Colorado: rescue owner pleads guilty.

When rescues can't take care of them, what's next?

Horse rescue owner pleads guilty to animal cruelty [link]
NATE TAYLOR | Aug 19, 2008

Matchett to undergo mental health evaluation, can still care for 10 animals

A Wellington woman has pleaded guilty to one count of animal cruelty in connection with animals she was keeping at her animal rescue, but under a plea agreement, she will still be able to care for at least 10 animals. Alesha Matchett, the owner of Animal Angels, was scheduled to go on trial Monday to face four counts of animal cruelty covering 22 horses, seven goats, seven llamas, a pig and a sheep. Larimer County sheriff's investigators said the animals were malnourished and improperly cared for following a raid of the property.

Instead of going to trial, Matchett entered the guilty plea and agreed on Aug. 8 to four years supervised probation and a mental health evaluation. She also will be ordered to comply with any recommendations from the evaluation. Matchett is set to be sentenced Oct. 1, likely to community service. Her attorney, Fort Collins lawyer David Johnson, said there is a gag order in effect until the sentencing hearing. He said his client's arguments regarding the case will be made then. Matchett also has 30 days to comply with an agreement to have no more than 10 animal units on her property. An animal unit is a calculation designed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and assigns a value to farm animals based on size. For example, the largest animal unit is 1.4, designated for a mature dairy cow weighing more than 1,000 pounds. A horse has a value of 1, and a llama, 0.3. A swine weighing more than 300 pounds has a value of 0.4. Matchett's rescue will be monitored monthly to ensure she is complying with her agreement.

Margaret DeSarno, who works at a veterinary clinic and volunteers at the Colorado Thoroughbred Rescue in Wellington, took three horses from Matchett in December because she was concerned about their health. "I'm disappointed it was only one count," DeSarno said. Johnson said a horse named Cheyenne was the animal Matchett pleaded guilty to treating with cruelty. DeSarno said Cheyenne is one of the horses she took in December and that Matchett signed over Cheyenne's rights to her. "She was probably one of the horses that was in the worst condition," DeSarno said. DeSarno also said documentation about Cheyenne's health indicated she lost about 240 pounds in a five-month span under Matchett's care. Veterinarians use a scale of 1 to 9 to rate an animal's health, and DeSarno said Cheyenne had a rating of 1 when she was taken from Matchett. Authorities seized dozens of animals in three different raids of Matchett's property from December through February, which is why DeSarno said she doesn't think Matchett should be allowed to keep any animals. "I'd certainly like to see that she doesn't have any animals," she said. "It was pretty much proved through the three seizures she can't take care of the animals."

XP