Children found living among filth and dead dogs Winston-Salem, NC (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
County: Forsyth
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Lyvette Renee Keller

Winston-Salem police arrested a woman yesterday after they found her children living in her apartment among feces, moldy food and a dead dog.

Lyvette Renee Keller, 35, of 335 Crafton St., Apt. 5, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor child abuse, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, and one count of cruelty to animals, a misdemeanor.

Child Protective Services summoned police her apartment Tuesday, Sgt. Jeff Broome said.

A neighbor, Shardel Beecher, said she had been feeding the children, who are 7 and 9. She said she called Child Protective Services after the apartment’s electricity was disconnected.

“The other night, we had gone out to eat, and I hadn’t fed them,” Beecher said, “and when I got back the kids came to my door and asked, ‘Do you have anything to eat?’

“And that’s at 11 o’clock at night,” she said.

The two-story apartment was filthy last night. Insects buzzed over plates of rotten food in the kitchen. The second floor of the apartment had become so dirty that the children refused to use the bathroom there and were instead going outdoors, Beecher and police said.

A spot on the carpet marked where a pit-bull puppy had died two days ago.

Neighbors were told that Shadow, another dog owned by the family, had run away. Neighbors found the remains of that dog in a garage behind the apartment. The garage floor was covered with excrement yesterday, and an outline of the dog’s body was visible.

The children were with Child Protective Services when police left, but police would not say who had custody of them.

Joe Raymond, the director of social services, was out of the office yesterday and could not be reached.

Keller was being held last night at the Forsyth County Jail, with bond set at $10,000.

Original Article

Hobe Sound Man Battered Girlfriend, Killed Puppies, Police Say

By Gabriel Margasak
Originally published in The Stuart News, July 3, 2002

HOBE SOUND — A Hobe Sound man was charged with animal cruelty and domestic violence after he suffocated two puppies and battered his girlfriend, authorities said on Tuesday.

Martin County sheriff's deputies said Justin James Harding, 23, wrapped two, 2-week-old pit-bull mix puppies in wet towels, sealed them in plastic bags and threw them in a closet because they were crying.

His 19-year-old girlfriend told detectives she "pleaded with Justin not to do it, but he said he would do the same to her," a sheriff's report states. "She said that she could hear the puppies whimpering and the bag moving as they gasped for air until they were dead."

She was afraid to call for help, detectives said.

Deputies seized 12 other puppies and their mother from the couple's mobile home and turned them over to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.

Harding told a deputy he suffocated the puppies "because they were crying all the time and making too much noise, as if there was nothing wrong with it because they were his puppies," a sheriff's report says.

In court papers released on Tuesday, detectives allege Harding subjected his girlfriend to violent treatment.

Deputies said the girl went to Martin Memorial Hospital South on June 30 vomiting blood. At the hospital, she told a nurse her live-in boyfriend of four years had killed the puppies and shoved her in front of her children, deputies stated. The hospital called authorities.

Deputies' reports state that Harding did not allow his girlfriend to use the phone and had "brainwashed her into believing if she is bad, she deserves to be beaten," the report stated.

She told a deputy that Harding had suffocated the two puppies, one June 27 and one June 28.

Harding was being held Tuesday evening at the Martin County Jail without bail.

Original Article

Man Kills Dog By Throwing It Against Wall

Originally published at ChannelOklahoma.com (KOCO-TV Eyewitness News 5), May 2, 2001

A Norman man is facing felony charges for allegedly killing his girlfriend's 5-month-old Chihuahua puppy by throwing it against the wall.

Because of the sensitive nature of the case, police asked that the parties involved in the dispute remain anonymous, but Lori Miksell of the Second Chance animal sanctuary in Norman called the dog's death an "atrocity."

"It's really hard to believe that anyone could ever do this to any kind of animal, especially a small Chihuahua," she said.

The suspect is also facing a misdemeanor charge of kicking his girlfriend in the ribs after she obtained a victim's protective order in April, police said.

Miksell says that there is a direct link between domestic violence and animal cruelty.

"Here at Second Chance, we spend $21,000 investigating cruelty cases like these, and we get these reports each day," she said.

Next year, Second Chance is planning to build a women's shelter on its property so that women leaving abusive relationships can bring their pets with them.

Meanwhile, police are also trying to determine whether the suspect may have also killed three other pets his girlfriend owned.

Original Article

Man Sentenced to Six Months For Domestic Violence, Animal Cruelty

By Kathleen R. Merrill, Journal Reporter
Originally published in the South County Journal, June 1, 2002

KENT — A King County judge issued a six-month jail sentence and a stern warning to an Auburn man for beating a cat and being violent with his girlfriend in front of their children.

