 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Judge punishes dog breeder for animal cruelty
By LINDA GIBSON © St. Petersburg Times, published October 28, 2000 TAMPA -- Almost two years after authorities seized more than 400 dogs from toy poodle breeder Alice Holt, a judge Friday found her guilty of 190 counts of animal cruelty. Judge Denise Pompano ordered Holt to repay $198,000 to the county for the cost of boarding and treating the animals, and $5,300 to the Tampa Police Department for its investigative costs. She also banned Holt from owning or breeding animals during 10 years of probation and ordered the 63-year-old woman to perform 50 hours of community service. The case ended happily for most of the dogs long ago. When police officers entered the Toyland Pet Resort at 2501 E Diana St. in January 1999, they found dogs, some shivering and wet, crammed together in outdoor cages. Inside the kennel, officers gagged at the stench. One dog was dead. Food bowls were overturned. Some had hair matted by feces. Many suffered from malnutrition, lice, mange, ear infections, hookworms, roundworms or heartworms, according to the county veterinarian at the time. Ultimately, most of them found homes through a local poodle rescue group after spending some months at the county pound and the Humane Society's shelter. The cruelty charges included 102 of animal abuse resulting from the pain and torment caused by those medical conditions, exacerbated by Holt's failure to get them adequate vet care, said Assistant State Attorney Buddy Gissendanner. Another 88 charges of improper confinement related to her housing them without enough food, water, exercise and cleanliness. According to testimony in an April 1999 hearing, Holt had run the resort and an associated business, Toyland All Breed Grooming, successfully enough for some years. A vet's inspection of the facilities in August 1997 noted that most of the animals seemed healthy. But their sheer numbers apparently overwhelmed Holt sometime after that, officials said. By July 1998, the police got a 911 call to the Diana Street facility that resulted in the seizure of 48 dogs. Another 370 were seized in January 1999 after the county said Holt failed to correct conditions. Holt could not be reached for comment and her attorney did not return a phone call.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
|
