ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON THE ROANOKE TIMES
After weeks in legal limbo, the scores of dogs and cats seized from Valery Green in Franklin County have received clearance to go to new homes.
More than 100 cats and dogs seized from a Franklin County breeder two months ago can now be adopted out to new homes, a circuit judge ruled Tuesday.
Valery Green had appealed civil and criminal convictions on charges that she didn't properly care for the 119 animals she kept at her rented home near Ferrum.
The Franklin County Humane Society, which was awarded control of the animals by General District Judge George Jones on Jan. 23, has boarded the animals at local veterinary clinics and foster homes pending the appeal.
The organization has spent in excess of $20,000 caring for the animals, exhausting its 1997 budget. It spent $9,000 on animal care last year.
Anxious members of the Humane Society were vocal in the courtroom Tuesday.
They gasped in disbelief when Green's attorney, Wayne Inge, said his client's animals could be worth as much as $25,000, and some scoffed when Inge said that just a few of Green's animals were in need of treatment when they were seized Jan. 3.
They hugged and cried tears of joy when Judge B.A. Davis III, after listening to three hours of testimony, took little time to uphold the earlier General District Court civil ruling.
"She doesn't have the wherewithal to take care of these animals," Davis said. He also ruled that Green no longer may own any companion animals without the court's permission.
Davis took a criminal nuisance conviction against Green under advisement. Court records filed after the hearing indicated that Davis upheld another criminal conviction for animal cruelty.
Green was fined a total of $600 and given suspended jail sentences as the result of a hearing on the criminal charges Feb. 26.
Witnesses Tuesday described the deplorable living conditions that existed for Green's animals.
Green didn't mop the feces-covered floors of her home, and there were boxes of her own clothes in the living room filled with animal excrement, said Shelby Richards, an acquaintance who visited her home often.
Linda Jennings, a Roanoke veterinarian who treated more than 20 of Green's animals after they were seized, said a number of dogs inherited defects that are signs of improper breeding.
"I had to shear off the coats of some of the animals down to the skin because of all the matted feces in their hair," she said.
Green maintained that the major problems with her animals didn't start until she entered the hospital for an extended stay in December. She was diagnosed with breast cancer several months ago, Green said. She also receives Social Security disability payments for arthritis and back problems, and she's sought hospital treatment for depression, she said.
Two defense witnesses - including her landlady - said they tried to help Green care for the animals because they felt sorry for her and her cats and dogs.
Said prosecutor Cliff Hapgood: "This isn't a vendetta. These dogs and cats deserve decent treatment. [Green] might love them, but she can't handle them."
Inge, who filed an unsuccessful motion to dismiss the case based on double-jeopardy case law, said the expenses incurred by the Humane Society were a major factor in the case.
"The only way for them to recoup their losses was forfeiture of the animals," he said.
Inge said he may appeal the case. Green had no comment as she left the courtroom.
The Humane Society said it is ready to find the dogs good homes. It is anticipated that the organization will be able to adopt the dogs out in the next few days.
An estimated adoption fee of $50 will be charged.
First, however, Franklin County officials will be asked if they're interested in taking an active part in dispersing the animals, Hapgood said.
The Green case has galvanized public interest. It set a legal precedent in Franklin County - Hapgood and Inge said they've never experienced a case like it - and it brought together breeders and Humane Society members, people who don't always see eye to eye.
Mary Kaplan, the treasurer of the county Humane Society, said she and Joan Kasper, a Rockbridge County breeder who attended Tuesday's hearing, have discussed common goals for lobbying state legislators on animal care issues.
Kasper read about the Franklin County case and decided to take in one of Green's cocker spaniels when foster homes were sought.
"There are good breeders out there," Kasper said. "We want people to know that."
Anyone wishing to adopt a cat or dog should call the Franklin County Humane Society at (540)489-3775.
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