CALIFORNIA -- An Acton woman convicted of operating an illegal kennel for about 40 Chihuahuas that share her home avoided jail Friday after complying with a court order to get rid of all but four of her dogs.
Emma Harter, a 64-year-old retired school cafeteria manager, had been ordered by Antelope Municipal Court Judge Howard Swart to remove the dogs after she violated her probation by failing to build a shelter to house the tiny canines rather than keep them in her home.
"It's sad when people can't cooperate with well-meaning and appropriate people with animal control who are just doing their job," said Deputy District Attorney John Evans.
Swart two weeks ago ordered Harter to remove all but four of her dogs or spend a month in jail. Swart ruled that Harter would be allowed to keep three dogs - four if they are spayed and neutered.
Animal Control Officer Jerry White had informed Evans that as of Thursday, Harter still had more than four dogs on her property. White told Evans that he observed 15 dogs outside and heard more dogs inside the home, Evans said.
But Harter appeared in court Friday and said she had only four dogs, Evans said.
She didn't "get rid" of these dogs. She merely moved them somewhere else - probably stuffed them into a hot shed somewhere.
Swart warned her that animal control officers can enter her property anytime during the next 2-1/2 years remaining on her three years' probation, and if there are more than four dogs, she will be sent to jail and the dogs will be confiscated, Evans said.
Harter could be not reached Friday for comment.
Harter received a suspended sentence in December of up to 180 days in jail and was ordered by Swart to erect a building. Swart also placed her on probation for three years and ordered her to pay a fine of $1,490 or work 16 days of community service.
In a March hearing, Harter avoided jail when Swart decided to give her more time to erect the shelter.
Harter raised Chihuahuas and sold them for $250 to $1,500.
She contended that the case stemmed from neighbors around her who didn't like her dogs and complained about their barking. Charges were filed in June 1995 after Harter failed to comply with conditions set forth for a kennel license, animal control officials said.
Animal control officers said they had been going once or twice a month to talk with Harter in response to neighbors' complaints about noisy dogs. Neighbors started circulating a petition to protest the barking.
EMMA HARTER WAS HOARDING DOGS AS FAR BACK AS 1982
Harter said she began breeding Chihuahuas in 1982 when she was living in Granada Hills, where she got into similar troubles with Los Angeles city animal control officials.
She then moved to Acton in 1992 and obtained a kennel license.
(LA Daily News - July 27, 1996)
Sunday, July 28, 1996
Wednesday, June 26, 1996
Virginia: Clarence Hacker could be facing charges after his WOLF HYBRIDS attack 13 pets, killing four
VIRGINIA -- Two large mixed breed dogs now face the death penalty after they went on a rampage through a Denbigh neighborhood Sunday, jumping fences from back yard to back yard in search of other dogs to fight, say animal control officials.
Four pet dogs were killed outright, and at least nine more were severely mauled, say officials and pet owners, some of whom went through Beechmont with loaded weapons until the dogs were captured by SPCA controllers Sunday morning.
The dogs - initially identified as wolf-German shepherd hybrids and now thought to be shepherds mixed with either husky or malalmute - are in quarantine at the Peninsula Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said SPCA director Gene Falls.
The dogs' owner, Clarence E. Hacker who lives at 323 De Laura Drive, may face a charge of allowing vicious dogs to run loose, a misdemeanor that carries up to a $1,000 fine and destruction of the dogs, if a judge orders it, Falls said.
Pets were attacked in back yards in a one-mile area around Epes Elementary School, Falls said.
Faye Hipps was making breakfast in her house on Catalina Drive at about 8:20 a.m. when she saw an odd movement in her garden. She said she went outside in time to see "two dogs mauling my dog," a 2-year-old, 30-pound spaniel mix named Shadow.
She apparently scared the bigger dogs, who jumped Hipps' four-foot fence into a neighbor's yard. As her husband and two of her three children jumped in their truck to try to follow the dogs, Hipps went to help Shadow, who was bleeding from severe lacerations to both shoulders.
The dogs apparently made their way back toward the elementary school and jumped Boyd and Eunice Williams' backyard fence on Alta Crescent just before 9 a.m.
Eunice Williams had just fed the family cat out on the sun porch and was preparing food for their two dogs, Winnie, a 3-year-old, 30-pound Welsh terrier mix, and Pookie, a 13-year-old, 9 1/2-pound gray poodle mix.
