ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: PRINCE GEORGE
SOURCE: Associated Press
A judge has found a woman whose house was littered with animal feces guilty of 18 counts of cruelty to animals and one count of being an unfit animal owner.
``I know you try hard. I know your heart's in the right place,'' General District Judge Kenneth Nye told the defendant, Leokadia Worton, on Monday. ``But the bottom line is you do them more harm than good.''
Nye sentenced Worton to 90 days in jail on each conviction, but suspended all the jail time. Worton was fined $100 on each count, but Nye suspended $90 of each fine, which means she must pay a total of $190.
The suspended penalties were contingent on several conditions: Worton must not own or possess more than one animal at a time; she must perform 200 hours of community service; she must seek psychological counseling; she will be on probation for three years; and she must pay the cost of food, medical care and housing for her dogs.
Authorities seized 48 dogs from the woman's home July 23.
Her attorney, Paul Bland, said he plans to appeal.
``The only thing she's guilty of is loving them too much,'' Bland said. ``There are a lot of animals that nobody will care for. It just so happened that the person who decided to care gets crucified.''
Worton testified that she only took in the sickest and oldest dogs - animals that nobody else wanted.
``Healthy dogs can find owners,'' she said. ``Sick dogs don't get a chance.''
LENGTH: Short : 38 linesby CNB