities then obtained a search warrant based on the odor and condition of the animals in view.

Police seized three dogs, two turtles, one bearded dragon, one leopard gecko, one fat-tailed gecko and numerous fish. They also found deceased animals including multiple rodents and fish.

Nelson originally faced a total of 43 charges, including the 15 animal cruelty counts, 15 counts of failure of a dealer or pet store to provide adequate care, five counts of improper disposal of a deceased animal, three counts of not providing rabies shots for dogs, three counts of not having a license for dogs and two counts of dogs running at large, according to the release.

Today, Nelson faces a hearing on restitution for the state’s time and effort in caring for his animals after they were seized from him in June, Radford Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Annis said.

In 2009, Nelson was charged with 200 misdemeanor counts of improperly disposing of a dead animal in Pulaski County General District Court for leaving hundreds of dead rats to decompose on his property near Snowville.

A judge ordered Nelson to clean them up within a month, then changed his mind in October of that year after an official with the Department of Environmental Quality told police it would be best not to disturb the rats. Nelson was then ordered to let the rats decompose on-site and not dump any more, according to Roanoke Times records. The charges were dismissed in 2010, according to Roanoke Times records.
(Roanoke.com - Dec 4, 2014)

Earlier:

• Former Radford pet store owner faces multiple animal cruelty charges