Williams said she was about to take a dog dish out to Pookie, who was barking at the porch door to be let in. Eunice Williams said she turned away for a minute; when she turned back, "all of the sudden she wasn't there."
She went into the back yard and saw two large dogs, who jumped the fence as soon as she came outside. "I didn't see my little Pookie. I looked around. She was lying in the grass, dead."
Winnie was also bitten in the neck, but apparently escaped the two dogs by running into the garage through a small dog door.
Boyd Williams went after the two dogs and found a neighbor across the street beating the dogs with a wooden 2-by-4 as they tried to attack his Labrador retriever. The dogs ran away, and both men began searching the neighborhood.
As they searched, they ran into others who also were looking for the dogs, some armed with loaded shotguns, Williams said. By then, five SPCA dog wardens and at least five police patrol cars were also out searching for the dogs.
A couple of blocks from the Williams' home, the dogs jumped Paul Evans' backyard fence on Colleen Drive. Evans, his wife and two small children were at church.
But Penny, a 33-pound mutt adopted from the SPCA, was home. By the time the Evanses found her, she had bite wounds on her neck, sides, back and belly, Evans said.
Apparently, as Penny was attacked, the Evanses' cat leaped atop the fence and began to screech, a noise that brought neighbor Patti Steinberg out of her house. She saw the two dogs leap from the Evanses' back yard, looked inside it and realized what happened.
Suddenly she remembered her own dog, a 6-year-old poodle named P.J. who had gotten out of her back yard just half an hour earlier to take a not-unusual jaunt around the neighborhood.
As of late Monday, P.J. was still missing.
Steinberg's son, Cory, as well as neighbors, spent the better part of Monday looking for P.J.
"He's a small little guy," Cory Steinberg said Monday evening. "I think he just got mauled somewhere, and I just can't find [his little body]."
Falls said the dogs were chased until they ran back to their own back yard on De Laura drive. Falls said both of the dogs had been loose separately in the past and had been chased, but never caught, by his wardens.
On Sunday morning, Falls said, he armed himself with a tranquilizer gun and was heading for Hacker's back yard when Hacker's wife, Patti Hacker, appeared and said she'd get the dogs. She put them on leashes and handed them over. The dogs were no trouble at that point, Falls said.
On Monday night, Clarence Hacker, who said he goes by the nickname "Chuck," said he was not home when the dogs dug out from their pen in his back yard and leaped the 6-foot privacy fence to escape.
WILD CLAIMS BY CHUCK HACKER THAT HIS DOGS ONLY 'FOUGHT' OTHER DOGS - RATHER THAN ATTACKING THEM AND THAT THERE ARE WILD, FEROCIOUS DOGS ATTACKING HIS CHILDREN THAT THESE DOGS PROTECTED THEM FROM... UM, YEAH
Hacker, who serves in the Navy, said the dogs - an 8 1/2-year-old female and her 7 1/2-year-old male pup - had gotten out before and had fought other dogs before.
"They fought off dogs that have attacked my children in the past," when he was stationed in other areas, he said.
With humans, the dogs are quiet and well-behaved, he said.
Hacker said he was not surprised when he came home and found out the dogs had been impounded for rampaging through Beechmont.
"I was surprised that they got out of the pen," he said.
Hacker said a third dog, a 2-year-old male, has never gotten out or attacked another dog. It is still in the backyard pen, he said.
PATTI HACKER TOLD THEM THEY WERE WOLF HYBRIDS. NOW HER HUSBAND IS CLAIMING HIS OWN WIFE WAS WRONG... BUT SAYS IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS IF THEY ARE. WHAT A GUY!
The SPCA's Falls said that in dealing with the Hackers' dogs when they were loose before and in talking to Patti Hacker Sunday, the dogs were identified as wolf-shepherd hybrids.
On Monday, Hacker claimed the dogs were part shepherd, part husky.
"Now that there's all this trouble, they say they're not wolf hybrids," Falls said, adding that wolf hybrids in general and these dogs in particular were not necessarily bad dogs. But hybrids must be trained properly and must be confined, he said.
Asked if they were part wolf, Hacker said, "If they are, it's nobody's concern but mine."
Guess that pretty much confirms that they are wolf hybrids.
