MICHIGAN -- A Handy Township couple whose home contained a cat skull and was deemed unsanitary for the dog and more than 20 cats living there was sentenced for animal cruelty.
Richard Kenneth Schlegel, 57, and his wife, Cynthia Fay Lober-Schlegel, 54, fought to keep their beloved dog, Ginger, but following a lengthy hearing spread out over months, a Livingston County District Court judge also ruled Friday that the couple had violated the terms of their plea deal.
As a result, the court ordered the couple to forfeit their ownership of the dog to the county animal shelter, which will place it up for adoption.
“You stole our dog,” Lober-Schlegel told an animal control officer as they both walked out of District Court late Friday afternoon.
The couple was initially charged with felony animal cruelty to more than 10 animals, but they agreed to a plea deal that called for them to plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty to two or three animals. A charge of having an unlicensed dog was dismissed and the couple also was ordered to pay $7,630 in restitution to animal control for housing Ginger.
Lober and Lober-Schlegel were each sentenced to one year of probation and two days of community service as recommended by the probation office.
Under that plea deal, Schlegel and Lober-Schlegel agreed to eight terms, including cleaning their home on Van Buren Road, which animal control officers alleged was too unsanitary for animals or humans.
Among the allegations were claims of animal feces outside and inside the home on the flooring and stairs as well as cat mucus and vomit on the cupboards.
Animal control officers seized more than 20 cats and Ginger in 2014. Officials said most of the cats had to be euthanized due to their feral and/or medical conditions while Ginger, who had parasites, was kept either at foster homes or the Livingston County Animal Control shelter.
Lober-Schlegel testified Friday that she used a local trash company three times to remove the trash from the home and she, with some help from friends, scrubbed down the inside of the home with Pine Sol and bleach. She said any furniture with urine was washed, if it could be; otherwise, it was tossed out.
Lober testified that his wife did most of the cleaning, and he admitted that they did leave a window open that allowed about “20 to 25” of the neighbors’ cats to come in.
“We fed them,” he said, noting the animals ate and left. “I believe we did the best we could.”
Judge L. Suzanne Geddis asked Lober if he felt his living conditions were “normal” and he replied: “No, not for everybody.”
The couple’s attorney, Thomas McCombs, tried to question his clients about how they cared for Ginger and what the dog means to them, but he was cut off by the court at the objection of Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Ryan, who said the hearing was specifically to answer whether the couple had violated the terms of the plea deal.
At times, McCombs argued with Geddis as he tried to explain how devoted his clients are to getting back Ginger. When McCombs referred to animal control as his clients’ “chief nemesis,” the judge corrected him because no one testifying used that terminology.
“They are going through hell on earth to get this dog back,” McCombs told the court.
Geddis said she believes the couple tried to repair the living conditions and that it “cost them a lot of money,” which was a theme McCombs tried to hammer when given the opportunity.
However, Geddis said, the home was “just awful” due to the unsanitary conditions, which she noted included the discovery of a cat skull inside the home.
Geddis also noted that she did not agree with all of animal control officers’ recommendation, including that the defendants’ remove floorboards in their home, but she did agree that the house had to be sanitized.
“She just doesn’t believe it was bad for the animals,” Geddis said referencing Lober-Schlegel.
“It’s not safe for animals. It’s not safe for them either. It just isn’t normal to have window open and letting cats come in at will,” the judge said. “I just don’t think either party understands animals need to be treated a certain way.”
(Livingston Daily - May 29, 2015)
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