George Coleman Patterson pleaded guilty May 20 to a misdemeanor charge of harassment and a felony charge of animal cruelty for the Dec. 10 incident. His age was unavailable.

Patterson's attorney, Jeff MacNichols, said in court yesterday that his client has had 15-17 charges of domestic violence assault and similar charges filed and dismissed, most of the time because Patterson's' girlfriend, Tamra Cabuco, failed to appear as a witness.

MacNichols asked that those offenses, some of which he said Cabuco admitted making up to get back at Patterson, not be considered when Superior Court Judge Laura Gene Middaugh decided the sentence.

And Cabuco asked Middaugh not to issue an order prohibiting Patterson from having contact with her and their two daughters, 6 and 9. Middaugh asked why she didn't want the no-contact order.

"I just don't think I need it," Cabuco said. "Ultimately, I'd like to work things out with George."

But Middaugh said she wanted to stop the violence in the home and ordered Patterson to only professionally supervised visits with the children until he makes headway in several treatment programs.

"I'm very concerned, Mr. Patterson, about the violence you are committing in front of your children," Middaugh said. "You're teaching them that violence is acceptable."

In addition to jail, which Patterson can serve through work release, Middaugh sentenced him to a domestic violence batterer's treatment program, ordered him to get a drug and alcohol evaluation, follow any treatment recommendations and complete a parenting class.

According to a police account of the incident for which Patterson was sentenced:

Patterson came home drunk and threw or kicked the cat repeatedly. He then woke up the children and told them they didn't have fleas anymore because he had broken the cat's neck.

Patterson proceeded to terrorize and threaten the family until police arrived. Patterson threatened the officers and tried to get them to shoot him before he was taken into custody.

MacNichols said yesterday that the cat had no permanent injuries.

Copyright © 2002 Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.

Original Article

Pet Protective Orders

Animals need protection at home as well as in the community, and The HSUS' Dr. Mary Lou Randour writes and speaks on their behalf. A Ph.D. psychologist and author of three books, Randour has also written two handbooks on animal abuse in juveniles and adults.

Randour teamed up with the American Bar Association's Center on Children and the Law to produce a new handbook called "The Common Bond," which explores the link between violence toward animals and violence toward humans.

More than 64 million households in the United States have one or more companion animals, and pets are often part of the family. Most of the time this is for the best, but not all families function well all of the time. When family violence erupts, right beside the threatened spouse and any children are the family pets, cowering under tables, locked in closets or perhaps temporarily rescued by the quick thinking of a family member.

In a national survey of battered women's shelters, 85 percent of shelters indicated that women seeking shelter reported incidents of pet abuse. Up to 48 percent of women delay leaving a dangerous domestic situation because of their fear that their partners will harm or kill the family pet—and they often do.

Legislation To Protect The Whole Family

Once extricated from the danger at home, however, domestic violence victims may continue to be stalked by their estranged partners. To prevent this, protection orders are the legal tool used to extend protection to a woman and her family, which now includes the family pet in three states. Maine, Vermont and New York passed laws that recognize that family pets are important members of the family, permitting pets to be listed on protection orders for domestic violence victims.

More states plan to follow. As of March, 2007, legislatures in 11 states (Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey,  Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington) and the District of Columbia were considering "pet protection" legislation.

Original Article

Police Say Dog is Killed by Owner's Ex-Boyfriend

By Terence J. Downing, Enterprise staff writer
Originally published in The Enterprise, February 10, 2002

BROCKTON — A small poodle was beaten to death in what authorities are calling one of worst cases of animal abuse they have seen in years.

Police said the dog's owner and her daughter watched in horror as Christopher L. Chamberlain, 23, of Court Street smashed the dog against a house and deck during a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend late Friday night.

The couple have a 2 1/2-year-old child.

Police said he also struck his girlfriend's mother in the head with the dog, which died of multiple injuries, including a broken neck.

The dog, Falcor, a 9-year-old mini poodle, was dead when they arrived on the scene at 320 Court St.

Chamberlain had fled the scene and was caught by officers following a high speed pursuit in which he went through two stop signs, police said.

Scott Giacoppo, manager of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals office in Brockton, said that although the case seems extreme, animals are often abused in homes where there is domestic violence.

"It's very common to see animals abused in domestic violence. They are used as control devices,'' said Giacoppo.

"Usually if there is domestic violence, very often you will see animal abuse as well,'' he said.