The dogs, which are licensed and have all their shots, must be quarantined at least 10 days because neighbors said at least one woman may have been bitten while trying to fight the dogs off her pet, Falls said. That woman has not come forward, however, he said.
Hacker's neighbors said they are considering civil action.
Both Evans and Hipps said the veterinary bills to stitch up their dogs were close to $250 apiece, and the dogs would require further medical attention.
Evans noted that his children, ages 7 and 4 1/2, are about the same size as some of the dogs who were severely mauled or killed.
Evans said his children are not allowed to play alone in their own front yard. The fenced back yard is different, he said. "We've tried to teach them this is their yard and they're safe in their yard.
"If we hadn't been at church, most likely my children would have been in the back yard playing with the dog - what would have happened then?" Evans said.
DOG BREEDS
The two animals impounded Sunday for attacking several dogs in the Beechmont neighborhood of Denbigh have been identified alternately as wolf-German shepherd hybrids, shepherd-Alaskan malamute crossbreeds, and shepherd-Siberian husky crossbreeds.
Both the malamute and husky are close to the wolf in appearance, and all three breeds of dog can be naturally aggressive, according to dog experts and reference information.
Predicting what characteristics will become predominant in breeding two different kinds of canines is difficult, breeders say. A German shepherd is a herding dog, for instance, while the Alaskan malamute is a working dog, often used to pull heavy sleds through snow.
The likelihood of a dog being aggressive increases if both parents are aggressive. How a dog is raised and trained also becomes a factor in behavior, dog experts say.
Dogs bred with wolves, often referred to as hybrids, tend to be dominant, independent and even aloof, according to the "Dog Owner's Guide," an Internet reference page. Such hybrids can also be difficult to train and aggressive to other dogs, cats and small mammals, the guide says.
Sources: Dr. Paul Gustafson, member of the Greater Peninsula Veterinary Medical Association; Dory Hofmann, professional dog breeder, trainer and handler at Canine Training Unlimited in Chesapeake; "Dog Owner's Guide," Canis Major Publications (http://www.canismajor.com/dog).
(Daily Press - June 25, 1996)
Four pet dogs were killed outright, and at least nine more were severely mauled, say officials and pet owners, some of whom went through Beechmont with loaded weapons until the dogs were captured by SPCA controllers Sunday morning.
The dogs - initially identified as wolf-German shepherd hybrids and now thought to be shepherds mixed with either husky or malalmute - are in quarantine at the Peninsula Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said SPCA director Gene Falls.
The dogs' owner, Clarence E. Hacker who lives at 323 De Laura Drive, may face a charge of allowing vicious dogs to run loose, a misdemeanor that carries up to a $1,000 fine and destruction of the dogs, if a judge orders it, Falls said.
Pets were attacked in back yards in a one-mile area around Epes Elementary School, Falls said.
She apparently scared the bigger dogs, who jumped Hipps' four-foot fence into a neighbor's yard. As her husband and two of her three children jumped in their truck to try to follow the dogs, Hipps went to help Shadow, who was bleeding from severe lacerations to both shoulders.
The dogs apparently made their way back toward the elementary school and jumped Boyd and Eunice Williams' backyard fence on Alta Crescent just before 9 a.m.
Eunice Williams had just fed the family cat out on the sun porch and was preparing food for their two dogs, Winnie, a 3-year-old, 30-pound Welsh terrier mix, and Pookie, a 13-year-old, 9 1/2-pound gray poodle mix.
Williams said she was about to take a dog dish out to Pookie, who was barking at the porch door to be let in. Eunice Williams said she turned away for a minute; when she turned back, "all of the sudden she wasn't there."
She went into the back yard and saw two large dogs, who jumped the fence as soon as she came outside. "I didn't see my little Pookie. I looked around. She was lying in the grass, dead."
Winnie was also bitten in the neck, but apparently escaped the two dogs by running into the garage through a small dog door.
Boyd Williams went after the two dogs and found a neighbor across the street beating the dogs with a wooden 2-by-4 as they tried to attack his Labrador retriever. The dogs ran away, and both men began searching the neighborhood.
As they searched, they ran into others who also were looking for the dogs, some armed with loaded shotguns, Williams said. By then, five SPCA dog wardens and at least five police patrol cars were also out searching for the dogs.
A couple of blocks from the Williams' home, the dogs jumped Paul Evans' backyard fence on Colleen Drive. Evans, his wife and two small children were at church.
