A judge sentenced Bettina Rodriguez and Gordon Shell to serve 90 days in jail, with all but five suspended. The two also have to pay a $1,000 fine, and Rodriguez had to complete 50 hours of community service.
On Thursday, both sides entered a plea agreement, which lessened the felony charge of larceny of a dog to a misdemeanor.
“As a first time offender, I had no idea I would be given any kind of punishment like that,” said Rodriguez. “I honestly thought I was just saving a life. My compassion and my heart took over.”
“I had no intentions of this going this far,” said Gordon Shell.
In January 2015, Rodriguez says a neighbor tipped her off to a dog being left in frigid temperatures near Parksley. In testimony, 10 On Your Side learned Shell, Rodriguez and Charlene Boyajian went to the home and cut the dog loose.
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We'll see if she is still smiling after she meets Brucina!
ReplyDeleteTwo women are hotties.
ReplyDeleteThe sentence was just. You don't just go into someone's yard and take their pet. There are procedures that need to be followed. What they did was wrong. If there was abuse, it should first be reported to authorities and then investigated. The worst part was they had the dog put to sleep soon after they took it.
ReplyDeleteVery sad. Sometimes rescuers are forced into this position by weak animal control laws. Do you sit and watch a dog suffer or do you help the dog after legal avenues have been exausted. Animals need to quit being viewed as property by the courts. They are living beings that feel pain cold loneliness. It's a shame the dog was probably returned to the conditions she tried to save it from. She made a moral choice even though illegal but sadly didn't make it to get the dog to a better life.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I don't have close neighbors. I simply would not wait for the local animal control or humane society to get their act together I would have to help the animals therefore I would also go to jail I guess. If more dog and cat owners were fined and sent to jail this world would be a better place.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of this particular case is limited to media reports.
ReplyDelete"The Law" recognizes that people may be forced to commit what would ordinarily be a criminal act to prevent a greater harm.
For example, if one sees an animal being abused, by being chained outside in frigid weather, and the law enforcement authorities have failed, or refused, to act, one may take that animal to safety without being guilty of theft.
The defense to any criminal charges, in those circumstances, is referred to as "necessity/duress".
In appears, from media reports, that the rescuers, in this case, exceeded the limits of a necessity/duress defense, when they lied to police after saving the dog, rather than explain why they took it. Regardless, I think a criminal record, and jail time, is an excessive sentence.
9:02 You are definitely correct!
ReplyDeleteHad nothing been done by contacting
proper authorities I would have done
the same as they did!!
Laws need to be changed for animals
so they 're not declared personal
property. Untill then ---those who mistreat
them will get only minimal punishment and
continue to do the same.
It's a proven fact by law enforcement,
those who mistreat animals
will do the same to human beings.
Nice teeth!
ReplyDelete