When imposing the jail time on 40-year-old Michael A. Wood, Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters said it was a serious matter that needed “serious consequences.”
“This is not a case where you have one or two animals that were abused or neglected. This was way above and beyond that,” Waters said.
The jail time will be followed by three years of unsupervised probation.
Wood pleaded guilty to 11 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty: seven relating to horses that died on his Crossfire Trail property in Clark, three relating to dead dogs and one in connection with a particularly underfed horse.
As part of a plea deal, the Park County Attorney’s Office dropped five additional counts of cruelty that had related to other thin, but still-living horses that were found on Wood’s property in mid-January.
Deputy Park County Attorney Jim Davis, who prosecuted the case, had asked for the year of jail time, plus four-and-a-half years of probation, during a hearing that started Monday and resumed on Wednesday.
“I can tell you that the public was outraged against this case — and I think deservedly so,” Davis told the judge, calling the case “particularly egregious.”
“He (Wood) had to walk by those horses every day, your honor, and day by day those horses got weaker and weaker ... until they essentially lay down and die,” Davis said, adding, “I don’t know how it could have happened, really. It’s kind of beyond me really that you can do that and end up with the result that you see in the photographs (of the animals).”
When a Park County Sheriff’s deputy questioned Wood on Jan. 9, he reportedly said he didn’t have the money to feed the horses in his corrals and that he hadn’t been able to to find another home for them; he later said the two dogs found dead in a horse trailer must have died from the cold.
His court-appointed defense attorney, Scott Kath of Powell, said Wood’s wife had abruptly left him in late October — taking their two kids with her.
(The woman later requested a protection order and a divorce, saying Wood had been abusive to her and the children; Wood has denied that.)
Wood indicated in court that his family’s departure began a slide into depression, saying he felt empty, lost and confused after his wife and children left. While not excusing Wood’s behavior, “there’s a lot of stuff going on in his life that I wouldn’t wish upon anybody else,” Kath said.
Wood said his two children had been the animals’ primary caretakers, as he sometimes worked long hours; Kath indicated that both Wood and his wife owned the animals.
“These animals were not solely his, and he’s not here blaming somebody else for abandoning him and the animals that were jointly owned,” Kath said.
Waters expressed some sympathy.
“It was a tough situation for Mr. Wood to be in, but at the same time, it’s a tough situation for the dogs and the horses to be in — and they didn’t have any say in it. And they didn’t have any choice and they didn’t have any option,” the judge said, echoing remarks made by Davis.
Kath had argued for no additional jail time, asking Wood be credited for the couple weeks he’d served when the cases began and to be released on probation.
“For goodness sakes, what Mr. Wood did — or didn’t do — with regards to tending to his livestock was wrong, and with his dogs, and he knows that,” Kath said. However, he said prosecutors had “certainly asked for a lot less with regards to human beings getting injured.”
“Honestly, I hope to get probation so I can just move on with my life and try to put everything back together,” Wood said during Monday’s hearing, adding later that, “I regret what happened. I want to move on.”
Judge Waters later questioned whether he’d heard Wood express true remorse.
Wood responded at Wednesday’s hearing that he just doesn’t show much emotion.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about what’s happened. It haunts me every day,” Wood said. “I see the images every night when I go to bed. It’s not easy.
"I care,” he said.
Waters said he appreciated the statement, but added it was a “serious” situation where “a lot of things could have been done to prevent this.”
As part of his sentence, Wood must pay $2,090 in court fees and assessments and reimburse the state for the roughly $2,500 it cost to examine the dead animals and care for the living ones that were seized.
The Park County Attorney’s Office chose to file the charges in two batches and to have Wood arrested a second time when he went to his mother’s home in Oregon. Davis asked the judge to require Wood to pay back the roughly $3,000 it cost Park County to bring him back to Cody from Oregon, but the judge said the county would have to eat that cost.
Kath successfully argued that prosecutors should have tried simply issuing a summons and had Wood return to Cody at his own expense.
“That second go-round was just so unnecessary,” Kath said.
When he completes his 360 days of jail time and begins the three years of probation, Wood must obey the law and not own or care for any animals.
“I don’t want you to keep a pet turtle,” Judge Waters warned. “No animal of any kind for any reason.”
Wood, who’d lived in Park County for eight years, said he plans to return to Oregon once he is released.
Timeline:
Jan. 7 — Acting on a tip, the Park County Sheriff’s Office finds seven dead and six thin horses near Wood’s Crossfire Trail residence in Clark.
Jan. 9 — The Sheriff’s Office seizes the dead and still-living horses.
Jan. 14 — Deputies return to Wood’s home after a neighbor reports there are also dead dogs on the property. They find two dead dogs in a horse trailer and another in a bedroom, plus three living but apparently underfed dogs and three living cats. All of the animals are seized. That same day, the Park County Attorney’s Office charges Wood with 13 counts of animal cruelty relating to the horses.
Jan. 15 — Wood is arrested on the charges relating to the horses.
Jan. 18 — Wood makes his first appearance on the 13 counts of cruelty to the horses. Prosecutor Jim Davis says in court that additional charges may be coming for the dead dogs.
Jan. 19 — Wood’s mother posts his $7,500 bond and he is released from jail. Wood is free to travel and he soon leaves for his mother’s home in Oregon City, Oregon.
Jan. 22 — A day after getting a veterinarian’s report on the dead dogs, the Park County Attorney’s Office charges Wood with three more counts of animal cruelty. Another warrant is issued for his arrest.
Feb. 9 — Wood is re-arrested in Oregon City, Oregon, and later brought back to Cody.
Feb. 23 — Wood re-appears in Park County’s Circuit Court for his first appearance on the three cruelty charges relating to the dead dogs. He’s required to post another $3,500 bond and later does so. He ultimately is allowed to go back to Oregon City.
(Powell Tribune - June 30, 2016)
Earlier:
- Wyoming: Michael Wood, 39, charged with animal cruelty after police find dead dogs on his property
- Oregon: Clark man Michael Wood, wanted in animal neglect case, arrested in Oregon
- Wyoming: Michael Wood, 39, gets sympathetic judge to lower his bond. Why doesn't the judge have sympathy for the animals which suffered and starved to death at Wood's hands?
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