Animal advocates ask for max sentence in animal cruelty case

INDIANA -- Keontah White, 28, made her first appearance in court Thursday on four animal abuse charges.

White faces four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty after prosecutors say she abandoned two dogs, leaving one in a garbage bin to die.

A group of about a dozen demonstrators picketed outside the St. Joseph County courthouse during White's hearing with signs reading "Animal crimes need to do time" and "Animal lives matter too."

They asked that the judge eventually find White guilty and give her the maximum sentence of jail time.

"We want serious punishment for animal abuse, or it's not going to stop," says Becky Kaiser, a member of the South Bend Animal Control Commission.

Kaiser and the other picketers say they hope White's case will serve as an example to other animal abusers.

Earlier this month, neighbors caught White on their surveillance cameras, showing what looks like White taking two dogs to the alley behind her home on the 1100 block of College Street.

When those neighbors later found one of the dogs in a trash can, near death, they called police. After seeing the footage, officers arrested White.

 

White would not speak with WSBT 22 about her charges, four Class-A misdemeanors. That means for each charge, White faces a maximum of one year in jail and $5,000 in fines.

The animal advocates are hoping the judge will go all in.

"The maximum sentence, yes," Kaiser says. "Let's start making a difference by the sentences we give them."

The dog that was allegedly thrown away in the trash was in such poor condition, animal control officials eventually had to put it down days later.

The other dog was hiding in bushes nearby when officers rescued it. It's now recovering at the home of a South Bend Animal Care and Control employee

Both dogs, officials say, had clear signs of neglect.

"It's ridiculous, people that abuse dogs," says Alice Allen, who was picketing outside the courthouse Thursday. "You start with abusing dogs, then what? It's terrible."

White asked for a public defender in court Thursday, so her hearing was continued to July 16. She's expected to be arraigned then.

"We can't keep giving these people that abuse animals a slap on the wrist and community service," Kaiser says.

(WSBT-TV - June 25, 2015)

Earlier:

• South Bend woman charged with animal cruelty after allegedly throwing dog in trash