Hunterdon Humane Animal Shelter Faces Animal Cruelty Charges

Distressing news on Thursday when the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal’s Law Enforcement Division joined with the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office and issued two search warrants for the Hunterdon Humane Animal Shelter on Stamets Road in Alexandria Road and a nearby veterinarian hospital.

According to N.J.com, Captain Rick Yocum, the president of the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stated an investigation has been ongoing because of complaints about inhumane conditions at the facility.

Seventeen cats were removed and were transported to the Flemington Animal Hospital. Four of the cats were humanely euthanized. All of the animals have been receiving medical attention. The facility failed to quarantine sick cats with respiratory infections thus spreading illness to healthy cats.

There are also two pigs living in terrible condition at the facility. A decision from the Department of Agriculture will determine their fate.

Charges are expected to be filed within a week to ten days.

News Link:-http://www.examiner.com/article/hunterdon-humane-animal-shelter-faces-animal-cruelty-charges

Oakland County Sheriff’s Deputies Charged With Animal Abuse

(WXYZ) – Two Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies have been charged with animal abuse for not caring properly for three horses they owned.

James Willyard and his wife, Georgia Willyard of Lapeer, were charged with two misdemeanor counts each after an investigation by animal control officials.

In addition, the couple’s daughter, Molly Mekoski, has also been charged in the case.

Lapeer County Prosecutor Byron Konshuh tells 7 Action News the daughter is the owner of the three horses, but she does not live with her parents. The horses were kept on their property, therefore the couple shares responsibility for their well being.

The horses were deemed underweight by a vet and also allowed to run free, which initially raised concern of neighbors.

“We try to make sure we get compliance,” Konshuh said. “Prosecution isn’t the goal this case or any cases like this. We just want people to care for their animals.”

The prosecutor’s office also filed a civil lawsuit against the couple after the horses were removed from the property.  The county is now in possession of the animals and awaiting forfeiture.

Gail Hirt has years of experience with rescue horses.  Her agency, Beyond the Roses Equine , is taking charge of their care.

“They range anywhere from 100 pounds underweight to over 200 pounds underweight,” Hirt said. “Their hoofs are long. They’re not maintained. Their manes were full of burrs. They just look terrible.”

The horses are being temporarily housed at  Whispering Point Farm in Imlay City.

Arraignment took place last week at Lapeer District Court.  A conviction on the animal cruelty misdemeanor carries a maximum one year sentence.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement:

“We obviously find these allegations very disturbing. We have no tolerance for any animal cruelty. The deputies in question have been relieved of their police powers pending the outcome of the case.”

News Link: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/oakland-county-sheriffs-deputies-charged-with-animal-abuse#ixzz2McRsFqsB

Couple Had Sex With Dog: Admits To Violations Of Probation: Judge Re-Sentenced Probabtion

“I can’t fxxxxxg believe this…regards previous post, just found this…although wish I hadn’t…the pervs just got another 30 months probation…WTF…they already proved they can’t be trusted, yet this Judge gives them another ‘Pass Jail go Free’ charge!! I don’t think this is the last we will hear of this pair, I just pray to God no sentient being is hurt in the process!”

“It’s almost like the Judges can’t be bothered, well I hope to God this pair keep their hands to themselves…if they don’t…I think this Judge has some explaining to do…I.E…Why the hell did Judge David Lupas, not give them a jail sentence or a total ban on keeping animals… but nope, all they got was a ‘please don’t go on the internet & look at porn, please don’t be around kids or animals etc.’…how the hell can those actions be monitored or supposed to deter them??”

“We all know this kind of sick perverted behaviour goes on behind closed door’s, so tell me, just how are this couple supposed to be monitored…or am I missing something? A man & wife can’t just forget their sexual preferences, probation has proved it doesn’t stop them, yet all they get for breaking the rules is more probation, a slap on the wrist! Well I hope people spread their names far & wide, shame I don’t have pictures…people have a right to know that their neighbours are not only child perverts, they also like sex with dogs…THEY ARE SICK VULGAR ABOMINATIONS THAT CAN NOT BE TRUSTED TO BE AROUND NORMAL PEOPLE OR ANIMALS!! “

WILKES-BARRE – A man and woman sentenced earlier this year on charges they sexually abused a teen boy admitted to several probation violations Friday, including that they had inappropriate contact with their dog, and were re-sentenced by a county judge.

James Antonelli, 68, and his wife, Jennie Marie Moore, 48, both of Sugarloaf Township, appeared before Judge David Lupas, who re-sentenced the couple to begin a sentence of 30 months probation Friday. “WTF…I give up, what’s the point when Judges just hand out more probation?”

