Florida: John Lavelle, 26, charged with animal cruelty; accused of abusing his dog repeatedly

FLORIDA -- A man accused of mistreating his dog, including picking up the animal by the tail and throwing him against a wall, has been arrested, police said on Monday.

The man was arrested after two police officers watched from a neighbor's home as he struck the dog, picked him up and slammed him several times on a concrete patio slab, according to the police report.

John Peter Lavelle, 26, of the 2200 block of Northwest 80th Terrace, was charged with cruelty to animals, police said.

He told police he was training the dog, according to the report. The report quoted Lavelle as saying, "How else would you get a dog to listen to you?"

Police also think that Lavelle threw the dog into glass panes on a garage door, the report said.

The dog, a 7-month-old male pointer named Buckeye, was taken to a pet emergency center and is being treated at Broward County Animal Control, officials said.

Buckeye is recuperating from small wounds on his head and neck, pain in the left side of his stomach and possible internal injuries, said Alan Davis, the animal control director.

The dog, who weighs about 30 pounds, is between 10 and 15 pounds underweight and his ribs show, Davis said.

Another dog at Lavelle's home was also taken into protective custody, police said. The dog, a 1-1/2-year-old female pointer, is in good condition and shows no signs of abuse, Davis said.

A witness told police that Lavelle started beating the dog about one month ago and did so two to three times a week because he was frustrated with trying to train the animal.

A neighbor of Lavelle's called police shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

The neighbor, who did not want his name revealed, said he was alerted by the sounds of an animal in pain.

He said he saw Lavelle pick up the dog and hold him by the neck. Then he said he saw the dog picked up by the tail and thrown against the wall.

"The poor thing was in such agony. It was a brutal scene," the neighbor said. "The poor dog was howling, crying, and was making all kinds of noises."

If convicted of the misdemeanor charge, Lavelle faces a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine, officials said.

Sgt. Sherry Schlueter, supervisor of the Broward Sheriff`s Office Animal Abuse/Agricultural Crimes Unit, said she encourages residents to report animal cruelty.

"Just as with child abuse, it's imperative that people act on behalf of victims who can't act in their own behalf," she said.

(Sun Sentinel - December 29, 1987)

Oklahoma: Bill McAnally, his wife Paula McAnally and Johnnie Meders took pleas of no contest on animal cruelty charges after numerous horses dropped dead during endurance races

OKLAHOMA -- Four remaining defendants will stand separate jury trials Feb. 8 on charges stemming from June horse races that killed seven horses, Rogers County authorities said.

The four pleaded not guilty Thursday in Rogers County District Court.

District Judge Steven J. Adams denied motions to combine their trials.

William Schluneger and Billy Coghill of Broken Arrow and Marty Douglas Bates of Claremore each face trial on one count of animal cruelty.

Prosecutors brought two animal-cruelty counts against Jody Trotter of Kiefer.

The charges stem from their alleged roles in June 13 long-distance races near Catoosa in which horses died after competition in hot, humid weather, authorities said.

The race promoter Bill McAnally, his wife Paula McAnally and Johnnie Lee Meders were given fines and deferred sentences after pleading no contest to animal cruelty charges against them earlier this fall.

McAnally dropped a civil lawsuit Tuesday against an endurance ride organization that pulled out of the races before their running.

McAnally dismissed his lawsuit in exchange for the American Endurance Ride Conference's agreement not to sue him, according to court records.

(NewsOK - December 5, 1987)

Earlier:

• Oklahoma: Bill McAnally and six others were charged Tuesday in connection with seven horses that were raced to death

Illinois: Pit Bull Attack Linked To Boy's 'Feud' With Family

ILLINOIS -- A 16-year-old Justice boy who allegedly ordered two pit bull terriers to attack a 10-year-old neighbor girl had been "feuding" with the girl`s parents for several years and had been reported to police for harassing the family, police in the southwest suburb said Monday.

The family and the boy "have had persistent problems," Justice Police Cpl. Steven Kooper said. "They were feuding. They had been fighting for some time."

The family and the boy's family live across 79th Avenue from each other, and the Sunday afternoon dog attack occurred about 50 yards from their two homes, police said.

Kooper testified at a hearing Monday in Cook County Juvenile Court that the boy had denied ordering the dogs to attack, saying the dogs got loose accidentally while he was walking them. The dogs belonged to friends of the boy`s family, police said.

