Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Texas: Sharon Finley, 56, convicted of animal cruelty in Husky’s gruesome death

TEXAS -- An Axtell woman who claims she was trying to rescue two Siberian huskies she saw running loose near Downsville last year was convicted of animal cruelty Tuesday after one of the dogs suffered an apparent puncture wound and died in her custody.

Jurors in Waco’s 54th State District Court deliberated about 90 minutes before finding Sharon Diane Finley, 56, guilty and determining she used a deadly weapon to kill the husky called Thor before dumping his body near Riverview Road and South Third Street.


A second husky called Loki jumped out of her car and ran home after Finley stopped to throw Thor’s body out in December 2015, according to trial testimony.

The punishment phase of the trial starts Wednesday morning. The jury’s deadly weapon finding bumps the crime from a state-jail felony to a third-degree felony.

Finley, who has felony convictions for credit card abuse and forgery and a handful of misdemeanor convictions, is not eligible for probation and faces from two to 10 years in prison.

While prosecutors Robert Moody and Ryan Bownds acknowledged to the jury in summations they don’t know exactly how the dog died, they said two things are clear: Finley didn’t have permission from the owners to take the dogs, and Thor would still be alive if she had not.


Blood-stained seat
Deputies found a pocketknife with blood and dog hair on it and an ice pick in the bloodstained back seat of Finley’s car. However, the dog was not examined by a veterinarian after his death, and it remains undetermined how the wound was inflicted.

Finley’s attorney, Phil Martinez, told the jury that prosecutors did not meet their burden of proof in the case, that there are still too many unanswered questions and that Thor’s death was the result of a “horrible accident.”

Finley testified that she and her mother, who lives on Honey Lane near the Brazos River, had run some errands and she had dropped her mother off at home when she saw Thor and Loki running across the road.

Finley said she has six rescue dogs of her own and works with animal shelters because of her love for animals. She said she stopped to get the dogs and put them into her car so she could try to find out who their owners are.

The dogs’ owner, Matthew Daniels, testified that he and his children were going to a movie that day and left the dogs where they normally are, tethered to 30-foot cables in the front yard of their home.


Finley denied taking the dogs off the cables and said she feared they would be hurt because they were running in the roadway. She said she knocked on the door of a home to ask about the dogs’ owners, but no one was home.

She said she drove to a friend’s home near Bellmead and was going to ask him if the dogs could stay there until she found the owners. When she stopped, the dogs jumped from the car and ran across U.S. Highway 84. One of the dogs started chasing a horse, while Finley and two women, who also work with animal rescue centers and who stopped their car to help, tried to get the dogs back in the car.

While the women ran to one side of the highway, the dogs crossed back and ran back toward the car, Finley and the two women testified.

When they got back to the car, the women spotted Thor lying on the shoulder of the road with blood coming from his mouth and nose. None of the women said they saw him get hit by a car, but all testified they assumed that is what happened.


The two women led Finley in their car to an emergency animal hospital off Interstate 35 south of Waco, but Thor was dead by the time they got there, Finley said.

“It made me very upset. I am an animal lover and I was very upset,” Finley said.

The women, Kathy Craver and Barbara Roscher, both told the jury they did not see a puncture wound on Thor’s side and that there was no blood in the back seat of Finley’s car when they helped load the dog.

Finley said she drove back to Riverview Road and put Thor’s body in a ditch, hoping his owners would come along and bury him. She said she intended to come back the next day with plans to bury him if his body was still there.

“I bury all my dogs, and I thought whoever owned it would want to bury it,” she said.

Finley denied she stabbed the dog with the knife or ice pick in her car.

“I rescue dogs. That’s what I do. I couldn’t believe they were arresting me for animal abuse,” Finley said.

McLennan County Sheriff’s Deputy Glenn Kennedy said he asked Finley about the blood in the back seat of her car, and she said she didn’t know what he was talking about.


“There was a lot of blood,” Kennedy said. “Whatever had taken place in the back seat of that car was gruesome. There was a lot of blood and hair.”

He said he suspected Finley was impaired by alcohol when he spoke to her and that she became belligerent and verbally abusive as he took her to jail.

