Judge Orders Animals to Return to Convicted Abuser

NEW YORK -- Pets Alive executive director Audrey Lodado said they were devastated after finding out that six animals that were in her care, were ordered to return to back a convicted animal abuser.

“We all worked so hard to rehabilitate these animals and get them to a place where they were recovering. We all felt that it was going to be a certain thing, those animals were going to be safe."

  

 

Johanna Kloer was arrested in December after the SPCA visited her new Windsor property and found 38 animals in her care, many of them severely malnourished. The animals were seized and sent away to receive proper care, including five horses and a pony that were sent to Pets Alive in Middletown.

Kloer was charged with 30 counts of cruelty to animals and is scheduled to be sentenced in May. But just last week, Judge Stephen Smith released those six animals back to Kloer.

“So the question that pets alive has and all these other entities, is that what’s going to happen to the animals if he puts her in jail for a week a month a year, two years, who’s watching them," asked Pets Alive attorney Benjamin Greenwald.

One of the horses, just a teenager, was emaciated when SPCA found her, and had reportedly gone more than a year without getting her feet trimmed. Despite gaining more than 100 pounds at Pets Alive, she will remain crippled for the rest of her life.

“Heartbreaking to watch them barely be able to get off a trailer. Malnourished. The one mare Soligen, unable to walk," said Cindy O'Brien, the Farm Manager at the animal sanctuary.

Judge Smith, who would not comment on this pending case, released the animals on the condition that Kloer agree to up to four random visits from law enforcement, to ensure that she is taking proper care of the animals. She must also maintain records for one year of the veterinary care that the animals receive. But many feel that’s not enough, and that Kloer should not be trusted.

“A visit every few months is definitely not sufficient to ensure that the animals are safe. An animal could die before they even have time to get there," said Lodado.

Pets Alive has started an online petition, asking judge Smith to return the animals back to them and to prohibit Kloer from owning any animals in the future. It  has garnered thousands of signatures from the community in just two days.

Sentencing is May7. Kloer could face as much as two years in county jail.

(TWC News - March 12, 2015)