The girl, Brandy Hopper, underwent 2-1/2 hours of surgery Sunday night at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn to repair damage from the mauling. She was listed in good condition Monday, hospital officials said.

The dogs chewed out a 3-by-6-inch section of the girl's left thigh, the girl's parents and police said, and left deep bite marks in her right thigh.

A plastic surgeon sewed some of the torn flesh on the girl's left thigh back into place, the girl's mother, Sandra Merkle, said. But Merkle said her daughter may need skin grafts.

"It was such a big rip. It's like the shape of that dog's jaw," she said.

Justice police said Monday that they have responded to frequent complaints that the boy had harassed the family and threatened Brandy`s siblings.

Merkle said the boy's actions were unprovoked. "He's just a neighborhood punk," she said. "He does it all over town. His parents know we've been fighting."

At the Monday court appearance, testimony showed that the boy has an extensive criminal record for theft, burglary and criminal damage to property dating back to age 11.

Also in court, Kooper said Justice police have documented problems between the boy and the family for at least five years.

The boy was charged Sunday with aggravated battery for allegedly ordering the dogs to attack Brandy. Police said witnesses, including Merkle, heard the boy shout "sic her" to the dogs and saw him drop the two leashes on which he was holding the animals when he saw Brandy approaching.

Brandy was returning home with groceries she had bought at a neighborhood store, said her stepfather, Rusty Merkle.

Associate Judge Charles Barish ordered the boy held in the Juvenile Detention Center at least until Friday, when he is to appear with a lawyer. State`s attorneys argued that the boy should be held because of the brutality of the attack.

The owners of the dogs, Jerry and Kimberly Roth, of Bridgeview, have been charged with obstruction of justice, a misdemeanor, for allegedly disobeying police orders by taking the dogs into their house after the attack and allowing the boy to hide there, Kooper said.

Kooper said the Roths told police that they had given the boy, a family friend, permission to walk the dogs Sunday afternoon. The Roths live about three blocks from where the attack occurred.

Relatives of the Roths said Monday that the couple was declining to comment about the incident.

The dogs are being held at the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge. Allen Glisch, the manager there, said the dogs were being watched for signs of rabies.

(Chicago Tribune - November 10, 1987)

Ohio: Woman says Dr. William G. Eckman was visiting prostitute Joetta Darmstadter when he was mauled to death by her two Pit Bulls

OHIO -- A woman who found the wallet of a man mauled to death by two pit bull dogs testified Monday that it contained the telephone number of a prostitute he was visiting the day he died.

The admitted prostitute, Joetta Darmstadter (aka Joetta Barrios), 32, and her housemate and the dogs' co-owner, Wilbur Rutledge, 34, are on trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Dr. William G. Eckman, 67.

Prosecutors were expected to wrap up their case late Monday or early Tuesday. They have been barred by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert M. Brown from presenting animal behavior experts who tested the dogs after the attack and found them to be vicious.

Brown also has prohibited prosecutors and defense lawyers from talking about the trial.

LaDonna Donovan testified that Eckman, of suburban Kettering, had moved in with her and her three children. She said she found his wallet in the trunk of his car about a month after the April 6 attack.

Tucked behind the lining was a piece of paper with ''Joe 275-6555'' written on it, she said. There was no money in the wallet, she said, although bank records show Eckman had withdrawn $25 shortly before the attack.

Ms. Donovan said she called the number. ''I asked if Joetta was there and the lady that answered the phone said, 'This is Joetta.' And then I hung up,'' she said.

Prosecutors are trying to show that Ms. Darmstadter and Rutledge knew the dogs were vicious before the attack and that Eckman was a regular customer of Ms. Darmstadter's and was in the house for sex when he was attacked.

Defense lawyers claim Eckman was told by Ms. Darmstadter to go away but slipped into the house and was attacked when he opened the door to a bedroom where the dogs had gone.

Ms. Donovan is the sole beneficiary of an estate she said was worth about $20,000 left by Eckman, a retired chief of staff at St. Elizabeth Medical Center and chief of surgery at the Dayton Veterans Administration Hospital.

She said she knew Eckman saw a psychiatrist and that before he lived with her he provided $13,000 over six weeks to a prostitute. Defense lawyer Daniel O'Brien said Eckman had given $500,000 to a prostitute before that.

Prosecutors have presented evidence that Eckman often withdrew from $25 to $100 from his bank account, although Ms. Donovan said she rarely saw him spend much money.