But Penny, a 33-pound mutt adopted from the SPCA, was home. By the time the Evanses found her, she had bite wounds on her neck, sides, back and belly, Evans said.
Apparently, as Penny was attacked, the Evanses' cat leaped atop the fence and began to screech, a noise that brought neighbor Patti Steinberg out of her house. She saw the two dogs leap from the Evanses' back yard, looked inside it and realized what happened.
Suddenly she remembered her own dog, a 6-year-old poodle named P.J. who had gotten out of her back yard just half an hour earlier to take a not-unusual jaunt around the neighborhood.
As of late Monday, P.J. was still missing.
Steinberg's son, Cory, as well as neighbors, spent the better part of Monday looking for P.J.
"He's a small little guy," Cory Steinberg said Monday evening. "I think he just got mauled somewhere, and I just can't find [his little body]."
Falls said the dogs were chased until they ran back to their own back yard on De Laura drive. Falls said both of the dogs had been loose separately in the past and had been chased, but never caught, by his wardens.
On Sunday morning, Falls said, he armed himself with a tranquilizer gun and was heading for Hacker's back yard when Hacker's wife, Patti Hacker, appeared and said she'd get the dogs. She put them on leashes and handed them over. The dogs were no trouble at that point, Falls said.
On Monday night, Clarence Hacker, who said he goes by the nickname "Chuck," said he was not home when the dogs dug out from their pen in his back yard and leaped the 6-foot privacy fence to escape.
WILD CLAIMS BY CHUCK HACKER THAT HIS DOGS ONLY 'FOUGHT' OTHER DOGS - RATHER THAN ATTACKING THEM AND THAT THERE ARE WILD, FEROCIOUS DOGS ATTACKING HIS CHILDREN THAT THESE DOGS PROTECTED THEM FROM... UM, YEAH
Hacker, who serves in the Navy, said the dogs - an 8 1/2-year-old female and her 7 1/2-year-old male pup - had gotten out before and had fought other dogs before.
"They fought off dogs that have attacked my children in the past," when he was stationed in other areas, he said.
With humans, the dogs are quiet and well-behaved, he said.
Hacker said he was not surprised when he came home and found out the dogs had been impounded for rampaging through Beechmont.
"I was surprised that they got out of the pen," he said.
Hacker said a third dog, a 2-year-old male, has never gotten out or attacked another dog. It is still in the backyard pen, he said.
PATTI HACKER TOLD THEM THEY WERE WOLF HYBRIDS. NOW HER HUSBAND IS CLAIMING HIS OWN WIFE WAS WRONG... BUT SAYS IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS IF THEY ARE. WHAT A GUY!
The SPCA's Falls said that in dealing with the Hackers' dogs when they were loose before and in talking to Patti Hacker Sunday, the dogs were identified as wolf-shepherd hybrids.
On Monday, Hacker claimed the dogs were part shepherd, part husky.
"Now that there's all this trouble, they say they're not wolf hybrids," Falls said, adding that wolf hybrids in general and these dogs in particular were not necessarily bad dogs. But hybrids must be trained properly and must be confined, he said.
Asked if they were part wolf, Hacker said, "If they are, it's nobody's concern but mine."
Guess that pretty much confirms that they are wolf hybrids.
The dogs, which are licensed and have all their shots, must be quarantined at least 10 days because neighbors said at least one woman may have been bitten while trying to fight the dogs off her pet, Falls said. That woman has not come forward, however, he said.
Hacker's neighbors said they are considering civil action.
Both Evans and Hipps said the veterinary bills to stitch up their dogs were close to $250 apiece, and the dogs would require further medical attention.
Evans noted that his children, ages 7 and 4 1/2, are about the same size as some of the dogs who were severely mauled or killed.
Evans said his children are not allowed to play alone in their own front yard. The fenced back yard is different, he said. "We've tried to teach them this is their yard and they're safe in their yard.
"If we hadn't been at church, most likely my children would have been in the back yard playing with the dog - what would have happened then?" Evans said.
DOG BREEDS
The two animals impounded Sunday for attacking several dogs in the Beechmont neighborhood of Denbigh have been identified alternately as wolf-German shepherd hybrids, shepherd-Alaskan malamute crossbreeds, and shepherd-Siberian husky crossbreeds.
Both the malamute and husky are close to the wolf in appearance, and all three breeds of dog can be naturally aggressive, according to dog experts and reference information.
