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Case #10517 Rating: 2.7 out of 5
Puppy mill - 56 dogs seized
Candler, NC (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jan 10, 2007
County: Buncombe
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 2 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Sue Bergantz Cole
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
Officers on Jan 11 arrested one of the owners of 56 dogs seized by the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department.
Sue Bergantz Cole was charged with felony animal cruelty for the torture of one Scottish terrier, warrants said. She was being held under a $10,000 bond.
The investigation is ongoing against the woman who bred the Australian terriers and other dogs for sale in unhealthy conditions, Sheriff's Lt. Randy Sorrells said.
He said investigators also were looking into the owners' past, expecting to confirm a history of similar conduct elsewhere.
Ellen Frost, owner of a boarding kennel where 24 of the puppies and pregnant dogs are staying, said she'll never forget the smell of the house where puppies lived in paint buckets and feces spilled from stacked crates of dogs.
Worse, the former professional show-dog handler is used to seeing Australian terriers strut their stuff in beauty contests.
"It shouldn't happen to any dog," Frost said, "but these are just noble little proud dogs, and to live in circumstances like that was just awful."
Sorrells said the dogs were taken Jan 10 from the house, most of them to the Buncombe County Animal Shelter. At least two others were brought earlier to Frost.
Some pooches lived inside the house amid feces and urine, others outside without shelter or water.
Veterinarian Ginny Grant said the 20 to 30 dogs she examined Jan 11 seemed to be in overall good health.
"As far as body condition goes, they were in better shape than I would have imagined," she said.
The dogs cannot be put up for adoption while still owned by the Candler couple, said Asheville Human Society spokeswoman Carolyn Paden, but she expects many requests once they become available.
"In the past, when we've had these really large cases, the community has come out in droves," she said.
Case UpdatesSue Bergantz Cole pled no contest to misdemeanor charges of cruelty to animals on April 11, 2007. According to court records, she was sentenced to 45 days confinement and 18 months probation.
Specific conditions of her probation include a prohibition from breeding animals and an order to submit to periodic visits from officers to check the conditions on her property.
Cole was also ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the Buncombe County Animal Shelter. | Source: Buncombe County Court Case # 07-CR-3605
Update posted on Apr 27, 2007 - 5:32PM |
The owner of 56 dogs seized two weeks ago is facing additional charges of animal cruelty.
Buncombe County Sheriff's investigators charged Sue Bergantz Cole with 16 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty in addition to one earlier charge of felony animal cruelty.
She was also issued 100 citations for violating the county's animal control ordinance by not having many of the Australian Terriers spayed or neutered or given current vaccinations.
Sheriff's office spokesman Randy Sorrells said it was a high number of citations because of the number of dogs.
When the dogs were seized from the Candler home, animal control officers said some of the animals were living in paint buckets and feces spilled from stacked crates.
Cole was arrested on a felony animal cruelty charge shortly after that. She declined to comment on the latest charges from the sheriff's department. | Source: Citizen-Times - Jan 26, 2007
Update posted on Jan 27, 2007 - 1:34PM |
The owner of 56 dogs seized by authorities said she is considering giving up her animals after being charged with animal cruelty.
Sue Cole denies the allegations of neglect or abuse of the dogs, many of them show quality, but she said with her own personal health issues and possible ongoing harassment from animal control the animals would benefit under someone else's care.
The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office seized the Australian terriers Wednesday after an anonymous tip led animal control officers to Cole's Candler home on Ridgeway Road.
Search warrants said the dogs were living amid feces and urine without adequate shelter or water.
"It said there were feces in my house," Cole said. "I don't think so, we don't live that way."
She said she would never mistreat her dogs, some of which competed in dog shows including the prestigious Westminster dog show in New York City.
Cole said multiple surgeries and her husband's ailing health made her seek hired help to care for the dogs. She said the workers mistakenly mixed females and males causing a "puppy explosion."
Before they were seized, Cole said she was trying to place many of the dogs in good homes. She denies being a "puppy mill." | Source: Citizen-Times - Jan 12, 2007
Update posted on Jan 14, 2007 - 3:40PM |
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