From the book "Pit Bull: The Battle over 

an American Icon" by Bronwen Dickey

(AP - Oct 12, 1987)

Earlier:

• Ohio: Joetta Damstadter's two Pit Bulls mauled a retired chief surgeon to death

Florida: Vikki Kittles making a joke out of her animal cruelty criminal case, demanding new judge and public defender.

FLORIDA -- Vikki Rene Kittles, who faces assault and animal abuse charges, on Monday persuaded Broward County Court Judge Leonard Stafford to remove himself from the abuse case and to appoint a new lawyer.

Vikki Rene Kittles (also known as Susan Dietrich, Rene Depenbrock, and Lynn Zellan), 40, told Stafford during a hearing on the misdemeanor animal abuse charges that she had problems being represented by the Public Defender`s Office, and said, "I`m having a problem with you as well."

She also filed several motions on her own behalf, one seeking a written explanation why she needed a psychological evaluation, and others asserting her rights to counsel and to being present at all hearings.

Kittles was arrested in May 1985 on charges of keeping two horses, three cats and 37 dogs in her Wilton Manors home. She also faces the assault felony charge for threatening a neighbor with a gun, police said.

Stafford said he had planned to consolidate the charges so Kittles would be represented by one lawyer in one courtroom.

But after hearing her concerns, Stafford appointed Bernard Canarick, a Plantation lawyer, to represent Kittles on the misdemeanor charges.

The felony charge, scheduled before Circuit Judge Russell Seay, will be heard separately.

Stafford also removed himself from the abuse case, saying that "everybody is entitled to one change." A different County Court judge will hear the case.

Meanwhile, Broward Sheriff`s Detective Sandy Wise said the office continued to search for Kittles` mother, Jean Sullivan, who is in her 70s.

Wise said authorities do not know what happened to Sullivan because she left Broward County in 1985 when Kittles fled after being arrested on the charges of keeping the animals in her home. Kittles never showed up for a court hearing on those charges.

Broward deputies launched a search after a missing persons report was filed on Sept. 19 by a private investigator hired by Sullivan`s daughter-in-law.

Kittles was arrested on Sept. 4 by Manatee County sheriff`s deputies on a warrant issued by Broward authorities. She was living in a van in Ellenton, a small town near Bradenton, with about 40 cats and dogs. Sullivan was not with her.

Law enforcement officials are concerned because Kittles` neighbors in Manatee County reported seeing an elderly woman at Kittles` home in February, Wise said.

Kittles "wouldn`t say anything about her mother," Wise said.

(Sun Sentinel - October 6, 1987)

Florida: Broward Fugitive Vikki Kittles Found In Animal-filled Van

FLORIDA -- Vikki Kittles, who disappeared months after being arrested in 1985 for having 42 animals in her Wilton Manors home, is in jail in Manatee County, officials said.

Vikki Rene Kittles (also known as Susan Dietrich, Rene Depenbrock, and Lynn Zellan), 40, was arrested on Friday night in Ellenton, a small town near Bradenton, where she had been living in "an extremely dilapidated junk van" with 35 to 40 cats and dogs, the Manatee County Sheriff`s Office said.

"Miss Kittles has lived in these conditions along with her elderly mother for quite a long time in order to prevent her discovery and arrest," Deputy Tom Shanafelt wrote in a report to a judge in Manatee County.

Jean Sullivan, Kittles' mother, who had left Wilton Manors with Kittles, still has not been found, deputies said. Her disappearance is under investigation.

"Miss Kittles' elderly mother has not been located, and Miss Kittles will not make any statements as to her whereabouts and/or well-being," Shanafelt wrote.

On Sunday, Kittles was being held in the Manatee County Jail without bond. She was arrested on outstanding warrants from Broward County of aggravated assault, improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon and battery, deputies said.

Manatee County officials said on Sunday that they had not received word from Broward County on when Kittles is to be transferred to Broward.

Detectives found Kittles about 11 p.m. Friday with help from a private investigator that Kittles' sister-in-law, Carol Kittles, hired.

Carol Kittles of Kendall was married to Vikki's brother, Rex, who died in March. She said she used money from a life insurance policy to hire the investigator to find her mother-in-law.

"My husband and I had wanted to (hire one) earlier, but were unable to. I decided to use the money to find his mother, since that was what he had wanted," she said.