Predicting what characteristics will become predominant in breeding two different kinds of canines is difficult, breeders say. A German shepherd is a herding dog, for instance, while the Alaskan malamute is a working dog, often used to pull heavy sleds through snow.
The likelihood of a dog being aggressive increases if both parents are aggressive. How a dog is raised and trained also becomes a factor in behavior, dog experts say.
Dogs bred with wolves, often referred to as hybrids, tend to be dominant, independent and even aloof, according to the "Dog Owner's Guide," an Internet reference page. Such hybrids can also be difficult to train and aggressive to other dogs, cats and small mammals, the guide says.
Sources: Dr. Paul Gustafson, member of the Greater Peninsula Veterinary Medical Association; Dory Hofmann, professional dog breeder, trainer and handler at Canine Training Unlimited in Chesapeake; "Dog Owner's Guide," Canis Major Publications (http://www.canismajor.com/dog).
(Daily Press - June 25, 1996)
Friday, September 15, 1995
Florida: Despite his attorney's best efforts, Roy Bennett will not get a new trial after throwing caged raccoon in front of pit bull and watching while it was torn to pieces
FLORIDA -- A Delray Beach man will go to prison for 18 months for baiting and fighting animals after his defense attorney failed to win a retrial on grounds the judge is an animal rights activist.
"I'm denying the motion on those grounds, even if it's true, even if I like animals, even if I like children, even if I like old ladies," Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Carlisle told defense attorney Wilbur Chaney on Thursday.
Chaney, defense attorney for Roy Bennett, had sought a new trial after learning that Carlisle was a pet lover and had taken in strays.
During a nonjury trial before Carlisle last month, Bennett, 27, and his friend Alex Sinkfield, 38, were convicted of baiting and fighting a pit bull terrier and a raccoon at Bennett's Delray Beach home.
They didn't "bait and fight" a pit bull and a raccoon. What they did was trap a raccoon and then they tossed it from its cage down in front of the pit bull. They then stood there yelling and clapping and encouraging the pit bull to maul the raccoon to death in front of them - for their amusement.
Testimony indicated Bennett's cousin owned the dog, and Bennett and Sinkfield routinely let it kill raccoons, which they later ate.
Sinkfield was given five years' probation, but Carlisle deferred sentencing Bennett after Chaney questioned the judge's impartiality. Chaney argued at the time that he had received reports after Bennett's conviction that Carlisle was an animal rights advocate.
In court on Thursday, Chaney once again raised the issue while arguing for the new trial.
"If that was information we were aware of [before trial), then we would have made a more intelligent decision about going to trial before the court," Chaney said.
Prosecutor Alex Cosas argued the judge showed "no strong bias" during the one-day trial. "A love of animals is insufficient grounds to order a new trial," he said.
Carlisle agreed, sentencing Bennett to 18 months because of Bennett's earlier convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and drug distribution.
(Sun Sentinel - September 15, 1995)
Earlier:
"I'm denying the motion on those grounds, even if it's true, even if I like animals, even if I like children, even if I like old ladies," Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James Carlisle told defense attorney Wilbur Chaney on Thursday.
Chaney, defense attorney for Roy Bennett, had sought a new trial after learning that Carlisle was a pet lover and had taken in strays.
During a nonjury trial before Carlisle last month, Bennett, 27, and his friend Alex Sinkfield, 38, were convicted of baiting and fighting a pit bull terrier and a raccoon at Bennett's Delray Beach home.
They didn't "bait and fight" a pit bull and a raccoon. What they did was trap a raccoon and then they tossed it from its cage down in front of the pit bull. They then stood there yelling and clapping and encouraging the pit bull to maul the raccoon to death in front of them - for their amusement.
Testimony indicated Bennett's cousin owned the dog, and Bennett and Sinkfield routinely let it kill raccoons, which they later ate.
Sinkfield was given five years' probation, but Carlisle deferred sentencing Bennett after Chaney questioned the judge's impartiality. Chaney argued at the time that he had received reports after Bennett's conviction that Carlisle was an animal rights advocate.
In court on Thursday, Chaney once again raised the issue while arguing for the new trial.
"If that was information we were aware of [before trial), then we would have made a more intelligent decision about going to trial before the court," Chaney said.