(Waco Tribune - Nov 29, 2016)

Texas: Huge injured 53-pound snapping turtle saved from pipe

TEXAS -- A wounded 53-pound snapping turtle is recovering at a Houston wildlife rehabilitation center after fire-rescue crews saved it from a drainage pipe.

The Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says the specimen, one of a threatened species known as alligator snapping turtles, was found wedged Tuesday in the pipe in a new residential development near Hockley, about 35 miles northwest of Houston.



Fire-rescue crews used a spreader to open the pipe enough to remove the turtle, which had struggled to keep its head above water.

Several drowned alligator snapping turtles flowed from the newly unblocked pipe.

The SPCA said it also is rehabilitating one other alligator snapping turtle, which had an embedded fish hook and other serious wounds. Both will be returned to the wild after recovering.

(Sacramento Bee - Nov 30, 2016)

Ohio: Montville Township cat breeder Trixe McCowin's attorney denies kitten dumping

OHIO -- A defense attorney said Tuesday there is a lack of evidence linking his client, a breeder of Persian cats, to kittens abandoned in a Brunswick parking lot last year.

Trixe McCowin, 42, of the 3300 block Country Club Drive in Montville Township, is charged with criminal trespass, animal abandonment and two counts of animal cruelty, all misdemeanors.


Medina Municipal Judge Dale H. Chase will decide the case.

Attorney Mike Callow, representing McCowin, said the case hinges on the testimony of one witness, Carmen Martorello of Brook Park.


Martorello testified Tuesday he was in the Applebee’s parking lot, 1421 Town Center Blvd., Brunswick, on Nov. 13, 2015.

Martorello said he observed a “blinged out” yellow Hummer with “lots of chrome” circle the parking lot twice before the driver placed an animal kennel in the middle of the lot and drove away. He described the female driver as “petite” with “dishwater blonde” hair.


Three Persian kittens about 7 months old were in a carrier and they were dirty and ill, according to a Brunswick police report. The kittens were turned over to the Medina County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Medina veterinarian Kelly Parker testified Tuesday that she provided care for the kittens that appeared to be “suffering” and in “horrible condition.”

She indicated their fur was matted and they had upper respiratory infections.

One kitten had its infected eye removed and another was euthanized because of its condition, she said.


“There have only been two cases in my 25 years (in practice) that have been this bad,” Parker testified.

Brunswick Humane Officer Mike Kellens testified the department received a tip from Montville police about McCowin because her vehicle matched the description and she operates an online cat-breeding business, Pure Royalty Persians, out of her home.

Online, McCowin advertises five different types of Persian kittens for sale.

Kathleen Marshall, Medina County SPCA humane officer at the time, testified she met with McCowin approximately five days after the incident because McCowin was a known Persian breeder in the area.


Marshall said she asked McCowin if she was familiar with the kittens or where they may have been sold or bought.

Marshall testified she showed McCowin pictures and McCowin told her the kittens "appeared" to be from her breed line but that they were not bred at her home.

The county SPCA filed the cruelty charge in February. Other charges were filed by Brunswick police in December.


In 2011, the state filed for a sales tax lien against McCowin, then known as Trixxe Conn-Kirtley. She also was fined for disorderly conduct in 2009.

In 2013, she was fined and placed on probation following an arrest on charges of theft and criminal trespass, according to court records.

(Medina Gazette - Nov 30, 2016)

Earlier:

California: Kelvin Johnson, 29, and Jasmine Marshall, 26, recorded their dogs attacking and killing animals and then posted onto social media

CALIFORNIA -- Their names are Max and Sasha.

The pair of dogs — a pit bull mix and a Rhodesian ridgeback mix — allegedly killed raccoons, coyotes, bunnies, domesticated rats and even an egret. Much of this violence was documented and posted on social media.

These wild animals were all killed as part of the dogs’ training by their masters, a San Francisco couple who now face six felony animal abuse counts of killing, maiming, or abusing animals, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

  

Husband and wife Kelvin Johnson, 29, and Jasmine Marshall, 26 — who were both arrested earlier this week — were caught allegedly after their pets made a kill in Golden Gate Park, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the case, but who was not authorized to speak on the record.

Kelvin denied the charges Tuesday and pleaded not guilty, claiming his dogs were attacked by the wild animals.

