Dog Dies When Owner Leaves it Home Alone to Attend Competition

MandyPug

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#1
LARGO — Carla Ann Thomas is an animal lover who trains dogs, plays with dogs, sleeps with her dogs and says: "My dogs are my life."

But a jury on Wednesday found her guilty of animal neglect because she left her dog Sache alone for a weekend last year without proper provisions. Sache died.

Pinellas County Judge Donald Horrox read letters and heard testimony from many people praising her love and talent for her beloved pets. But Horrox said evidence in the two-day trial showed she suffered a serious "lapse of judgment."

The jury found Thomas had neglected her dog either by leaving her in an enclosed area without sufficient food and water; or doing so without proper ventilation and room to exercise.

The jury was not required to say which of those options it thought had occurred, but Horrox said it could have been both. Horrox sentenced Thomas, 31, to 12 months of probation with 30 days in the Pinellas County Jail.

"I think some jail time in this case is warranted based on the seriousness of an animal dying," Horrox said.

He allowed her to continue owning five other dogs, but imposed several conditions requiring her to get them veterinary care and not to use homeopathic remedies on them unless approved by a licensed veterinarian.

Defense attorneys vigorously attacked the state's case by pointing out no one ever autopsied Sache, a 5-year-old Akita, to see how the dog died.

"No necropsy, no clue, not guilty," said Assistant Public Defender James Maskowitz.

But Assistant State Attorney Kaitlyn Bagnoto said afterward that it was not necessary for the state to prove how the dog died, but to prove Thomas neglected Sache as defined by state law.

The case stems from an April 2010 weekend when Thomas was away from Healthy Paws, a health food store for dogs and cats Thomas used to own in St. Petersburg.

She was away at a "flyball tournament," in which her other dogs participated in a ball-chasing competition.

Thomas fed the dog on a Friday and left her plenty of water, Maskowitz said. On Saturday, while Thomas was at the tournament, Sache was fasting. Thomas was having Sache fast one day a week to help the dog get over a skin condition, Maskowitz said. The dog also had a "social anxiety disorder," he said. Thomas was planning to return Sunday.

That day, her landlord, Abraham Reid, went to the business at 2250 Central Ave., looked inside and could see Sache lying motionless. He testified this week that he saw overturned bowls and that the room appeared ransacked.

"Doggie, doggie, doggie," Reid called at the time. But there was no response. He called animal control, and later, the police.

St. Petersburg Officer Tim Rutherford testified that he smelled an "extremely pungent odor of feces" inside the business and did not feel or hear any air conditioning when he responded to the call.

He later spoke to Thomas, who acknowledged being away for the weekend, leaving some food and "two small bowls of water." And, Rutherford said, "she said the room actually gets quite warm when the AC's turned off."
Pet store owner found guilty of animal neglect - St. Petersburg Times

Leaving a dog all alone to go to a flyball tournament? I can't imagine doing that. Why not have a friend come and take care of the dog? Or get the landlord to check in? It just baffles me.
 

JessLough

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#2
She doesn't care about the dogs, she cares about the titles after the dogs name. Pretty bull that she was allowed to continue having dogs and got off so easy, to continue the abuse with no real reason to stop.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#3
I find myself nervous leaving our dogs for 12 hours, hell any more than a standard 8 hours, more than 24 without supervision and not during an emergency? It's unspeakable. It's confusing how someone can come across as such a competent, caring owner and then have this come to light.
 

Xandra

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I'd like to know how the dog died.

I've certainly left pets (cats, rabbits, livestock) for a couple days without checking on them. Gave them multiple water bowls with rocks in them etc.

According to another article she left the dog with 4 bowls of water, set the thermostat at 80 and pointed a fan at his bed. According to her someone must have mucked with the AC.

How was the dog neglected? Do they have proof it didn't have sufficient water? Do they have proof it overheated due to lack of ventilation or whatever?

Now I'm not sure why she chose 80 degrees (pretty warm!) or what the shop looked like (big windows etc) but if the dog died of heatstroke, which seems most likely, it was still an accident. She already feels terrible. She's not going to do it again. And the dog might have died of something totally unrelated. No one knows.

People make mistakes and misjudgments with all kinds of animals all the time, people on this forum have, sometimes the animal dies as a result. That's life.

Personally I think it's somewhat asinine to charge her.
 

stafinois

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I'd like to know how the dog died.

