Posted on 05/07/2003 12:43:42 PM PDT by Chancellor Palpatine
Gloria Suzanne Coke, who was found guilty recently of inhumane treatment of 65 dogs and cats confiscated from her home last summer, will be sentenced today in Oldham County District Court.
Judge Jerry Crosby could give Coke, 44, up to 65 days in jail and fine her $32,500, as a jury recommended after convicting her on April 24.
Animal-control officials, meanwhile, have been arranging adoptions of the dogs and cats. As of last week, more than 20 had been placed in homes, County Attorney John Fendley said.
He estimated that the county spent more than $10,000 in overtime pay for the animal-control officers who cared for the animals.
Fendley said the jury's verdict helped clarify the county's ordinance requiring humane treatment of animals.
"They have set the standard," Fendley said. "You don't treat animals like that."
Witnesses testified to seeing Coke's Circleview Drive home littered with feces and urine. They also said the home was extremely hot.
Animal-control officers and others who went to the two-story house on June 25, 2002, said they also saw rodents and overturned food and water dishes.
A groomer and an animal-control volunteer testified that some of her dogs had skin sores and mange, bloody diarrhea, toenails growing into their footpads and open wounds from where they had bitten one another. One dog's fur was so matted that its urine was collecting in its coat, said Margaret Douglas, who groomed 10 of the dogs after they were seized from Coke's home.
In all, animal-control officers took 61 dogs and seven cats from Coke. They left 20 large dogs in her fenced back yard and an unknown number of birds and turtles inside because they had adequate food, water and ventilation.
Coke's attorney, Jody Curry, argued that the condition of the home that day was unusual — that Coke normally cleans the house multiple times a day — and that Coke and her husband, Ed, left them alone for about eight hours that day.
Curry also argued that Coke's animals were largely healthy when they were taken and that some of their ailments may have been contracted while in the county's custody.
Konrad Poth, a former assistant county attorney, testified that he went with animal-control officers to the Coke home to photograph the house on the day they took the dogs and cats.
When asked whether the photographs accurately depicted conditions in the house, Poth answered: "There's no way a photograph can possibly convey the horrific stench that permeated this house. A photograph has no odor."
Going through each of the 15 photos submitted as evidence, Poth described each to Fendley.
"Abysmal; a virtual cesspool," Poth said, describing a photo of the basement. "The floor is covered in filth."
(Excerpt) Read more at courierjournal.com ...
It gets worse deeper in.
She apparently had the connivance of a quack vet.
What a lying sumbitch. Even worse than that, he's a damn liar. And his client is crazy as a bedbug, too. Anyone who could live in that filth, among the misery of those poor beasts, is a bugeyed, slackjawed loon.
The ultimate in "spin". Yet another reason why people think lawyers are scum. Just cleaning out my cat's litter box can make your eyes water, from the ammonia stench. "Unacceptable to some people", indeed.
Veterinarian(Remember the name, local residents and don't let your animals anywhere near this man!) Michael Grimes concurred, saying that he saw nothing wrong with the animals' living conditions. "I don't see anything in this environment that would be detrimental to a pet," he said, looking at one of the photos. "It's very difficult to keep a large number of pets in a clean environment..."I think she does an extremely good job, considering the number of animals she has," Grimes said.
Well, no sh!t, Sherlock! That's why normal people don't have 65 animals crapping all over their house!
Grimes vouched for Coke's care of her animals, saying he has treated at least 50 of them. He said he frequently calls in prescriptions for heartworm and other medications for her animals.
"I think she does an extremely good job, considering the number of animals she has," Grimes said.
Reckon the vet is in cahoots with her? I can't imagine a vet condoning this behavior.
And here's the kicker... she's done this, and been caught, before...Coke faces similar charges in Jefferson County, where 52 animals were taken from two of the Cokes' properties on June 4, 2002. The properties are at 7209 and 7301 Wesboro Road near Lyndon. A trial ended in a hung jury and Coke is awaiting retrial.
Some might say that it's high time for PETA to put its money where its mouth is.....
The max she gets is a day in jail for each animal she abused? WTF?!? It's not enough--and I didn't even factor in good time. What about 5-10 years probation, with a prohibition on owning animals of any kind, counseling (to make sure she's not going to become a serial killer), restitution--oh, and every day, she's got to muck out a horse stable and/or dairy barn.
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