Jamie Davidson, 22, Chamberlain's ex-girlfriend, told police he was at her house with some underage friends drinking in the garage when she arrived home Friday night.

Davidson and her mother, Sharon demanded that they leave.

Davidson told police that Chamberlain went into a rage and began yelling obscenities.

As he left the house, he grabbed Sharon Davidson's dog by the cable leash and began whipping it against the house and the deck.

Chamberlain then swung the dog at Sharon Davidson, hitting her on the left side of the face, police said.

Witnesses told police Chamber then threw the dog over the deck railing and fled in a red Camaro.

Animal Control Officer Darren Hand and Patrolman George Almeida arrived on the scene and found Falcor at the base of the deck stairs at the rear of the house.

"I can't believe he did it,'' Sharon Davidson said Saturday. "You had to see it. I just can't believe he did that.''

Patrolman Darvin Anderson stopped Chamberlain at 18 Washburn St., as he pulled into a driveway.

Chamberlain was released on $500 cash bail early Saturday morning and will be arraigned in Brockton District Court.

He has been charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, domestic assault and battery, cruelty to animals resulting in death, failure to stop for a police officer, operating to endanger, speeding and having an open container of alcohol.

Sharon Davidson said Chamberlain had lived in the house with her and her daughter for about five years.

She told police the couple broke up but Chamberlain "refuses to let her go.''

© 2002 The Enterprise.

Original Article

Suspect in Dog Beating Sent Back to Jail Cell

By Doug Guthrie
Originally published in The Grand Rapids Press, May 10, 2001

ROCKFORD — Testimony about rage at his ex-wife that allegedly led Mark William Kruithoff to beat a dog with a hammer caused a judge on Wednesday to raise the Jenison man's bond and send him back to jail.

"I've been here 28 years and there aren't many things I haven't heard. Some have been pretty bad," Rockford District Judge Steven Servaas told Kruithoff. "You kill somebody because you hate them. You steal money because you want something. I just can't understand what it appears you have done here." Kruithoff, 35, is alleged to have dropped in at his parents' Tyrone Township home on April 18 to find them having dinner with his ex-wife, Carol Kruithoff, and their 2-year-old daughter.

Kruithoff's brother, sister-in-law and that couple's three children, all under 10, were witnesses to what allegedly happened next.

The defendant's sister-in-law, Karen Kruithoff, testified Wednesday about the dog's agony as Kruithoff allegedly struck its head with a hammer at least five times. Then, Kruithoff lifted the 100-pound animal above his head and slammed its bloody body onto the hood of his ex-wife's car.

Karen Kruithoff beccame physically uncomfortable during her testimony. She described the blood, the dog's yelps of pain, and the screams coming from one of the children who saw the alleged attack.

She said she called police when Kruithoff fled. She said Kruithoff's father and brother washed blood off the ex-wife's damaged car before a Kent County Sheriff's deputy arrived.

The dog was alive when the deputy arrived, but in great pain. With the deputy watching, Kruithoff's father, Martin Kruithoff, put the animal out of its misery by shooting it.

Servaas called what he heard Wednesday "appalling," and "inexplicably violent." He asked Kruithoff in court, "What else might you do?"

Kruithoff had been free on $7,500 bond, set by Servaas on April 25, when arraigned on charges of animal cruelty and malicious destruction of property. Hearing details of the allegations for the first time on Wednesday caused the judge to change his mind about the public safety risk of leaving Kruithoff free.

Servaas raised Kruithoff's bond to $50,000 cash and ordered him bound over for trial in Kent County Circuit Court. Kruithoff was taken directly from court to the Kent County Jail.

The incident has caused divisions within the Kruithoff family, said Kent County Sheriff's Detective Heather Martin.

She said all family members have been "very hesitant to get involved" with authorities.

Kruithoff's father supports his son and has asked for charges to be dropped.

"He (Martin Kruithoff) has said the dog was getting old and he was thinking about how he would have to be putting him down sometime soon anyway," Martin said.

Animal cruelty is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The misdemeanor charge of malicious destruction of property stems from about $1,000 damage done to the hood of Carol Kruithoff's car. It is punishable by up to a year behind bars.

Kruithoff also was charged as a two-time felony offender because of a prior felonious assault conviction in Ottawa County. That status could lengthen his sentence if convicted.

Servaas said he knows the story of Kruithoff's alleged actions have gotten wide publicity.

Servaas said he has received about 20 letters from addresses all over the United States before Wednesday's hearing. He said most called for harsh treatment of Kruithoff.

© 2001 The Grand Rapids Press.

Original Article