Police have been looking for Vikki Kittles since late 1985, after she was arrested for failing to appear in court that September on a charge of animal cruelty. She arrived three hours late for her trial, minutes after Broward County Judge Irwin Berkowitz issued an arrest order for her.

She was then jailed on $2,000 bond. She also had failed to show up for her original trial date, Aug. 6.

Kittles was arrested on May 18, 1985, at her Wilton Manors home, where she had kept two horses, three cats and 37 dogs. Kittles also is accused of threatening a neighbor with a gun.

(Sun Sentinel - September 7, 1987)

Oklahoma: Bill McAnally and six others were charged Tuesday in connection with seven horses that were raced to death

OKLAHOMA -- Claremore Horseman Bill McAnally and six others were charged Tuesday in connection with endurance races in which prosecutors allege participants gambled and rode seven horses to death.

The Rogers County charges came after a three-month investigation in four states that included dozens of witnesses, said Patrick Abitbol, first assistant district attorney.

"This case by far has captivated more attention than any other I've worked on," Abitbol said Tuesday.

Efforts to reach McAnally for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. He did not respond to messages left at his business, a Catoosa backhoe and excavating equipment company.

Participants in the races near Catoosa allege McAnally urged entrants in his competition to run an all-out horse race in hot, humid weather along a Verdigris River trail.

The races, in distances of 15, 25, 50 and 100 miles, were organized by McAnally but were not sanctioned by the Catoosa Chamber of Commerce, Whiteley said. Estes said the race organizer pulled out of the event Friday, apparently because of dangerous heat and humidity.

The bodies of five horses, one of them buried along the race course, were found by authorities.

Carolyn Estes, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said an undersheriff looking into the case found the five dead horses on a trail along the Port of Catoosa channel.

Six other horses died after the race, Catoosa Mayor Terry Whitely said.

Estes said that if more than five horses died, "they were removed prior to our investigation." She added that authorities "may never know the actual number" that died.

McAnally is charged with seven counts of cruelty to animals. Both he and his wife, Paula McAnally, also are charged with unlawful betting on a race.

Five others charged with cruelty to animals allegedly were either riders or owners of seven horses that died.

The district attorney's decision to prosecute was welcomed Tuesday by an endurance ride organization that had pulled out of the races.

"I'm surprised and pleased they got the owners on it," said Darolyn Butler, a member of the American Endurance Ride Conference. "I really do hold McAnally responsible for most of this."

Butler had worked with McAnally to make the rides an AERC-sanctioned event. The AERC withdrew its sanction one day before the event after McAnally allegedly said the horses were to run without rest stops or veterinary control. Many of the participants whose horses died said the extreme heat was responsible for the collapse of their animals.

Bill Coghill of Broken Arrow, whose 4-year-old filly died after he pulled her out of the event, said in an earlier interview that the animal would have survived the run in normal weather.

"People are calling us "horse killers,' " Coghill said. "There's no way. I loved that horse."

One of the carcasses was sent to Oklahoma State University for necropsy. A pathology report showed the horse died of heat exhaustion and shock, Abitbol said.

The horse also had the diuretic Lasix in its system, said Bill Edwards, veterinary toxicologist with the university's Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

The tests could not determine whether the drug had been administered before or after the race, Edwards said.

The drug is legal in Oklahoma but banned from state-sanctioned races, Oklahoma Horse Racing Commission investigator Benny Lovett said.

A report from the American Endurance Ride Conference, which withdrew its sanction the day before the races, cited allegations McAnally had told participants "to use Butazoliden (a stimulant) or whatever drugs would make their horses run fast."

Others named in the charges would not comment Tuesday.

Each of the seven animal cruelty counts against McAnally would carry up to a five-year prison term, or a one-year jail term and a maximum fine of $500 on conviction, Abitbol said.

Coghill, as an alleged rider of a horse that died, is charged with one animal cruelty count. Johnnie Lee Medders of Talihina, allegedly the owner or caretaker of two of the horses, is charged with two counts.

Jody Marcella Trotter of Kiefer, who allegedly rode one of the stricken horses and owned or took care of two, is charged with two animal cruelty counts.

Separate cruelty counts were filed against alleged riders Marty Douglas Bates of Claremore and William Schluneger of Broken Arrow.

The betting charge against the McAnallys stems from an alleged gambling auction before the race, Abitbol said. Conviction would carry up to a 10-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of $10,000, he said.

(NewsOK - Aug 12, 1987)