AR-News: (AK - US) Owner of the "animal tour bus from hell" gets no jail time!

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Subject:  [humaneeducationnetwork] Alaska: abuser of dozens of animals gets no jail  time


 [Boughton was the owner of the "animal tour bus from  hell."]
 
 Web posted Sunday, August 24, 2003  
 
 Boughton sentenced in animal cruelty case 
 By PHIL  HERMANEK 
 Peninsula Clarion 
 
 The woman charged  with animal cruelty for keeping dozens of underfed, 
 ungroomed dogs in  Sterling received a suspended sentence of a year in jail, a $5,000 
 fine  and was placed on five years probation in Kenai District Court on  Friday.
 
 As part of the sentence handed down by Magistrate David  S. Landry, Carolyn 
 Boughton is forbidden from owning any animals during  the length of her probation 
 other than the 13-year-old miniature  schnauzer she currently has, and she is 
 not allowed to breed any  animals.
 
 Additionally, Boughton was ordered to pay restitution  for the cost of caring 
 for 66 dogs that were rescued from property she  rented in Sterling. That cost 
 is to be determined by the state,  according to Landry.
 
 The case arose when Alaska State Troopers  investigated a complaint that 
 Boughton was housing numerous Bouviers  and Kerry blue terriers in a bus and trailer 
 in Sterling without food  or water.
 
 When troopers went to the site on Spruce Road on Nov.  5, 2001, they found six 
 dead dogs, including four Bouviers and two  terriers, one terrier that had to 
 be euthanized because of its weak  condition and one that needed to have an eye 
 removed due to severe  infection.
 
 In addition, 65 live dogs, many covered with frozen  urine and feces, were 
 found suffering from malnutrition and extreme  dehydration.
 
 Sixty-six dogs were rescued by the Alaska Society  for the Prevention of 
 Cruelty to Animals and all were placed in  adoptive homes, according to Diane 
 Zarfoss, clinic coordinator in  Anchorage.
 
 In sentencing Boughton, Landry said, "There's no  question, Miss Boughton, 
 that your heart might have been in a good  place, but the worst thing that could 
 have happened to these dogs was  coming into your care.
 
 "I have no doubt of your love, but you  were not capable, financially and 
 mentally, and not physically capable  of properly taking care of these animals," he 
 said.
 
  The 58-year-old Boughton, who arrived in court in a wheelchair, said she  
 recently had undergone gall bladder surgery and was in need of  operations on her 
 neck and back. She also told the court that at the  time her dogs were 
 discovered by troopers, she was undergoing financial  difficulties that prevented her 
 from being able to adequately feed her  dogs.
 
 She had been evicted from the property in Sterling and  was commuting from 
 Nikiski to care for the animals when she could. She  also said she was paying 
 someone $100 a month to feed the dogs, but the  person was not feeding them or 
 providing water as agreed.
  
 Landry said the situation goes to the heart of American  society.
 
 "We have had a love affair with animals in this  country since the time of the 
 Pilgrims," he said. "We expect people who  take on the responsibility of 
 animals to care for them.
  
 "This court, this community, this peninsula demands it. If you have  trouble, 
 wave a white flag," he said.
 
 Prior to  sentencing, Boughton told the court she was prevented from having 
  help.
 
 "I would never have harmed any of my dogs," she  said.
 
 She said she had sold her property on the Kenai River  where she was breeding 
 dogs for years hoping to create a new breed of  miniature Bouviers. She 
 acquired the bus and trailer and was planning  to leave Alaska with all the dogs, but 
 she alleged someone sabotaged  the bus and one event after another prevented 
her from leaving.
  
 Boughton also said she had set up a living space in the bus for herself  so 
 she could stay with her dogs.
 
 "As far as my dogs, I  would've rather died myself," she said.
 
 "I had the top winning  Bouviers in the nation. I was proud of those dogs, and 
 I showed them. I  worked to miniaturize Bouviers for 10 years," she said. "I 
 didn't have  a puppy mill. I wasn't a collector. All I was going to keep was my 
  miniatures."
 
 Describing the sentence as being geared toward her  rehabilitation and toward 
 deterring her from further animal breeding,  Landry ordered Boughton to allow 
 state troopers to perform welfare  checks on her schnauzer at her Nikiski 
 residence during her probation  and said any interference with troopers would result 
 in revocation of  her probation.
 
 Boughton's court-appointed attorney, Brooke  Browning, said the sentence was 
 close to what she expected.
  
 "I feel in all of this, Miss Boughton has gotten lost," Browning  said.
 
 "I'm glad she got her day in court. This wasn't a case of  malice or cruelty."

Of the sentence, assistant district  attorney June Stein said, "The court was right on point."
  
http://www.peninsulaclarion.com/stories/082403/new_082403new004001.shtml