The couple were originally sentenced in February to 30 months probation in a case in which prosecutors say the boy, now 17, was abused by Antonelli and Moore beginning in April 2007.

In September, the couple’s probation officer filed a violation report, detailing that during the summer on two different occasions Moore admitted she and Antonelli were having sex with their golden retriever, that the probation officer found pornography on a computer and that the two went to Knoebel’s Amusement Park in Elysburg. “What more proof would warrant a jail sentence for these two immoral perverted creatures?”  

The couple’s attorney, James Scallion, said Friday his clients admitted to the violations in an agreement was made with prosecutors.

Assistant District Attorney Maureen Collins said she was agreeable to the sentence as long as the couple stayed away from the Internet, agreed to have no pets or animals on their property, had no unsupervised contact with minors and stayed away from places minors frequent, including amusement parks. “IS this women stupid or what…this couple have already proved they can’t be trusted, but you let them loose again!!”

Antonelli and Moore must also undergo sexual offender treatment and counselling. “All they have to do, is try to persuade the councillors that they are sorry & it’s a case of ‘ oh, ok, be good now’…I’m so fxxxxxg angry I just broke my favourite pen!!” 

Lupas told Antonelli and Moore they must abide by the probation terms, and if they appear before him again on a violation, he could impose jail time. “Ooo…bet their real scared…NOT”

“I hope this is the last we see of each of you,” Lupas said.”Well it won’t be & on your head be it”

News Link:–http://www.timesleader.com/stories/Couple-admits-to-violations,222286

Related articles

• Pennsylvania Couple Accused of Having Sex With Their Dog: Whilst On Probation (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)

White Watch: Man Guilty Of Sex With Miniature Horse And Rape, Gets 3 Years In Jail

“WTF…how can anyone be charged with 15 years yet only do 3 when that person has admitted to the heinous offenses? Why did the judge dismiss animal abuse & domestic violence when he admitted to doing it; the women he raped has to live with that all her life! What is it with these plea deals & bargains, just who do they help? certainly not the victims.”

“This man will be out of prison soon, do you think he will be a changed man? I fear not! I think there has to be Animal Abuse Registry’s set up in every state & town, interlinked so people like this can’t get their hands on animals. I also think that bestiality, sodomy, zoophilia should be incorporated into Brommels 5 Freedoms to further protect animals & help gain tougher charges; they have such little protection as it is.”

White Man Guilty Of Sex With Miniature Horse And Rape, Gets 3 Years In Jail…Just 3 years….

A Wilmer, Ala. man admitted to raping a woman and sexually abusing a miniature horse  on Tuesday in a plea deal that will allow his release in less than two years.

AL.com reports that Eric Steven Easley  was sentenced to three years in prison, but he’s already spent 14 months in jail, meaning with time served, he’ll be out in 22 months. He was technically sentenced to 15 years, but the deal stipulated that all but three of those be suspended.

The site notes that neither Easley, the prosecuting attorney nor judge Joseph “Rusty” Johnston seemed fully satisfied with the plea deal, which the prosecution claimed it offered because there were “legal issues” surrounding Easley’s rape victim.

Easley was arrested  in July 2011 after a woman said he broke into her home, raped her and held her for several hours against her will, according to a previous story by AL.com.

In 2010, deputies in Mobile, Ala. said they found evidence that a miniature horse’s tail had been tied to a post and the horse had been sexually abused, according to the Weekly Vice.

Deputies found a wallet with Easley’s driver’s license and Social Security card at the scene.

Judge Johnston dismissed animal cruelty and domestic violence charges as part of the plea deal, but Easley admitted to the charges of rape and killing or disabling livestock

News Link:-http://whitewatch.info/2012/10/11/guilty-of-sex-with-miniature-horse-and-rape-gets-3-years-in-jail-.aspx

Preteens Accused of Animal Cruelty on House Arrest

“I hope & pray the judge will come down heavy on these little shit heads, if they have the mind-set to do that now, what are they going to be like when their in their late teens…it will be kids or the elderly…if this isn’t nipped in the bud now!”

LAS VEGAS — Two 11-year-olds accused of animal cruelty that led to the death of six kittens appeared in Clark County Family Court Monday afternoon.

A judge ordered house arrest for the boys. They are required to wear ankle monitoring until Oct. 30 when the judge will decide if the case will go to trial. “IT must go to trial to get these psycho’s off the streets until they understand the ramifications of their actions”

The boys were caught after neighbours told police they saw them throwing rocks against a building in the area of the 9600 block of West Russell Road in the southwest Las Vegas valley.

