Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Gerry Leone | | Defense(s): | John Ruby | | Judge(s): | Gregory C. Flynn |
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #12707 Rating: 2.6 out of 5
Two dogs neglected, abandoned
Watertown, MA (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Oct 27, 2007
County: Middlesex
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Kevin Schneider
Case Updates: 5 update(s) available
Kevin Schneider walked silently down the courthouse steps as an angry group of people taunted him for being an “animal abuser.”
The Watertown resident has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty after allegedly abandoning his two Greyhound dogs. According to reports, Schneider pushed one dog named Talca from a moving SUV in Connecticut, and left the other dog, Sari, under a bush near a Rhode Island hospital, where it later passed away from severe malnourishment.
On Nov 19, 2007 morning, a tearful group of Greyhound owners and supporters stood outside Waltham District Court with their dogs after Schneider’s arraignment, expressing their distaste for his reported actions.
“Why didn’t you just return them?” yelled one woman as she held a sign that said “Justice for Sari.” “You’re a cruel person Kevin.”
Schneider pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been ordered by the judge to not have any responsibility or custody over animals. His pretrial hearing has been set for Dec. 27.
Schneider was not available for comment. His attorney, Robert Menton, said that “records will show” that his client took care of his pets, noting that Schneider recently took both Greyhounds to the veterinarian’s office where they were prescribed antibiotics.
“He had [the Greyhounds] out and about in public,” Menton said. “It’s not like they were tied up. [Schneider’s] position is that they had some sort of virus.”
After an investigation by the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), a warrant was obtained for Schneider. Watertown police arrested him inside his Spruce Street home on Nov 17.
According to Detective Joseph Kelly, Schneider was cooperative and “quiet.”
Louise Coleman, director of Greyhound Friends, Inc. – the nonprofit organization that adopted the dogs out to Schneider – said she was “conned” by Schneider. He adopted Talca in May and Sari in June of this year.
“It was my mistake,” she said. “[Greyhounds] can’t talk for themselves so now we have to talk for them.”
Michael McCann, president of the Greyhound Project – an organization that turns the animals known for competitive racing into family pets – said both dogs were discovered weighing close to 30 lbs., at least half of what they normally should.
“We want to show our support for these dogs,” he said. “The law should be enforced in [Schneider’s] case.”
In Massachusetts, a charge of cruelty to animals carries a maximum sentence of five years.
In a statement from the Greyhound Project, the story of how Schneider was allegedly discovered is explained. On the night of Oct. 27, a man from Killingly, Conn. allegedly saw Schneider open the passenger door of his SUV, and while it was rolling, push something out.
“He was shocked to find a skeletal, white and black Greyhound looking up at him,” the press release read. “As he reached for her, she wagged her tail, weakly.”
According to the statement, the same SUV was allegedly seen at the parking lot of Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I. one hour later, dropping something off under a bush nearby and speeding away. A nurse reportedly discovered another white-and-black Greyhound “so weak, she couldn’t move.”
Both dogs were transported to a veterinarian, but only Talca survived. Sari lived for four days after being found in Rhode Island.
Coleman said her organization places hundreds of ex-racing Greyhounds a year to happy homes. She is upset that Schneider’s situation did not turn out the way they planned.
Both of the dogs were originally bred in Ireland and were sold at auction to the Meridianna track in Barcelona, according to Coleman. When the track closed in March of 2006, both Talca and Sari were among the lucky few who were taken to the Scooby Refuge in Medina del Campo, Spain and then flown to Boston.
“They are supposed to have a happy ending,” Coleman said.
Case UpdatesA Watertown man pleaded guilty on Aug 21, 2008 to two felony counts of animal cruelty for neglecting and abandoning two greyhounds in different states.
Kevin Schneider, 54, was scheduled to face trial in Newton District Court on Aug 21. But after 2 1/2 hours of discussion as court was in recess, his attorney and prosecutors announced a plea agreement.
Schneider was sentenced to 18 months in the county House of Correction, with 60 days to be served. Judge Gregory C. Flynn placed Schneider on probation for two years, during which he is not allowed to own dogs or other companion animals. Schneider also must submit to a psychiatric evaluation.
In the summer of 2007, Schneider adopted two greyhounds from Greyhound Friends, a Hopkinton nonprofit that rescues dogs from racetracks and finds them homes. In October, investigators say Schneider drove to Connecticut and pushed one dog, Talca, from a moving SUV, and left the other, Sari, in a parking lot at Miriam Hospital in Providence.
Both dogs turned up malnourished and roughly 30 pounds underweight. Sari died days later, while Talca survived and was since adopted.
Louise Coleman, founder and president of Greyhound Friends, was in court yesterday with about a dozen supporters.