According to police, last Tuesday a passerby notified police after seeing the couple allegedly sic their dogs on a raccoon and a coyote in Golden Gate Park on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

When police and animal control arrived, they found a van with the dogs inside and the corpse of a raccoon nearby. Two dogs were confiscated by Animal Care and Control, and the couple was detained but released. Both dogs had cuts and scratches on their faces. A third dog has yet to be located.

But the next day, when the pair tried to retrieve their property at San Francisco’s Richmond Station, they were arrested since documentation of their actions was posted online.

The couple was allegedly training their pets to fight by having them attack and kill wild animals, according to the law enforcement source. They then posted images of the dead animals on social media.

One social media account identified by police notes that “I enjoy letting my dogs be dogs of [sic] you don’t like it your fault welcome to the life of Sasha and Max and sometime [sic] smoke.”

Police said in one post they set loose a rabbit in a field for their dogs to chase and kill. In another post they show their dogs and a freshly killed egret. They also posted images of their dogs killing domesticated rats, according to police.

Police also claimed that Johnson was involved in attacking a man with his dog in October 2015 in Bayview-Hunters Point.

Johnson, who remains in custody with an $80,000 bail, appeared in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said his dogs were being attacked by six raccoons and a coyote.

“These dogs were attacked by raccoons in Golden Gate Park and the coyotes,” said Johnson’s court-appointed attorney Everett Hewlett.

But prosecutors countered that statement and classified the case as “highly disturbing,” citing social media posts of the dogs attacking all sorts of animals.

“This is depraved, disturbed behavior,” said Assistant District Attorney Catherine McBride.

Johnson is set to appear in court again alongside Marshall, who was released on her own recognizance earlier this week, for her arraignment Thursday.

(San Francisco Examiner- Nov 29, 2016)

New Hampshire: Pit bulls attack man, attack and kill his dog before being shot by police

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- A police officer had to shoot two pit bulls after they attacked a man and killed the man's dog during a violent altercation on Nov. 20. The police chief stresses his officer had no choice.

The incident occurred at 131 Old Portland Road, said Police Chief Josh Shackford and responding officer John Evans.

On Nov. 20, the homeowner's brother came over to the house with his medium-size mixed-breed dog and somehow the pit bulls got loose and decided to attack the third dog and the man.


The pit bulls belonged to the homeowner's daughter whom dispatch logs identify as Katie St. Onge. Neither the homeowner nor St. Onge were home at the time.

"Apparently, these dogs don't play well with each other," said Shackford. "The two pit bulls attacked the brother's dog and killed it. After they got done killing that dog, they attacked the owner. They took some pretty good chunks out of him."

The victim was able to get inside the home to call 9-1-1.

When Evans arrived on scene, the dogs went after him. When Evans got back to his cruiser the dogs ran back toward the home, trying to get in. Evans began trying to ask the man in the house questions.

The man replied that he had been bitten and that Evans would have to shoot the dogs. The victim told Evans he wanted to get a shotgun to kill the dogs but Evans told him that would not be necessary. When Evans exited his cruiser the second time, the dogs came charging back at him and Evans opened fire.

"It was something that had to be done," said Evans.

Shackford agrees.

"When they came after him, he shot them," said Shackford. "He didn't have a choice."

Evans said the large pit bull was about 75 pounds and the other was over 60. The dog they mauled was about 40 pounds and may have been an Australian cattle dog. Evans said the pit bulls took a fist size wound in the man's leg and also injured the man's hand.

Shackford said the pit bulls represented a threat to anyone in the area and that Evans had to stop the pit bulls.

"It seemed like the dogs were on a tear and not able to be controlled," said Shackford, adding he can't think of a reason why people should own dogs that attack or kill other dogs and people who come by.

Evans said there were children in the neighborhood.

The owners are not being criminally charged and there is no evidence they were involved in any illegal activity that caused the dogs to be violent, said Shackford adding the owners understood that the dogs needed to be put down. The neighbors were also thankful said Shackford.

 

Evans believes the victim was taken to Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro.

North Conway Ambulance, Freedom Rescue, State Police and Madison Police responded.

