MINNESOTA -- Charges of animal cruelty against a Plainview woman have been dismissed, a year after her conviction.
Melissa Ann Atkinson, 28, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals as part of a plea agreement in May 2014. In exchange, a petty misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia was dismissed. A stay of adjudication was granted for 12 months.
In a stay of adjudication, a defendant pleads guilty, but the judge doesn't accept the plea. Instead, a stay of adjudication is issued.
If the period of probation — in this case, 12 months — is successfully completed, the offense isn't entered on the defendant's criminal record and the charges are dismissed. Arrest records, however, still indicate an arrest.
Conditions of the agreement prohibited Atkinson from having pets, as well as paying any restitution and remaining law-abiding for 12 months.
On Tuesday, Wabasha County prosecutors ordered the charges dismissed, citing Atkinson's successful completion of her probation.
The investigation into the case began March 26, 2014, when Plainview police officers were sent to a home for a report of dogs without food and water.
According to the criminal complaint, Atkinson had contacted the manager of the mobile home park to say she was planning to move out of a trailer the manager owned but, in fact, had moved out a week earlier.
Atkinson told the manager her husband was supposed to be caring for the animals. When Atkinson learned no one had been in the home for at least a week, she asked the woman to check on the dogs.
The woman found the two pit bulls confined to a wire kennel together, court documents say, and at least one of the dogs looked like it hadn't been fed for some time.
Responding officers noted "both dogs' waists appeared to be constricted, and their ribs were visible," the report says. There were several empty bowls near the kennel that appeared to have been used for food and water and dried urine and feces on the floor near the kennel.
Paws and Claws of Rochester advised the officers to give the dogs a small amount of food and water; the animals "devoured" it through the kennel grate. Paws and Claws agreed to take the dogs.
While still in the home, police heard from Atkinson, who said she'd left her husband with a full bag of dog food with orders to care for the animals. Authorities were unable to reach him, but a woman they spoke with claimed Atkinson was supposed to provide the care, the complaint says.
Officials looked through the home for any other animals and found a turtle in an aquarium that the manager agreed to take. While searching, officers allegedly also found drug paraphernalia used for smoking marijuana.
(Post-Bulletin - May 29, 2015)
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