Christopher Pope was initially charged with 12 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty related to his treatment of his 12 large, aggressive Presa Canarios that had been removed from his custody and housed at the Danville-Boyle County Humane Society.
In a plea deal with Boyle County Attorney Richard Campbell, Pope pleaded guilty to 12 reduced counts of mistreatment of a dog or cat under a county ordinance and agreed to pay $100 per count in fines, but that $1,200 will be probated for one year, meaning he won’t have to pay it if he stays out of trouble.
Pope also pleaded guilty to 24 violations for not having the dogs licensed or vaccinated, for which he was fined $360 plus court costs for a total of $543.
Pope also agreed to pay $5,810 in restitution to Animal Control and the humane society for picking up the dogs, housing them, vaccinating them and other related expenses. If he pays half of that amount by July 9, the dogs will be returned to him and the balance will be due in six months.
Pope told Boyle District Judge Jeff Dotson he plans to move the dogs to a kennel on Tom Hackley Road in Lincoln County. That kennel will be inspected by Boyle Animal Control officers before the dogs are released back into Pope’s custody, Campbell said.
“I’m just glad I can get my dogs back and be able to take care of them,” Pope said after Wednesday’s hearing, declining to talk further about the case.
Campbell said afterward that he needed to get the case disposed of in order to deal with the dogs, which he said “are so vicious they can’t keep them with other dogs because they will kill them.”
“Rescue people” were interested in taking the dogs, but Campbell said he couldn’t release them because if Pope went to trial on the charges and was found not guilty, he could rightfully reclaim his dogs. Campbell said he could have put the dogs down as vicious animals who were a danger to humans, but animal lovers frowned on that solution.
“I’m not happy, but I feel it’s a reasonable disposition of this case,” Campbell said.
Presa Canarios are an unusual breed that are used mainly as guard dogs. Pope raised them at a home on John W.D. Bowling Court, where they became such a threat to neighbors that 12 of them were picked up by Animal Control. Two other Presa Canarios were burned up when the house caught fire June 20.
According to court records, Pope has a long history of dealing in narcotics. He was convicted of trafficking in cocaine in Jessamine County in 2010 and of the same offense in Boyle County in 2011.
He is currently under indictment in Fayette County for trafficking in an unspecified controlled substance and being a persistent felony offender.
(Central KY News - July 2, 2015)
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