The same two pit bulls bit a jogger and a dog about a year ago. The owners were summons at that time, but there had been no further incidents until Nov. 20.

Evans, who in a phone interview described himself as a dog lover, said that pit bulls are a big responsibility and people who seek to adopt them should make sure they are properly equipped before hand and be especially careful if their dogs already had an incident

(Conway Daily Sun - Nov 29, 2016)

Florida: Police officers rescue neglected kitten

FLORIDA -- The kitten that was saved after being tied up is doing well. His named Sig, after our duty gun. After a couple trips to the vet he has a clean bill of health!

 
 

He has a cat sister and brother and a dog brother, along with three humans. He eats all day and likes to run around like a mad man at 2am every morning, which he thinks his family loves.

 

The pictures show how happy he is with his new life.

ORIGINAL STORY:
On 10/20/2016 Deputy Peckham and Deputy Cantagallo responded to a trespassing call. Upon arrival they heard a kitten crying and noticed a small 8 week old kitten tied up.

After contact with the two subjects they advised they could not pay for the kitten and kept it tied up so it wouldn’t run away. The kitten was bloated, had fleas, smelled of urine and had visible marks from being tied.


Deputy Peckham took the kitten to Gulfview Animal Hospital. Doctor St. John and his staff were welcoming they cleaned up the kitten, giving all needed medical treatment and the kitten went home with a PSO member.

The staff there showed that no matter how big or small (or what species) his team will come together and help the community.


(Pasco Sheriff's Office - November 28, 2016)

New Hampshire: Whitney Nelson, 64, who police allege slit the throats of two goats faces up to 14 years in prison on animal cruelty charges

NEW HAMPSHIRE -- A man who police allege slit the throats of two goats faces up to 14 years in prison on animal cruelty charges.

Police said Whitney Nelson, 64, was living at a residential inn at 119 Central St. when he killed the owner’s goats Aug. 7.

Officers responded to a report of vandalism at a boarding house at 119 Central Street on Aug. 7. When they arrived, a man showed police that two of his goats that had their throats slit, Fosters reported.

Police were able to examine a trail of blood leading from the farm to the side of the house where Whitney Nelson, 64, lived.

Nelson told police that he did not know how the goats got mutilated. Nelson also had blood on his elbow, police said, but stated he did not know where that came from either.

Police received permission to search Nelson's room, and reported finding another trail of blood leading from the door to the bed in his room. Blood was also found on Nelson's mattress, but he said he did not know anything about the blood, police said.

Nelson was indicted on two class B felony counts of cruelty to animals in October. If convicted, Nelson could face a maximum sentence of 3½ to 7 years in prison and a $4,000 fine for each charge.

He has been released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail and is prohibited from going within 100 yards of 119 Central Street, or having contact with the man who reported the incident to police.

A dispositional conference for Nelson's case is scheduled to take place on Nov. 9.

Police Chief John Drury said Wednesday the inn’s owner is allowed to have small farm animals on the property because it is in an agricultural zone. The owner also keeps sheep and other pets.

Drury said police seized the weapon allegedly used to commit the crimes and the owner was able to keep the animals.

Police are not often called to the inn, Drury said.

“It can be a tough place. But the owner keeps it under control,” Drury said.

(Union Leader - Oct 26, 2016)

Florida: Sheriff's Office releases video of officer shooting pit bull that was attacking her

FLORIDA -- Although in the video the officer thinks she's shot off her finger, the news story says she just grazed it. Also, it shows just how quickly a dog can begin to attack you.

In the video, she is calling out saying 'Hello!' and you can hear a dog barking. When the dog appears, she tells it, "You'd better stay there, brother" and the dog makes its way towards her. 

When you watch the video, watch how the dog behaves. It never growls at her. it never barks at her. It isn't even running full-force at her - something that would tell you an attack is imminent. The dog quietly comes towards her and when it reaches her, it attacks. 

You can see her reach down with her left hand to try to grab the dog's collar and then shoots with her right hand. I'm guessing her left hand was in the way as she was shooting the dog because she tripped.

Thankfully, she didn't shoot off her finger and it doesn't appear that she was seriously injured as she was able to fire her service weapon so quickly to stop the attack.