Prosecutor Alex Cosas argued the judge showed "no strong bias" during the one-day trial. "A love of animals is insufficient grounds to order a new trial," he said.
Carlisle agreed, sentencing Bennett to 18 months because of Bennett's earlier convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and drug distribution.
(Sun Sentinel - September 15, 1995)
Earlier:
Thursday, August 17, 1995
Florida: Roy Bennett, 27, and Alex Sinkfield, 38, convicted of throwing trapped raccoon to pit bull to be torn to pieces while they watched
FLORIDA -- Does being a pet owner make a judge an animal rights activist?
Because Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James T. Carlisle owns several pets and has cared for strays, a defense attorney on Wednesday questioned the judge's impartiality in sentencing a man on animal baiting charges.
"In fairness to my client, I have an obligation to raise that issue," defense attorney Wilbur Chaney told Carlisle.
"You do have that right," said Carlisle, who delayed the sentencing so he could hold a hearing on the issue next week.
When a question of impartiality is raised, a judge is required by law to address the question.
Chaney represents Roy Bennett, a Delray Beach man whom Carlisle convicted last week of trapping a raccoon and then dumping it out right in front of a pit bull terrier, which then tore it to pieces while they hooted and hollered.
Since the non-jury trial, Chaney said, several people told him that Carlisle was an "animal rights advocate."The reports, Chaney said, indicated Carlisle owns several pets and that "he used to take in strays."
Because the case remains open, Carlisle cannot comment.
Bennett, 27, and his friend, Alex Sinkfield, 38, were arrested in January after two Delray Beach detectives drove by Bennett's home and saw the dog, owned by Bennett's cousin, mauling the raccoon.
"The dog had its face buried into the stomach of the raccoon and shaking it about," Detective Jack Mackler testified on Wednesday. "Everybody there was smiling and laughing. It was all a big joke."
Apparently, the white pit bull was covered in the raccoons blood, the raccoons guts were hanging out - and yet it was still alive. Animal Control responded and euthanized the suffering, dying animal.
The good news is that the pit bull was also euthanized.
As the detectives approached, several men ran, leaving behind Bennett and Sinkfield.
Sinkfield tried to load a cage, which had earlier held the raccoon, into a truck and leave, but the detectives stopped him, police said.
Bennett told detectives it was common practice to let the dog kill raccoons, which were eaten by his family. He directed detectives to a refrigerator inside the home that held seven frozen raccoon carcasses.
Bennett, who has a lengthy criminal record with convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and distribution, faces a maximum sentence of 18 months.
Sinkfield, with a drug possession conviction, faced up to a year in jail, but Carlisle sentenced him Wednesday to five years' probation.
(Sun Sentinel - August 17, 1995)
Earlier:
Because Palm Beach County Circuit Judge James T. Carlisle owns several pets and has cared for strays, a defense attorney on Wednesday questioned the judge's impartiality in sentencing a man on animal baiting charges.
"In fairness to my client, I have an obligation to raise that issue," defense attorney Wilbur Chaney told Carlisle.
"You do have that right," said Carlisle, who delayed the sentencing so he could hold a hearing on the issue next week.
When a question of impartiality is raised, a judge is required by law to address the question.
Chaney represents Roy Bennett, a Delray Beach man whom Carlisle convicted last week of trapping a raccoon and then dumping it out right in front of a pit bull terrier, which then tore it to pieces while they hooted and hollered.
Since the non-jury trial, Chaney said, several people told him that Carlisle was an "animal rights advocate."The reports, Chaney said, indicated Carlisle owns several pets and that "he used to take in strays."
Because the case remains open, Carlisle cannot comment.
Bennett, 27, and his friend, Alex Sinkfield, 38, were arrested in January after two Delray Beach detectives drove by Bennett's home and saw the dog, owned by Bennett's cousin, mauling the raccoon.
"The dog had its face buried into the stomach of the raccoon and shaking it about," Detective Jack Mackler testified on Wednesday. "Everybody there was smiling and laughing. It was all a big joke."
Apparently, the white pit bull was covered in the raccoons blood, the raccoons guts were hanging out - and yet it was still alive. Animal Control responded and euthanized the suffering, dying animal.
The good news is that the pit bull was also euthanized.
As the detectives approached, several men ran, leaving behind Bennett and Sinkfield.
Sinkfield tried to load a cage, which had earlier held the raccoon, into a truck and leave, but the detectives stopped him, police said.