"I think it's the best we could get," Coleman said outside the courtroom after Schneider was sentenced. "I think that it strikes a chord. I think it makes people aware that this is a serious offense."
Each felony count carried a maximum penalty of 2 1/2 years.
Coleman had said previously her group recognized Schneider when he came in 2007 as a former driver for board members of the nonprofit. She has called her decision to let him adopt the dogs "a horrible mistake," and says the group has tightened its already extensive screening.
Dressed in a blue pinstripe suit Schneider and his attorney, John Ruby, declined comment as they left the court.
Schneider faced misdemeanor charges in Rhode Island and Connecticut too. He pleaded guilty to mistreatment or failure to feed an animal in Rhode Island in May and received a six-month suspended jail sentence and 11 months probation.
Schneider is due in Connecticut Superior Court Monday, Aug. 25, and Ruby said he hopes they can resolve those charges at that time. Schneider then has to report to Waltham District Court at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to turn himself in for transfer to the county jail.
As at most of his court appearances, greyhound advocates waited for Schneider at the courthouse steps yesterday, holding signs with messages like, "Justice for Sari & Talca" and "Schneider is an animal abuser."
They put the signs away, however, after a prosecutor warned the messages might be viewed as prejudicial to potential jurors, Coleman said.
Witnesses on both sides had gathered for the trial, including Norman Bazar, a veterinarian who treated Sari after she was found in Providence. He said the dog weighed about 34 pounds, about half her healthy weight, he said.
"There was really nothing much left of her," Bazar said during a break in court proceedings.
The defense also was prepared to call Schneider's neighbors as witnesses.
A previous attorney for Schneider had said he could produce records showing he took the dogs to a veterinarian and took care of them, but they had been weakened by some type of stomach virus.
Peter Gollub, director of law enforcement for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Animals, said the vet records showed that Schneider knew how to treat the dogs properly.
"Whether it was simply not feeding them enough or whether it was some type of mystery ailment as he had alleged, he knew how to get the dogs help and he failed to do it," Gollub said. "His deliberate indifference to the dogs' suffering really is tragic and regrettable, and it was wholly avoidable."
Gollub, whose organization applied to file charges against Schneider and worked alongside Watertown Police to investigate, said the sentence was just. "I think the fact that he pleaded guilty demonstrates his recognition of the strength of the commonwealth's case," he said. | Source: Metrowest Daily News - Aug 22, 2008
Update posted on Sep 6, 2008 - 11:12AM |
On May 19, Watertown resident Kevin Schneider pleaded guilty in Rhode Island to charges of animal neglect and abandonment. He faces similar charges in Massachusetts.
According to greyhound advocate Joslin Murphy, who attended the court proceedings, the judge sentenced Schneider to six months at the Adult Correctional Institute in Rhode Island. That sentence was suspended for 11 months. Conditions of probation are: full restitution to the veterinary clinic that cared for his former greyhound, Sari, until her death; and no ownership of companion animals, she said in an e-mail.
Watertown Police confirmed that Schneider had pleaded guilty.
Schneider’s attorney, John Ruby, had no comment to the TAB & Press on Wednesday.
Schneider is slated to face a jury trial on Aug. 21 for allegedly abusing his former greyhounds. He was first arrested by Watertown Police last November.
In Massachusetts, Schneider has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty after allegedly abandoning his two adopted racing greyhounds. According to reports, Schneider pushed one dog named Talca from a moving SUV in Connecticut, and left the other dog, Sari, under a bush near a Rhode Island hospital.
Earlier this year, Schneider pleaded not guilty to the Bay State charges. In Massachusetts, a charge of cruelty to animals carries a maximum sentence of five years.
After an investigation by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a warrant was obtained for Schneider. Watertown Police first arrested him inside his Spruce Street home on Nov. 17.
A pretrial conference in Connecticut has also been scheduled for Schneider in June, Murphy said.
According to a past statement from Michael McCann, another greyhound advocate, on the night of Oct. 27, a man from Killingly, Conn., allegedly saw Schneider open the passenger door of his SUV while it was rolling and push one of the greyhounds out.
The same SUV was allegedly seen one hour later at the parking lot of Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., dropping something off under a bush nearby and speeding away. A nurse reportedly discovered another white-and-black greyhound “so weak, she couldn’t move.”
Sari died from severe malnourishment days later. Talca is recovering and has been re-adopted. | Source: Wicked Local Watertown - May 28, 2008
Update posted on May 28, 2008 - 4:51PM |
The photos show an emaciated greyhound lying flat on a towel, its ribs and hips jutting out, its skinny legs and paws bloody.
The dog, Sari, had just turned up in a hospital parking lot in Providence, R.I., when the pictures were taken. Days later, she died.