I've certainly left pets (cats, rabbits, livestock) for a couple days without checking on them. Gave them multiple water bowls with rocks in them etc.

According to another article she left the dog with 4 bowls of water, set the thermostat at 80 and pointed a fan at his bed. According to her someone must have mucked with the AC.

How was the dog neglected? Do they have proof it didn't have sufficient water? Do they have proof it overheated due to lack of ventilation or whatever?

Now I'm not sure why she chose 80 degrees (pretty warm!) or what the shop looked like (big windows etc) but if the dog died of heatstroke, which seems most likely, it was still an accident. She already feels terrible. She's not going to do it again. And the dog might have died of something totally unrelated. No one knows.

People make mistakes and misjudgments with all kinds of animals all the time, people on this forum have, sometimes the animal dies as a result. That's life.

Personally I think it's somewhat asinine to charge her.

I'm guessing that the judge and the jury had more info than we did from what was reported in the media.
 

~Tucker&Me~

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I really want to know who it is..... I noticed Mandy posted a results thread recently and went ah hah!.... Until I realized she doesn't have an akita, she doesn't have 5 dogs and she probably wouldn't post an article like this if it was about herself...... :p

Derp.
 

stafinois

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I really want to know who it is..... I noticed Mandy posted a results thread recently and went ah hah!.... Until I realized she doesn't have an akita, she doesn't have 5 dogs and she probably wouldn't post an article like this if it was about herself...... :p

Derp.

I don't think this person has 5 dogs, either. There were pics of 6 dogs posted today, and we've seen pics of lots more. Were they all placed? :confused:
 

JessLough

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#14
I really want to know who it is..... I noticed Mandy posted a results thread recently and went ah hah!.... Until I realized she doesn't have an akita, she doesn't have 5 dogs and she probably wouldn't post an article like this if it was about herself...... :p

Derp.
Mandy totally would. It would SO be like her to post the article to try and divert the attention from her... (Mandy is also in Canada lol)

I don't think this person has 5 dogs, either. There were pics of 6 dogs posted today, and we've seen pics of lots more. Were they all placed? :confused:
There is much more than 6 dogs.
 

Xandra

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I'm guessing that the judge and the jury had more info than we did from what was reported in the media.
Yes you're quite right. I had originally put "Based on that I think it's asinine to charge her" but I somehow deleted the first part.
 

Dekka

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#16
I can't imagine leaving dogs alone for a weekend in a kennel run with lots of water etc. Horses I will leave over night, anymore and I get someone to check on them and phone if anything is up.

But if this is person I think it is they post pic thread after pic thread of their dogs, but never seem interested in anyone else's dogs. That to me shows what sort of a person someone is. If you join a forum of dog lovers, but all you care about is bragging about your dogs, then to me (JMO) you aren't a dog lover.

Don't get me wrong, I love to brag with t he best of them, but I also love hearing about and seeing everyone else's dogs and show that by participating in other people's threads.
 

JessLough

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#17
Yes you're quite right. I had originally put "Based on that I think it's asinine to charge her" but I somehow deleted the first part.
If she was up here, she would NOT have her other dogs, and would be fined.(There was a recent-ish case similar)

They are seriously cracking down on animal abuse.

Leaving cats and livestock is completely different than leaving a dog, in Florida weather, alone. Even IF the A/C was set to 80, it would be too hot for an Akita. Heck, We have the A/C set to 72 up here and Rosey still finds it warm, and she is not NEARLY as coated as an akita is.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#18
Animals fail fast, leaving them for several days is not okay just because none have died yet.

Is it a money issue? Can people not afford pet sitters? Maybe they should cut down the number of animals they have to feed as a money saving effort?
 

Xandra

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#19
Leaving cats and livestock is completely different than leaving a dog, in Florida weather, alone. Even IF the A/C was set to 80, it would be too hot for an Akita. Heck, We have the A/C set to 72 up here and Rosey still finds it warm, and she is not NEARLY as coated as an akita is.
Yes I can't see myself leaving a dog either, it's nasty for one, just leaving it to crap all over the floor. But I don't think it's completely different. I guess my thoughts were if this was someone who made adequate provisions (ie left lots of water though I see now this article says two small bowls?!) and thought it would be fine, and was devastated that their dog died, I don't think they should be charged, especially if we don't know what the dog actually died of.
 

Tazwell

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#20
It's hard to believethat dogs are left weeks or months without food or water in abamdoned houses and survive. But this dog was left 2 days??? Wow.
 

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