Update: Dawn Marie - Page 1

This actually is a few days old! 


http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Judge-to-decide-fate-of-seized-dogs-3543965.php#photo-2912891

Thanks for the update.

Figures, no jail time at all.'

Michele 

Grrrr.... 2 years probation, but what about after that time is up? I hope she will never be permitted to have another animal, but I saw nothing indicating that.

The term of years discussed in the article appears to be the ramifications of the previous charge.  I believe this article is just discussing a hearing of how to dispose of the evidence (dogs) with the State wanting the dogs placed in homes other than that of the Defendant and the Defendant obviously objecting to that.  It looks like she got some sort of probationary sentence due to mental health issues.  I am surprised they did not incorporate the placement of the animals in any plea agreement or perhaps the agreement was that they would have a hearing and let the judge determine the outcome. 

It pains me to have to say this, because I'm sure it's something she's already tried to use in her own defense, but from the descriptions of the physical condition of the dogs, the possibility that at least some of the problems were not so much due to neglect, but rather from genetic autoimmune maladies that we must admit ARE far too prevalent in the breed, and sad to say, moreso in the showlines than the working lines (though they're not free of them, either).  Considering that the dogs were seized at the end of October 2011, and yet one of the veterinarians testified that some of the dogs had improved, and some still had not--despite all of the dogs having been under treatment by one or more vets in the past 6 1/2 months, it is not unreasonable to suspect that at least part of the problem was too many dogs with health conditions that require constant management.  An owner with multiple healthy dogs, and one special-needs or chronically ill dog, can attest to the exponential expansion of strain that single animal can trigger for an owner, so it would not be unexpected if trying to care for a group of dogs where the majority have an intractable or difficult autoimmune disorder could push even a compassionate, conscientious owner over the brink. 

That said, she is educated and intelligent enough, and had sufficient resources available to her, to recognize it if she was getting overwhelmed, and to ask for help from her fellow breed fanciers...  While there are reasons for everything, in situations like this, there are no acceptable excuses; those dogs should not have been subjected to the circumstances they were enduring.

Poor dogs!  I hate it when justice is not served.

Sorry folks, but I have seen a lot of Dawn Marie's dogs, and none of them ever looked in any way neglected to me. Quite the contrary in fact. Every single one of those descriptions of dogs and their conditions, crates, etc., can be explained easily enough by anyone who houses many dogs indoors on a cold fall day. Note: nowhere does it say the dogs were living in filth, and a lot of us feed and water dogs in pails, in crates, filling the pails with water as needed, just enough to satisfy thirst and not so much that they dump it all over the crate.
Most people think the weights we keep our working dogs at is far too thin, especially vets. Remember, those are the same folks pushing that awful corn-laden Science Diet crap food in their reception area. Pet people think 100 lbs. sounds about right for a GSD, the bigger the better.
Long nails? Seriously? I guess I'd better clip nails more often than once or twice a month, lest I be arrested for neglect.

Poor Dawn Marie. I feel awful for her. This all happended just about the time she was providing end-of-life care for her since-departed father.