It was later discovered they were…

throwing the rocks at a cat giving birth.

The pre-teens each face seven counts of animal cruelty.

News Link:–http://www.8newsnow.com/story/19886006/breaking-news

 

Animal cruelty trial continued until December

A trial for a Leavenworth man charged with felony animal cruelty has been continued for two months.

Jerald Halstead’s case had been scheduled to go to trial next week, but a continuance was granted Friday in Leavenworth County District Court. The trial is now set for Dec. 10.

Jerald Halstead

Halstead, 23, was arrested July 8 by Leavenworth police after a wounded dog was found in a trash bag in a wooded area in the 1500 block of Choctaw Street. The dog was put down by police.

Halstead is accused of carrying the wounded animal to the wooded area after it was shot by Joshua Elliott.

Elliott pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty in August. Last month, he received a 180-day jail sentence and probation.

The continuance in the Halstead case was requested by the prosecution.

Reviewing the reason for the request, District Judge Gunnar Sundby said it appeared a witness would be unavailable for the trial, which was scheduled for Tuesday, and it’s now believed the trial may take more than a day.

Halstead’s attorney, Michael Willcott, said he agreed the trial probably will last longer than a day.

Willcott said even though the prosecution had objected to an earlier request he made for a continuance, he was not objecting the prosecution’s request to reschedule the trial.

Sundby said the trial had been scheduled for Tuesday with the idea it would last only a day. He said jury deliberations could continue into Wednesday. But he can’t have the evidentiary portion of the trial continue into Wednesday and still handle the docket he normally has on Wednesdays.

The judge found there was good cause for continuing the trial. Sundby said he has a pretty full trial schedule for the fall. He said the trial could be continued to Dec. 10, or it could be placed on the docket for an earlier date as a backup to other trials.

Assistant County Attorney Sherri Becker, who’s prosecuting the case, said Dec. 10 is still within the speedy trial requirement for the case. Sundby said Halstead’s trial will be “first up” Dec. 10.

This was not the first time the trial was continued. It had been set for Tuesday after a continuance was requested by the defence.

News Link:-http://www.leavenworthtimes.com/article/20121006/NEWS/121009153

Related:–https://preciousjules1985.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/suspects-charged-in-animal-cruelty-case/

Man charged with beating girlfriend and killing her dog

“See, look…those same empty dark cold eye’s, devoid of normal rational behaviour & feelings!”

A Cleveland, Tenn., man is in jail after law enforcement officials say he allegedly attacked his girlfriend and killed her pet dog.

Justin Johnson, 26, 230 Outlet Road, Cleveland, Tenn., was charged Wednesday by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office with battery (family violence, first offence) and aggravated cruelty to animals. He remained in the Whitfield County jail without bond as of Thursday afternoon.

Justin Johnson

According to an incident report, Johnson’s live-in girlfriend, Crystal Coffman, told police she had asked Johnson to “move some items off their bed when he became irate and began striking her on the head with his fists.”

The incident report stated Coffman had swollen eyes, a cut and crooked nose, and a disfigured finger. Coffman was crying and holding a small, black dog that “she stated Mr. Johnson had killed during his assault on her,” according to the incident report.

Coffman’s mother, Kimberly Barb, said Thursday her daughter didn’t feel like talking to a reporter but was home from the hospital and beginning to heal. Barb said the violence began after Coffman questioned Johnson when she was told he had beat up her stepfather he had been living with. Coffman and Johnson had recently moved to a residence on Cleveland Highway in Cohutta.

Barb said the family took Johnson in about three months ago and were allowing him to live with her, her husband and her daughter because he had no place to go. She said when her husband began to question him about not keeping his room clean he turned violent.

“Watch who you deal with,” Barb said. “I know you want to help somebody, but be wary… I really liked him at first. I had no idea he was like this.”

News Link:-http://daltondailycitizen.com/local/x1831848462/Man-charged-with-beating-girlfriend-killing-dog

Conway man arrested on two counts felony animal cruelty

Conway police arrested Michael Woole, 1555 East German Lane, on two felony counts of animal cruelty Tuesday.

Woole, 34, was the suspect in the possible death of two dogs beaten over the head repeatedly with a baseball bat, according to the Conway Police Department.

Michael Woole

A neighbor and witness called police Thursday of last week when he allegedly saw Woole beating the dogs in a pen at his home.

According to the witness, when he approached Woole at the time of the incident, Woole stated he was “putting the dogs down.”