Bennett told detectives it was common practice to let the dog kill raccoons, which were eaten by his family. He directed detectives to a refrigerator inside the home that held seven frozen raccoon carcasses.
Bennett, who has a lengthy criminal record with convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and distribution, faces a maximum sentence of 18 months.
Sinkfield, with a drug possession conviction, faced up to a year in jail, but Carlisle sentenced him Wednesday to five years' probation.
(Sun Sentinel - August 17, 1995)
Earlier:
Friday, February 3, 1995
Florida: Vikki Kittles found guilty on 42 counts of animal cruelty
FLORIDA -- Vikki Kittles, who gained notoriety for hoarding horses and dozens of other animals in her mother's Wilton Manors home, was convicted in Oregon on Wednesday of 42 counts of misdemeanor animal neglect.
The convictions are the latest chapter in the strange saga of Kittles, 46, who has a history of mistreating animals while insisting she is saving them.
Vikki Rene Kittles (also known as Susan Dietrich, Rene Depenbrock, and Lynn Zellan) was arrested on animal cruelty charges in Broward County in 1985 for keeping 37 dogs, three cats and two horses in her mother's home.
She was convicted of one charge in Broward, acquitted of another and served no time in jail. She then went on a journey that ended in Oregon.
Kittles was arrested on animal neglect charges in the coastal town of Astoria in April 1993, when she was discovered to be living with 115 dogs, four cats and two chickens in a squalid school bus.
After she failed to appear for trial last August, Kittles was arrested in Washington state and has been in jail ever since.
Kittles went through eight lawyers and six judges before trial, finally acting as her own attorney. She was cited four times for contempt of court and sentenced to 70 days in jail for outbursts during the five-week trial.
Kittles will be sentenced today. Clatsop County District Attorney Joshua Marquis said he will ask for "a substantial amount of jail, and most important, forfeiture of the animals.''
Marquis also will ask that Kittles not be allowed to adopt new animals while under the court's jurisdiction or be allowed to contact witnesses or people who will adopt her animals.
(Sun Sentinel - Feb 3, 1995)
The convictions are the latest chapter in the strange saga of Kittles, 46, who has a history of mistreating animals while insisting she is saving them.
Vikki Rene Kittles (also known as Susan Dietrich, Rene Depenbrock, and Lynn Zellan) was arrested on animal cruelty charges in Broward County in 1985 for keeping 37 dogs, three cats and two horses in her mother's home.
She was convicted of one charge in Broward, acquitted of another and served no time in jail. She then went on a journey that ended in Oregon.
Kittles was arrested on animal neglect charges in the coastal town of Astoria in April 1993, when she was discovered to be living with 115 dogs, four cats and two chickens in a squalid school bus.
After she failed to appear for trial last August, Kittles was arrested in Washington state and has been in jail ever since.
Kittles went through eight lawyers and six judges before trial, finally acting as her own attorney. She was cited four times for contempt of court and sentenced to 70 days in jail for outbursts during the five-week trial.
Kittles will be sentenced today. Clatsop County District Attorney Joshua Marquis said he will ask for "a substantial amount of jail, and most important, forfeiture of the animals.''
Marquis also will ask that Kittles not be allowed to adopt new animals while under the court's jurisdiction or be allowed to contact witnesses or people who will adopt her animals.
(Sun Sentinel - Feb 3, 1995)
Friday, January 20, 1995
Florida: Roy Bennett and Alex Sinkfield arrested after they threw a caged raccoon to a pit bull and watched it get mauled to death
FLORIDA -- Two men who allowed a pit bull terrier to maul a caged raccoon to death in the front yard of a downtown home were arrested on felony animal cruelty charges, police said on Wednesday.
"The only thing I can compare [the fight) to was watching the Discovery Channel and watching a lion ravage a zebra," said Delray Beach police Officer Dave Cummings, who used a can of pepper spray to thwart the dog's attack. "It was that fierce."
Five men were watching the fight and cheering on the dog, detectives said.
"I was angry - they were watching it like a show," Detective Dean Perna said.
It took three police officers to break up the Tuesday evening fight between Caine, the 3-year-old dog, and the raccoon.
On Wednesday, an animal control officer took the dog to an animal shelter, where Caine is now considered police evidence for the criminal cases against Roy Bennett and Alex Sinkfield.