To Louise Coleman, the images portray a cruel, unnecessary waste of life.
"She ended up being a mangled bag of bones," said Coleman, founder and director of Greyhound Friends, a Hopkinton nonprofit that rescues greyhounds from racetracks and finds them homes.
Sari is one of two racing dogs Coleman's group says it adopted from a refuge in Spain and signed over to a Watertown man last May and June. In October, both turned up abandoned and gaunt; the second, Talca, was found in Connecticut. She survived.
Law enforcement authorities say they traced the greyhounds back to their former owner, Kevin Schneider, 54.
He now faces charges in three states, and his court dates are stacking up this month. He is scheduled to appear for a routine pretrial hearing in Waltham District Court tomorrow, in Connecticut Superior Court May 12, and in district court in Providence May 19, court officials and police said.
Coleman and others involved with her group have met Schneider at the courthouse steps in all three states, sometimes bringing their own dogs and holding up signs. They also have urged supporters to write to officials in all three states, asking them to make sure the case moves forward.
Coleman said they want to see justice for the dogs and to send a broader message about animal abuse.
"For people who might somehow be in a position to abuse an animal, maybe if they realize this isn't something that's going to be excused or taken seriously, they'll think twice," Coleman said.
Corey Welford, a spokesman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone, acknowledged the attention the case has received. But he said his office can pursue it solely based on the facts and the law.
"We have received dozens of letters and e-mails to our office," Welford said. "As a public law office, we're certainly responsive to them. At the same time, the outside interest does not impact the way we pursue a case."
Schneider's attorney did not return calls for comment last week. His previous attorney, Robert Menton, said previously that records will show Schneider took the dogs to the veterinarian and took proper care of them, but they may have been weakened by some type of stomach virus.
In Massachusetts, Schneider faces two felony charges of animal cruelty. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 2 1/2 years in prison, Welford said.
In the other two states, he faces misdemeanors - cruelty to animals in Connecticut, according to court records, and mistreatment or failure to feed an animal in Rhode Island, said Providence Police Sgt. William Dwyer. In Rhode Island, that would mean less than a year of jail time, Dwyer said.
Coleman said her group recognized Schneider as a one-time limo driver for board members at Greyhound Friends.
In October, authorities say he showed up with the dogs at a Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA) facility in Boston. But he drove off when an employee approached him, concerned that the dogs looked emaciated.
"It was shortly after that, that he then went to Rhode Island and Connecticut," said Peter Gollub, director of law enforcement for the MSPCA. "By shortly, I mean like an hour or two later."
Greyhound Friends say a witness saw the driver of a black sport utility vehicle slow down in Killingly, Conn., and push a dog out of the vehicle. In Rhode Island, Dwyer said the second dog was dumped in the parking lot at Miriam Hospital.
"We were able to gather surveillance," Dwyer said.
Embedded tracking computer chips in both dogs also helped authorities trace them back to Massachusetts, Coleman said. "He was thinking he would drop one dog in one place and one dog in another place and nobody would ever trace it back to him," she said.
Both greyhounds weighed at least half as much as they did when they were adopted, say the Greyhound Friends. Sari reportedly died of malnutrition.
The MSPCA worked closely with police in Watertown and the other two states to investigate the case and ultimately seek criminal charges, Gollub said.
That's a rare step. The MSPCA investigates about 3,000 reports of animal abuse a year, but only seeks to file charges in about 1 percent of those cases, Gollub said. Some turn out to be unfounded, while others can be resolved outside the court system, he said.
"If an animal dies as a result of alleged animal cruelty, that certainly is one bright line test that we can use to support the notion that there were some serious wrongdoings," Gollub said.
After his arrest in Watertown last fall, Schneider ultimately turned himself in to police in the two other states. But the Greyhound Friends group has accused him of trying to stall the court process.
Coleman said her group makes clear when it adopts out greyhounds that if an owner can't care for the dogs for any reason, they can simply return them. While Greyhound Friends already had a screening procedure in place for adoptions in the past, Coleman said the experience has been a lesson for her.
"The people who abuse other people or other animals it looks like they're not just people off the street," she said. "The most sort of insidious thing about it is they're people you know." | Source: Metro West Daily News - May 4, 2008
Update posted on May 4, 2008 - 2:12PM |
Greyhound activists say they expected alleged animal abuser Kevin Schneider to plead guilty on Monday morning. Instead the case was once again postponed, given that Schneider has a new lawyer.
Schneider, a Watertown resident, will be back at Waltham District Court on March 17 to face two counts of cruelty against his former greyhounds.