Earlier:

Georgia: Great-grandmother screams for police to 'Shoot it! Shoot it!' after being attacked by her pit bull

GEORGIA -- Rhino the pit bull already had a reputation for attacking children the morning of Nov. 23, when the pit bull turned on his owner and mauled her 6-month-old great-grandson and another toddler boy at the Tara Arms apartments in Brunswick.

Police and firefighters described a scene of bloody carnage when they arrived at Rutha Mae Hunter’s address at 2525 Tara Lane Apartment 246 at 7:24 a.m. on Thanksgiving eve. But Rhino would not relent, withstanding taser shots and pepper spray and turning hostile toward the police and firefighters.

Hunter has owned Rhino since he was six weeks old, according to county records.


The dog stood over a bloodied Hunter, who was lying on the floor and “hysterically yelling, ‘shoot it, shoot it!’” according to the Brunswick police report. Finally, police officer Steven Kretschmar distracted Rhino just long enough for firefighter Richard Bue to quickly grab Hunter and pull her to safety outside the second floor apartment.

Two-year-old Camarion Spradley had been underneath Hunter, and she clung to the boy as Bue pulled them both to safety. Sometime earlier in the attack, a neighbor had managed to grab the baby, Amire Holmes, and remove him from the fray.

Both Amire and Holmes were taken immediately by ambulance to Southeast Georgia Health System’s Brunswick hospital, and later transferred to Memorial University Medical Center Hospital in Savannah.

Hunter was treated for bite wounds to her hands at the Brunswick hospital.

“For some reason this dog would not quit,” said Bue, a Brunswick firefighter since 2005. “This is by far the worst dog bite call I’ve been on. I’m just thankful that we were able to get all three out safely.”

Police closed the door on Rhino, who was lunging for Bue as he pulled Hunter and little Camarion out of the apartment.

“The dog attempted to follow … so I kicked the dog in the face as hard as I could,” Kretschmar wrote in his report. “The dog was knocked back into the apartment and I closed the door, to keep him from attacking anyone else.”

“I just grabbed her and made one big pull with everything I had,” Bue said. “Then I realized the kid was underneath her.”

Glynn County Animal Services officers were called to take Rhino. The dog presently is being held in quarantine as a vicious dog at the animal services complex off of U.S. Highway 17. He has been there before, according to county records. Rhino was quarantined there for 15 days after biting a child that trespassed onto property where the dog was staying, according to records. No complaints were filed on behalf of the victim and Hunter reclaimed him after the 15-day quarantine period.

Animal services issued Hunter a notice Tuesday and she has 15 days to request a vicious dog hearing with the animal control board, should she wish to reclaim him this time.

Rhino had been staying with a son of Hunter’s and this was the first time the dog had been at her apartment, she later told police. Amire is the son of Hunter’s granddaughter, Semetrius Leshay Holmes; Camarion is the son of Ciara Lanise Spradley, a friend of Holmes’, the report said.

“Ms. Hunter stated the dog … has been aggressive before, but never to her,” the report said.

The call came in as a dog bite, and did not indicate how many people were involved. However, Bue suspected it was anything but a routine call enroute, when dispatchers reported that the dog continued to attack.

“I saw numerous bloody items (shoes, a purse, bags) scattered in the hallway,” officer Kretschmar reported upon arrival.

Kretschmar shot the dog once in the chest with a taser, but may not have hit with both wires. He also sprayed pepper spray on it, to little effect, the report said. A second taser shot distracted Rhino briefly.

“Bue dragged the female out of the threshold and into the hallway,” Kretschmar wrote.

Amire suffered lacerations to his face and eye and has since been released from the hospital.

Camarion was mauled extensively, undergoing plastic surgery for “numerous bites and lacerations to his face.” He received staples to close gashes in his head. He was released from the hospital Monday.

On Tuesday afternoon, Camarion appeared quiet but on the mend as he nestled in the arms of his great-grandmother, Johnnie Mae Williams.

“He’s got a ways to go, but thank God he’s OK,” Williams said.

(Golden Isles News - Nov 30, 2016)

Maryland: Aubrey Ashley, 20, charged with animal cruelty; accused of starving his puppy

MARYLAND -- Alleged mistreatment of a Labrador mixed puppy led to the arrest of a 20-year-old Lonaconing man on animal cruelty charges, according to the Allegany County Sheriff's Office.

