On Thursday, February 11th, Judge Kent Jasperson dismissed animal neglect charges against FLOCK (For the Love of Cats and Kittens) before the trial even started.
The judge was following the letter of the law when he dismissed the case based on a technicality. It seems that when the original complaint was filed in June 2008, the defendants were listed as “Doe’s” and “Roe’s” as a placeholder until the names of the 11 members of FLOCK could be inserted.
The amendment was not filed back in 2008 and this oversight was not discovered until right before the trial. The amendment to individually name the FLOCK members was not done until Wednesday evening and the judge based his decision on the fact that the amendment should have been filed sooner as the statute of limitations had expired.
Mr. Bettinger, the Nye County Deputy District Attorney, explained that it had taken that long – roughly two and half years since the allegations surfaced in June 2007 – to determine who was culpable for the neglect.
Bettinger and his staff were shocked and dismayed by the dismissal. These feelings echoed with the 15 witnesses prepared to testify for the prosecution and the numerous supporters of the Great Kitty Rescue in attendance. Witnesses included three staff members from Best Friends Animal Society: animal behavior consultant Sherry Woodard, Dogtown caregiver Mckenzie Garcia, and veterinarian Dr. Frank McMillan. Woodard and Garcia were some of the first on the scene and lived on site for many months during the rescue.
The Great Kitty Rescue started in July 2007, when the Nye County Animal Control convinced FLOCK to surrender the cats and then turned the care over to Best Friends along with the cats rescued from former FLOCK president Sherri Allen.
At that time, the current FLOCK president, Maggie Ward stated, "It's true the cats were badly abandoned, and we all have to accept responsibility for that, because we should have done a better job than what we did."
One vocal volunteer quickly exited the courtroom after the verdict to avoid being charged with contempt after exclaiming, “Is everyone here as disgusted with the judge as I am?”
Before leaving the bench, Jasperson told Bettinger. “There’s only one thing I see in this [case] file. These animals that were allegedly mistreated, malnourished and neglected will never be able to be heard.”
Bettinger has 30 days to file an appeal, which he said he’d immediately begin work on. “We have a duty to the cats," he said.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”
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