Louise Coleman, director of the nonprofit group Greyhound Friends, said they are pushing for the maximum sentence of five years, along with an order to never be around another animal again. Coleman called her decision to adopt the two dogs to Schneider in spring 2007 a “horrible mistake.”
According to reports, Schneider pushed one dog named Talca from a moving SUV in Connecticut, and left the other dog, Sari, under a bush near a Rhode Island hospital. Sari died from severe malnourishment days later. Talca is recovering and has been adopted.
“Sari and Talca were grievously wronged,” Coleman said. “Punishment – appropriate punishment – is valid, necessary. It is a serious crime to starve dogs.”
Monday morning, Coleman along with other animal activists flocked outside the courthouse with signs in their hands that read: “the torture stops here,” and “justice for Sari.” A court officer stood outside to be sure they refrained from taunting Schneider as he exited with his lawyer. At his previous court dates, he had to run a gauntlet of taunts from greyhound supporters, who yelled phrases like, “You killed Sari!” and “You’re going to pay, Kevin!”
In January, Watertown Police arrested Schneider at his Spruce Street home on a fugitive from justice warrant. Connecticut Police have also pressed charges against him.
After an investigation by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a warrant was obtained for Schneider. Watertown Police first arrested him inside his Spruce Street home on Nov. 17.
Schneider did not wish to comment Monday morning.
He has already pleaded not guilty to the charges, and has been ordered by the judge to have no responsibility for or custody over animals.
In a statement from the Greyhound Project, the story of how Schneider was allegedly discovered is explained. On the night of Oct. 27, a man from Killingly, Conn., observed Schneider open the passenger door of his SUV, and while it was rolling, reportedly pushed something out.
According to the statement, the same SUV was allegedly seen at the parking lot of Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., one hour later, dropping something off under a bush nearby and speeding away. A nurse reportedly discovered another white-and-black greyhound “so weak, she couldn’t move.”
Coleman said the greyhound group plans to keep pushing forward to send a message that “animal abuse will not be tolerated.”
“This act of brutality had to be looked at and redress, in whatever form possible, carried out,” she said in a statement. | Source: Wicked Local - Watertown - March 3, 2008
Update posted on Mar 3, 2008 - 3:51PM |
A court date for alleged animal abuser and Watertown resident Kevin Schneider has been postponed until next month.
Schneider, who has been charged with two counts of cruelty against his former greyhound dogs, is expected to have his trial date scheduled on March 3.
The original “compliance and election” date was Feb. 6 at Waltham District Court in order to examine further evidence and move forward with a jury trial.
Schneider has been charged with animal cruelty after allegedly abandoning his two adopted racing greyhounds. According to reports, Schneider pushed one dog named Talca from a moving SUV in Connecticut, and left the other dog, Sari, under a bush near a Rhode Island hospital. Sari died from severe malnourishment days later. Talca is recovering.
Schneider pleaded not guilty to the charges, and has been ordered by the judge to have no responsibility for or custody over animals.
Last month, Watertown Police arrested Schneider at his Spruce Street home on a fugitive from justice warrant. Connecticut Police have extradited him and pressed charges against him for an incident that allegedly occurred there.
Members of the nonprofit group Greyhound Friends Inc., who have flocked to the courthouse to hound Schneider for his actions, said they expect him to be prosecuted to the fullest extent.
In Massachusetts, a charge of cruelty to animals carries a maximum sentence of five years.
“It is strongly believed that a lenient sentence would send a regrettable message to the community that animal abuse is not considered to be a serious crime,” they said in a press release.
Schneider’s attorney, Robert Menton, has told the TAB & Press that “records will show” that his client took care of his pets.
Menton said Schneider had taken both greyhounds to a veterinarian’s office, where they prescribed the dogs antibiotics.
After an investigation by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a warrant was obtained for Schneider. Watertown Police first arrested him inside his Spruce Street home on Nov. 17.
Michael McCann, president of the Greyhound Project — an organization that turns the animals known for competitive racing into family pets — said both dogs were discovered weighing close to 30 pounds, at least half of what they normally should.
In a statement from the Greyhound Project, the story of how Schneider was allegedly discovered is explained. On the night of Oct. 27, a man from Killingly, Conn., observed Schneider open the passenger door of his SUV, and while it was rolling, reportedly pushed something out.
According to the statement, the same SUV was allegedly seen at the parking lot of Miriam Hospital in Providence, R.I., one hour later, dropping something off under a bush nearby and speeding away. A nurse reportedly discovered another white-and-black greyhound “so weak, she couldn’t move.”
Both dogs were transported to a veterinarian, but only Talca survived. Sari lived for four days at the hospital after being found in Rhode Island. | Source: Wicked Local - Feb 7, 2008
Update posted on Feb 7, 2008 - 12:14PM |
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