Aubrey Alan Ashley was charged Tuesday with animal cruelty causing unnecessary pain and animal cruelty failure to provide food after the sheriff's office investigated a complaint that Ashley was involved in "ongoing mistreatment of pets in the home," police said.


Deputies were provided a video recording by the residents of the complaint location that revealed the physical abuse of the puppy that was owned by Ashley.

Police said examination of the dog revealed the canine was suffering from malnutrition.

Several animals were seized from the residence at that time, police said.

Ashley was arrested at the scene during the investigation.

Ashley remained jailed Wednesday at the Allegany County Detention Center on $6,500 bond, pending a bail review hearing by a district court judge.

ARREST INFO:
Full name: Aubrey Alan Ashley
Sex: Male
Race: White
Birthdate: 04/20/1996
Arrest Age: 20
Date: 11/29/2016
Allegany County, Maryland
Arrest number: 2W00075945
Charge:
ANIMAL CRUELTY

(Times News - Nov 30, 2016)

Canada: Police round up wayward pig in Ontario

CANADA -- Have you misplaced your pig?

On the afternoon of Friday November 25, 2016, officers from the Lanark County Detachment of The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) were despatched to the 2nd Concession of Dalhousie. Township of Lanark Highlands, after a resident reported a large sow wandering and feeding around his property for three days.

The pig appeared friendly and co-operative and voluntarily surrendered into OPP custody. Temporary, safe accommodation was established at a local farm.


The officers were immediately sensible to the likelihood of the story “going viral” and initiated checks of all straw, stick and brick houses in the area. No next of kin was established.

Investigators are withholding further descriptors of the animal so that ownership claims can be tested and assessed.

People who may have recently lost pigs are asked to contact the Lanark County Detachment OPP using the toll free number 1-888-310-1122.

(Quinte News - Nov 29, 2016)

Maine: Danielle Jones' pit bulls, which tore through two fences to attack and kill a 10-month old Boston Terrier named Fergie Rose, have been ordered to be euthanized

MAINE -- Two pit bulls that killed another dog and injured a Winslow woman in August were ordered to be euthanized in a decision issued Tuesday by a judge at the Capital Judicial Center.

One of the owners, Danielle Jones, asked for a second chance for the two dogs — Bentley and Kole — that attacked and killed a smaller dog, Fergie Rose, that was being walked by Sharron Carey on Aug. 30 on Lucille Street in Winslow.


FERGIE ROSE, TORN APART BY DANIELLE JONES' PIT BULLS
DANIELLE JONES' KILLER PIT BULLS

Jones testified Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse, the second day of her non-jury trial on two civil violations that accuse her of keeping a dangerous dog.

The state sought to have the dogs euthanized, one of the options under the state statute governing “Keeping a Dangerous Dog.”

Judge Eric Walker did not grant Jones’ request to spare the dogs and ordered the euthanizing to take place within 30 days. He also imposed two $250 fines on Jones.

“It’s all about justice for Fergie,” said Sharron Carey’s husband, Bill, who sat through the trial. “No one wants to see dogs put down. That’s horrible.”

But the Careys, through the state, sought that remedy.

What chance did this little Boston Terrier have
against these TWO PIT BULLS running towards
her, intent on ripping her to pieces?

Sharron Carey said she relives the attack every day.

“It’s something that should not have happened,” she said.

The Careys declined to speak further, citing advice from their attorneys since they are contemplating filing a civil lawsuit over the matter.

Two video surveillance cameras on Jones’ home captured images of Carey as she was walking her dog along the sidewalk and Fergie Rose lunging toward the home, followed shortly afterward by Jones’ two pit bulls streaking across the lawn to reach them.



Jones testified Tuesday that she ran from the backyard through her house to reach the sounds of screaming and barking on Aug. 30 and saw Carey swinging and kicking and hitting Bentley and Kole on the head as they tugged and pulled at Fergie Rose, a Boston terrier.

Bill Carey, as well as police, said several people tried to help his wife and their dog. Carey said people tried to beat the dogs away with sticks and get them away from his wife and the puppy.

