Montanta musher accused of neglect wants dogs released from foster care
Published Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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Stumble It!BOZEMAN, Mont. -- A West Yellowstone man charged with animal cruelty after 33 sled dogs were found abandoned without food, water or shelter wants his dogs released to his father while the criminal case against him is pending.
John T. Hessert, 24, was charged in February with one count of felony aggravated animal cruelty and 33 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
District Judge Holly Brown asked attorneys on both sides Tuesday to file their arguments in writing by April 18 to help her decide where the dogs belong.
Hessert's attorney, Chuck Watson, asked Stephen Hessert, 56, of Maine, whether he would be willing to care for his son's sled dogs.
Stephen Hessert said he has had sled dogs on his 96-acre farm for 30 years and is willing to keep the animals at his home. He said he would pay for the dogs' care and keep his son away from the animals while the case is pending.
But prosecutor John Worsfold said he wants the dogs to remain in their foster homes until the case is resolved. He argued that the animals are evidence that could be needed at trial.
According to court records, a man called animal control Jan. 30 to report that the dogs were being kept in an unsafe environment outside West Yellowstone near Targhee Pass.
The man said he hadn't seen the dogs' owner in several days and the dogs were emaciated and in poor condition.
A veterinarian examined the dogs on Feb. 2 and determined that they were all "well below normal health and had not been being fed enough food," according to court records. One of the dogs had a collar embedded in its neck and other dogs had frostbite.
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Just another infuriating tale of sled dog abuse and neglect. It is so much more prevalent than what the general public knows. When will communities begin to stand up for these wonderful creatures who have no voice of their own??? We have to enforce harsh penalties to these cruel human beings who do this. If the owner is not going to feed and care for them, why did he get them in the first place??? I'm sure that if someone chained the owner up and let him starve, have no water and get frostbite, he'd be outraged and want something done immediately. This situation angers and saddens me to the core.
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If the allegations are proved true, then it angers and saddens me as well. That is a big "if", though.
People who are unfamiliar with working dogs, even vets unfamiliar with working dogs, sometimes believe they are unhealthy or are 'starving' when in fact that are at a very healthy, appropriate weight. It's quite likely that the majority of pet dog owners and vets in general small animal practice outside of mushing hot spots such as Alaska or some of the northern contiguous States never seen a dog at it's natural healthy weight.
The articles I've read on this particular case don't provide much in the way of detail, so it's impossible to determine whether or not this guy was or was not providing appropriate care for his working dogs.
For now, the dogs should probably remain in foster care locally until after the trial. If the guy is convicted, then I'd be delighted to throw the very heaviest of books at him. For now, I'm not willing to assume he's guilty just because an animal control officer was able to develop probable cause. That is for a local jury to decide.
well... while I agree having had sled dogs for many years myself.. a healthy weight on working sled dogs in comparison to many pet dogs today who are overfed fat blobs on legs is going to LOOK like emaciated dogs in some cases....of course people are going to think they are emaciated when they look at Fido the overweight cocker spaniel that can hardly walk.
However.. with that comment made....some folks including some Veterinarians , simply do not recognize an underweight dog versus a healthy slim dog. There are signs to look for in a healthy slim dog versus a skin and bones look alike. And not being there to judge for myself, I cannot make a comment on whether they were suffering from lack of food or not. However.. one simple sign of pure neglect is the one dogs collar was embedded into the neck skin of that is indeed what happened. Again I wasnt there to see it myself. But its absolutely awful to see animals with chains, collars and or rubber bands , strings embedded into a dogs neck. I have seen those things myself and its not pretty by any means. This alone tells me the dogs were not being cared for properly. If in fact this really was the case.
I cannot say the father of this young man will or will not take proper care of the dogs. His comment that he would take care of the dogs and keep his son away from the dogs is moot. Family is family.
Will the father really keep his son away from the dogs? really? how about when he has to go somewhere and leaves the home site.... will the son then sneak in while his dad is gone and remove dogs? I dont know unless that the place is guarded day and night by someone else that this promise can be made.
Who is going to stand by the dogs day and night to prove he doesnt come to see the dogs or remove them. that remains to be known.
OK
The collar embedded in the neck can't be confused for much else, I don't think. But also while it's one thing for a vet to say "Your dog's too thin" it's a whole other thing for them to help the government prosecute you for it and I don't think that it's something they'd do lightly. Especially not in a place like Montana. JT deserves a fair trial under the law but that doesn't mean that those of us who don't have any responsibility for seeing to that have to keep our minds so open our brains fall out.
Veterinarians in cruelty cases don't just look at a dog and say hmmm, too thin, this person neglected their dog. They do labwork to rule out any medical cause such as cancer or hyperthyroidism, for the appearance and also to assess protein levels. There are certain metabolic abnormalities that one sees in cases of extreme malnutrition that one does not see in normal, but athletically thin, animals. There are changes on physical exam as well. When an examining veterinarian sees an entire team of neglected dogs that have muscle wasting, empty stomachs, are dehydrated and that is coupled with witness testimony that days go by with no one feeding/watering the team, then yes, there is strong evidence of neglect.
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