Sentencing Day

Not too many details, because folks in Billings have a lot of phone calls to make.

Revised, 2200 EDT.

Convicted felony animal abuser Linda Kapsa has been allowed, under the terms of her probation and suspended sentence:

Three altered dogs
Three altered cats
Two cockatiels
20 chickens
Four horses
Ten Goats (didn't get the number)

No intact dogs.

None.

Ever. For the entire twenty-year term of her supervised probation/suspended sentence. Which, what, this woman is in her sixties now, so, yeah, ever.

She also will have to pay partial restitution to the county for the care of the dogs -- $50 a month for the next 20 years. Which adds up to $120,000 Which the media is reporting adds up to $120,000, and wouldn't you know, I just wrote that figure down. It adds up to $12,000 over 20 years. WTF? I know the total award was meant to be $120,000.

No more breeding.

She had argued that she should be allowed twenty intact dogs, and to continue breeding.

A fourth dog on her property or owned by her will be a violation and send her to prison.

I understand that her probation officer is a stickler.

She has 24 hours to decide which three dogs she wants. From the "list" of nineteen (sixteen English shepherds and three pugs) that caused so much anguish among the volunteers last month, or from the ones now roaming her place. Same with the cats. I have my guesses about what she will choose to do, but we will know soon enough.

She has 60 days to remove the rest of the feral English shepherds from her property. We are not sure whether these dogs need to be turned over to the county, or she can "dispose of" them in some other way.

She has more than four horses, and must sell or otherwise dispose of the others. In a market where great horses are selling dirt cheap, I do not hold out much hope of good prospects for any that come off her place.

Once the four horses she is permitted die, that's it. She cannot replace them.

That is all I know at this time.

A thank-you from all of us to Judge Watters, and to prosecutor Ingrid Rosenquist, who Did Not Back Down.

Update: I'm sorry, I forgot to post this for the longest time. Kapsa whined that she "couldn't decide" on the three dogs she wanted to keep, and was given a 48 hour extension. When she missed that second deadline, Judge Watters released all the ONB dogs and told her to choose three from the animals still on her property. Not one of the dogs cared for by ONB for the past eight months went back to Kapsa, and they've all been neutered and have gone to or are ready for homes -- including the pugs. The staff and volunteers at Moore Lane ransomed the three cats from her -- paying $100 each. (But, you know, that list of 19 "favorite" dogs was in no way constructed with an eye to what the volunteers who love them would be willing to pay.)

When I have definitive word on the fate of the animals left on her property, I'll share it.