Jones testified she got in the middle of the dogs and twice handed Fergie Rose back to Carey. The third time, Jones carried Fergie Rose to Jones’ own car before returning to get her dogs under control.

Jones testified that she is experienced as a dog handler. She and the dogs’ co-owner Brandon Ross operate The Muddy Paw Grooming Spa & Self Service Dog Wash LLC in Winslow, which grooms 15-20 animals a day.


A neighbor and a firefighter took Fergie Rose to a veterinary hospital where the 10-month-old dog died of her injuries within about 10 minutes.

In her closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Tracy DeVoll said, “It was pack mentality. (The two dogs) worked together, and there was nothing that stopped them, not even the owner. They’ve proven themselves to be dangerous; they’ve proven themselves to be deadly.”

Attorney Charles T. Ferris, who represents Jones as well as Ross, who faces the same charges, said the owners would be willing to muzzle and tether the animals and to take Bentley to an animal behaviorist.


“My clients are willing to abide by any order that this court contemplates in order to keep the dogs alive,” Ferris said in his closing argument.

In the end, however, Walker said he concluded that rather than the “dog fight” described by Ferris, the case involved “an escape and a vicious attack on a much smaller dog where her owner was injured in an attempt to protect her dog.”

REPEAT OFFENDERS HAD ATTACKED BEFORE
He said he found that Carey suffered serious bodily injury when she was bitten on the hands and scratched during the attack, and that Bentley and Kole were the same two dogs involved in an earlier unprovoked attack that injured a younger, smaller dog during which Ross was bitten by one of his own dogs.

“The fencing solution that defendants have suggested gives the court no comfort it would prevent escape,” Walker said, adding that Jones “had first-hand knowledge that her dogs were dangerous” but was “unable to contain her dogs and prevent them from attacking and killing the dog.”

RIP Fergie Rose - killed by two pit bulls before her 1st birthday

911 AUDIO CALL:


SURVEILLANCE VIDEO (NO SOUND):


(Central Maine - Nov 29, 2016)

Earlier:

Oklahoma: Mary Blevins, owner of emaciated horse that was so weak he couldn't stand, denies abusing or neglecting him

OKLAHOMA -- Five horses were seized from a field in Logan County on Monday afternoon after deputies were called out by a concerned neighbor.

One of the horses was so weak he couldn’t even stand and ended up having to be euthanized.


“When I took [Nigel] in, he weighed 528 pounds. That is half of his body weight. I mean he, he had nothing,” said Natalee Cross, owner of Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue in Jones. “It was pretty evident by the looks of the wounds all over his body and the bed sores that he had been getting down and having difficulties getting back up.”


Cross is now caring for the other four horses and said one of them is also showing signs of weight loss.


“You can see my fingers and how much far his spine is sticking up. His spine should not be protruding like that,” Cross said.

OWNER DENIES NEGLECTING HORSE

Mary Ellen Blevins (and Cody Blevins) owns the horses and said Nigel, the one who died, was very special to her.


“My dad’s gone. I lost him in '03, and he’s the last one of the horses that I raised with my father,” Blevins said.

Blevins said Nigel was very old and had been having issues for several months.

“He had a knee that was poor. His bad was poor, you know, he had multiple health issues all going on,” she said.


Blevins said she was in the process of "trying to find euthanasia services" for Nigel.

“It’s very difficult to find that end of the line option for horses in the state of Oklahoma,” Blevins said. “I would literally do anything before I would ever hurt an animal.”

Um, no it isn't. 

Besides that, Nigel isn't the only horse she neglected. She was starving the other four horses as well. That's why they were seized.


Blevins said she will fight any criminal charges.

“I have never done anything wrong with an animal. I would never do anything wrong. And, I would fight these to my last breath,” Blevins said.

(KFOR - Nov 30, 2016)

Earlier:

Canada: Quebec family fights to keep its pet deer

CANADA -- A family in Quebec's Laurentians is fighting to keep a deer they took into their home four years ago after its mother was hit by a car and killed.

Agents from Quebec's Ministry of Wildlife seized the deer, whom the family named May, from the home on Monday after an anonymous complaint.


