Edward Raymond Baker III and Danielle Elizabeth Boucher were indicted on six felony counts last summer for torturing dogs in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood.
The prosecutor offered the couple a plea deal.
Boucher and Baker sat side-by-side as Judge Olu Stevens read the allegations against them.
The couple was evicted from a home in the 2100 block of Pirtle Street in March 2015.
Days after they vacated the house, Metro Animal Services said the landlord arrived and heard a whining sound in the cellar, where one dog was confined in a kennel.
“A small brown dog had its upper and lower jaw trapped in the wire door of the kennel, had mucus on its eyes and was bleeding from its gums,” Stevens said.
A video of two people struggling with cutting tools for several minutes before freeing the dog, was used as evidence in court.
Another dog was found dead from starvation in the couple's backyard.
According to court records, Boucher told an investigator they had left the house six days earlier.
While her charges were reduced to cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor, Baker's were much more serious.
The prosecutor recommended that Baker plead guilty to two felonies or go to trial.
Baker was given two 5-year PRISON sentences to be served concurrently (instead of consecutively which would have kept him in prison for 10 years). The commonwealth's attorney opposes any probation for him.
Boucher was sentenced to 180 days, but she won't have to serve anytime if she stays out of trouble for a year.
Under their plea agreements, the couple cannot own any animals for the length of their sentences and any probationary period.
Meanwhile, the rescued dog, Lucy, is ready for adoption. If you can give her a good home, contact Louisville Metro Animal Services.
(WLKY - Feb 19, 2016)
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