A CPD incident report stated the witness told police he saw Woole load the dogs into the back of a truck and leave the area.

In an interview with police, Woole stated he was not beating the dogs, but used a shovel to usher the dogs into another pen, according to La Tresha Woodruff, CPD public information officer.

Woodruff said an animal welfare officer who responded to the scene took photos of blood inside and around the pen.

In the interview, Woole denied striking the animals or causing them to bleed, Woodruff said.

Formal charges were filed against Woole by Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland Tuesday.

The two counts of animal cruelty are class D felonies, punishable up to six years in prison.

“The way the statute is written, you have to engage in some pretty egregious behavior before it reaches the level of felony animal cruelty, and the use of a baseball bat to beat the animals to death, we feel certainly rises to the level of activity that would warrant a felony charge,” said Hiland.

The act allowing felony charges for cruelty to animals was passed in 2009 and applies to horses, dogs and cats.

Hiland said the animals have to be tortured for the felony status to apply, as defined by the statute.

Woole was released on a $5,000 bond the day he was arrested. His court date is September 17.

News Link:–http://thecabin.net/news/local/2012-09-04/conway-man-arrested-two-counts-felony-animal-cruelty#.UEc45bKPWSp

Vietnamese soldiers held over deaths of rare monkeys

Vietnamese authorities have detained three soldiers suspected of torturing and killing two rare monkeys, state-run Voice of Vietnam newspaper reports.

The monkeys were endangered grey-shanked douc langurs

One of the men had posted photos on Facebook showing how the monkeys were killed, triggering a public outcry.

The monkeys were endangered grey-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix cinerea), reports say.

The soldiers, stationed in Vietnam‘s Central Highlands area, are now under investigation.

One of them, Nguyen Van Quang, who is serving in the Tay Nguyen Command of the Vietnamese army, posted photos of the monkeys on his Facebook page last week.

The photos showed one of the monkeys, believed to be pregnant, being made to smoke a cigarette before it was tortured and killed.

Col Nguyen Van Hai, head of Tay Nguyen Command’s Military Prosecutor’s Office, told the Voice of Vietnam that the soldiers had been detained and were being questioned.

“We’re still continuing our investigation into the case. When we have enough evidence, they [the soldiers] will be dealt with in accordance with Vietnamese military laws,” he said.

He added that the three had admitted killing the monkeys and said they had bought them from locals.

The men, who were identified on Thursday, are set to appear in a military court on an as yet unspecified date.

What is more worrying about the incident is that the young soldier who posted the photos on Facebook did not think he did anything wrong, says Nga Pham from BBC Vietnamese.

Authorities now realise that they need to do something to educate people, especially the young, about animal welfare and protection, she adds.

News Link:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18923533

Burned Puppy Named Justice – Case Plods Along Slowly

Prosecutors, defense continue to meet before trial

The case is moving forward against a local teen accused of setting a puppy on fire, ultimately killing the dog named Justice.

The case against a Dallas teen accused of setting a puppy on fire is moving forward.

The defense team met with prosecutors Thursday at the Frank Crowley Courthouse. The state is turning over the evidence it has against Darius Ewing.

The death of the dog and the animal cruelty case, has outraged animal lovers. 

“We wanted to show our support for Justice,” said Ann Mattson, volunteer with DFW Rescue Me.

Mattson said volunteers won’t miss a minute of the case against Ewing. The 18-year-old did not have to show up for court on Thursday, but animal rights supporters did show up with a message for prosecutors:

“We want to see the maximum penalties given to people who are found guilty of abusing animals,” said Mattson.

Attorneys are meeting privately laying out the evidence in the case and talking about a possible plea deal.

Ewing is accused of dousing a 4-month-old puppy, later named Justice, with lighter fluid and setting him on fire with a cigarette.  The dog died 10 days later with burns on 70 percent of his body.

Controversy has been surrounding the case in and out of the courtroom with allegations of racial bias.

Animal lovers say justice, in the courtroom and for the dog, is the bottom line.

“Please don’t abuse animals.  If you abuse animals, we want justice for them, and we’re going to be here,” said Mattson.

The judge in the case said prosecutors and the defense could meet a half dozen times before deciding if and when the case will go to trial.

Last month, the judge cut Ewing’s bond in half from $100,000 to $50,000. Ewing remains in jail.

News Link:-http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Burned-Puppy-Case-Plods-Along-Slowly-159068395.html

Related articles

• Suspect wanted in puppy-burning surrenders to Dallas police (preciousjules1985.wordpress.com)
• Animal Rights Activists Want Justice For Justice (dfw.cbslocal.com)