Sinkfield, who supplied the raccoon, and Bennett, whose cousin owns Caine, spent Tuesday night in the County Jail on charges of baiting or fighting animals, a third-degree felony. Both men posted $3,000 bail and were released on Wednesday.
Additional charges of animal cruelty were filed against the two men on Wednesday.
Bennett was also charged with tampering with evidence for trying to wash the blood off the pit bull after the officers stopped them, but while they were waiting for animal control officers to arrive.
The pit bull's white coat is covered with scratches and cuts from ripping the poor raccoon to shreds.
"This is the first case I've had like this in 14 years," said Detective Jack Makler.
Makler and Perna were driving along Southwest Fifth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon when they noticed the fight. They jumped out of their car to break it up.
"The dog's entire face was covered with blood," Makler said. "The dog had his head right in the raccoon's stomach."
Bennett has a lengthy criminal record with convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and distribution.
(Sun Sentinel - January 19, 1995)
"The only thing I can compare [the fight) to was watching the Discovery Channel and watching a lion ravage a zebra," said Delray Beach police Officer Dave Cummings, who used a can of pepper spray to thwart the dog's attack. "It was that fierce."
Five men were watching the fight and cheering on the dog, detectives said.
"I was angry - they were watching it like a show," Detective Dean Perna said.
It took three police officers to break up the Tuesday evening fight between Caine, the 3-year-old dog, and the raccoon.
On Wednesday, an animal control officer took the dog to an animal shelter, where Caine is now considered police evidence for the criminal cases against Roy Bennett and Alex Sinkfield.
Sinkfield, who supplied the raccoon, and Bennett, whose cousin owns Caine, spent Tuesday night in the County Jail on charges of baiting or fighting animals, a third-degree felony. Both men posted $3,000 bail and were released on Wednesday.
Additional charges of animal cruelty were filed against the two men on Wednesday.
Bennett was also charged with tampering with evidence for trying to wash the blood off the pit bull after the officers stopped them, but while they were waiting for animal control officers to arrive.
The pit bull's white coat is covered with scratches and cuts from ripping the poor raccoon to shreds.
"This is the first case I've had like this in 14 years," said Detective Jack Makler.
Makler and Perna were driving along Southwest Fifth Avenue on Tuesday afternoon when they noticed the fight. They jumped out of their car to break it up.
"The dog's entire face was covered with blood," Makler said. "The dog had his head right in the raccoon's stomach."
Bennett has a lengthy criminal record with convictions for rape, burglary, drug possession and distribution.
(Sun Sentinel - January 19, 1995)
Monday, June 20, 1994
Pennsylvania: Troy Kramer, 32, assaulted his girlfriend then shot and killed her three dogs
PENNSYLVANIA -- A man hit a woman, pulled a knife on her and shot and killed three dogs at their North Mahoning Township home Sunday, state police from Punxsutawney reported.
Troy James Kramer, 32, of 1587 Smith Road, held a knife to the throat of Angela Marie Broadstreet, 25, then hit her in the face several times at about 6 p.m., police reported.
Broadstreet fled to a nearby residence and contacted police. She returned home to find Kramer standing with a shotgun in his hands.
According to police, he had shot and killed three dogs chained in the front yard.
When Broadstreet told him she had called police, Kromer ran into nearby woods. Police searched the woods but didn't find him. Kromer turned himself in later.
He was arraigned before Blairsville District Justice Dolores DeGruttola on charges of aggravated and simple assault, harassment and cruelty to animals and was committed to Indiana County Jail in lieu if $2,500 bail.
(Indiana Gazette - June 20, 1994)
Troy James Kramer, 32, of 1587 Smith Road, held a knife to the throat of Angela Marie Broadstreet, 25, then hit her in the face several times at about 6 p.m., police reported.
Broadstreet fled to a nearby residence and contacted police. She returned home to find Kramer standing with a shotgun in his hands.
According to police, he had shot and killed three dogs chained in the front yard.
When Broadstreet told him she had called police, Kromer ran into nearby woods. Police searched the woods but didn't find him. Kromer turned himself in later.
He was arraigned before Blairsville District Justice Dolores DeGruttola on charges of aggravated and simple assault, harassment and cruelty to animals and was committed to Indiana County Jail in lieu if $2,500 bail.
(Indiana Gazette - June 20, 1994)
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