Animal Cruelty (CRS 18-9-202) charges are not as rare as people may think. Recently, a woman in Evans, a part of Weld County, was arrested for animal cruelty charges when police found multiple puppies in the back of a U-Haul with no ventilation on a hot summer day. Police think she may have been trying to sell them. The woman was approached at least three times by police officers and assured them it was a misunderstanding. She initially said that she was in the process of moving and was trying to transport the dogs. They found more dogs being transported in her car a few days later and approached her again. She explained that this time she had collected the dogs from a friend and was trying to distribute them to animal shelters. After both incidents, she was ticketed for Cruelty to Animals. She was approached a third time, and the fifteen dogs in the back of her vehicle were seized and placed in local animal shelters.
Greeley does not have an official sanction in regards to how many dogs a person may own. Officers are speculating that she was either trying to sell the dogs or had simply acquired too many. Greeley does not regulate the number of dogs a person may own, and this woman may simply have agreed to house too many dogs, or been legitimately trying to place them in ethical animal shelters or loving homes.
There is no well defined reasonable standard of care for the way we treat animals in Colorado. It is hard to define criminal negligence in an animal cruelty case but instead seems to vary on an individual or geographical basis. It often depends on the subjective decision of police or a Weld County Animal Control Officer. An owner leaving their dog in a car with the windows rolled down under a shady tree while they run errands may still face the same criminal charges as an owner negligently leaving their dog in a hot car for an extended period of time.
If you are approached by police or Animal Control Officers regarding charges of animal abuse, animal cruelty or Cruelty to Animals (CRS 18-9-202), be smart, exercise your right to remain silent and contact the experienced criminal defense lawyers at the O’Malley Law Office at 970-616-6009. Together, we can protect your future.