"She must be wondering where we are, because we're the only family she's ever known," Brigitte Thomas told CBC News on Wednesday, her voice choked with emotion.

Orphaned in highway accident

Thomas, who lives with her husband in Wentworth North, Que., said a friend found May by the roadside in June 2012 when she was just days old.

Her mother had been hit by a car.

The friend brought May to Thomas, knowing that she had a large forested property in the mountains.



Thomas and her husband bottle-fed May and intended on releasing her into the woods that fall.

But Thomas said there was a problem with stray dogs in the area, and they were worried about May's safety.

After a few months living with Thomas and her husband, she wasn't like other deer, Thomas said.

She was domesticated, and Thomas figured she probably wouldn't last long on her own in the wild. So they decided May could stay.

Part of the family

The family has a fenced-in property of 33 hectares, which May has been roaming for four years, frolicking on the mountain and snacking on leaves on the trees.


When she wants, May's allowed to come into the basement of the family home.

"She has a big pillow like our dogs. She watches TV with us," Thomas said.

"She's very smart, she's clean. She even waits at the door to let us know she has to go the bathroom."

Thomas and her husband never applied for a permit for May.

They didn't even know if such a permit existed.

They say they've never had a problem with May and she's never bothered anyone.


But on Monday, she received a call from the provincial ministry.

Agents told her they had received an anonymous complaint about May and that they would be coming to take her away.

It's against the law to keep wild animals as pets in Quebec.

Thomas has no idea who might have complained.

Location unknown

When the agents showed up, Thomas called May to her and petted her while they injected her with an anesthetic.


Her husband helped load May into the back of the truck, and the agents took her away.

"We have no idea where she is. No one from the ministry will tell us. That's what's the hardest," Thomas said.

Thomas phoned their local member of the provincial legislature. She was able to get assurances from the ministry that May wouldn't be euthanized, and that she will likely go to a refuge for injured animals.

Close connection

Thomas said May has already lost one mother, and she can't bear the thought of the animal going through that again.


"There's a very, very, very strong bond between us and May," Thomas said.

Thomas is asking the ministry to grant a special permit that would allow the family to keep May.

She has launched an online petition and a Facebook page for her beloved deer.

(CBC News - Nov 30, 2016)

Utah: Bobbie Buhler, 26, charged with harboring a vicious dog

Full Name: Bobbie Buhler
Gender: Female
Arrest Age: 26
Arrest Date: 11/29/2016
Arrest Time: 6:13 PM
Arresting Agency: CCSO, Cache County UT
Charges
#1 UNLAWFUL PURCHASE BY INTERDICT
#2 INTOXICATION
#3 Failure to Appear Warrant
#4 VICIOUS ANIMAL
#5 Failure to Appear Warrant
#6 Failure to Appear Warrant

Ohio: Daniel Olding, 62, charged with animal cruelty

Full Name: Daniel Olding
Gender: Male
Race: White
Birthdate: 08/25/1954
Arrest Age: 62
Date:11/30/2016
Agency: Hamilton County Ohio
Charges:
#1 CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
#2 OBSTRUCT OFFICIAL BUSINESS M2

Arizona: The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office removes dozens of neglected animals from Mesa home

ARIZONA -- The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office removed dozens of neglected animals from an east Mesa home on Wednesday.

Detectives from Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Animal Crimes Investigations Unit responded to the home near Hawes Road and Southern Avenue as part of an animal abuse investigation.

 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
Sheriff's officials said the homeowners surrendered the nearly 40 animals that were on the property, including dogs, snakes, birds, lizards, hedgehogs and spiders.

Investigators said feces and other filth littered the home, and many of the animals appeared to be undernourished.

"The conditions in this house were deplorable," Arpaio said in a news release. "No one animal should be subject to the kind of living disorder the owners provided, let alone the menagerie of animals they collected."

 

Arpaio said this wasn't a typical hoarding situation. The animals were being kept and raised to sell.

"This is the most unusual animal crimes investigation that I have seen in my tenure as sheriff," Arpaio said at the scene.

 
 


Neighbors said they thought the residents were mobile dog groomers.

Veterinarians were examining the animals and said most should be OK.

No arrests have been made at this time.

(Tucson News Now - Nov 30, 2016)