CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #13087 Rating: 2.3 out of 5
Pet store neglect
Columbus, OH (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 9, 2002
County: Franklin
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Keith Altschul
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
In 2002, after Ohio State University students complained to local authorities, the Capital Area Humane Society raided the store at 21 E. 13th Ave. and confiscated 183 animals that it contended were abused or neglected, most of them rodents, reptiles or birds. It resulted in 20 misdemeanor animal cruelty charges against Altschul.
Altschul's attorney, Eric Hoffman, said the charges were not legit. Hoffman said Altschul, whom he described as a "nice man," believes that most people aren't aware of proper animal care and treatment in the same manner he is and are "rushing to a bad conclusion and judging him unfairly without really knowing what the proper care of the animal is."
In 2002, the humane society specifically accused Altschul of keeping rodents in overcrowded cages, surrounded by maggots and their own urine and feces; snakes with tick infestations; and animals that were as much as 50 percent below their normal body weight.
Animal-rights groups protested outside Altschul's shop in 2003, but it was never shut down. Columbus Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Tyler Wilcox said Altschul struck a plea deal for one count of attempted animal cruelty in 2006. The remaining charges were dropped, and Altschul was given 30 days' suspended jail time in return for stiff probation conditions.
In 2006, Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Division Judge Harland Hale gave Altschul two years to obtain a reptile and small-animal certification from the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council in Washington, D.C. The hope was that by becoming certified, he would be better educated at caring for the animals in his shop. As of early Feb 2008, he still hadn't done it, said Altschul's probation officer, Bryan Wagner.
Case UpdatesThe owner of a pet shop that the Franklin County Municipal Court had threatened to close is shutting down the store voluntarily.
Store owner Keith Altschul told Judge Harland H. Hale on Wednesday that he will close Pet Menagerie by June 30. Hale had threatened to close the store temporarily if Altschul didn't make drastic changes.
The owner of the property, 21 E. 13th Ave., is evicting him, and he is selling the animals and store contents, Altschul said.
Altschul was convicted of attempted animal cruelty after the Capital Area Humane Society found dead animals in his store. Other animals were in cages that were too small. Some lacked water, and others were injured. | Source: The Columbus Dispatch - May 23, 2008
Update posted on May 28, 2008 - 5:54PM |
A University District pet-store owner has violated his probation stemming from a conviction for attempted animal cruelty, but a judge is holding off punishing him until an animal expert can examine the store.
Keith Altschul, owner of Menagerie Pet Shop at 21 E. 13th Ave., could face 30 days in jail.
Franklin County Environmental Court Judge Harland H. Hale said he would ask the expert to visit the store in the next month.
Two of the violations aren't in dispute, the judge said yesterday:
Altschul has not obtained reptile and small-animal certification from the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council, which Hale had ordered him to do last year. Also, he still owes more than $1,700 of the $2,000 restitution that Hale ordered him to pay the Capital Area Humane Society, which cared for animals confiscated from his store during a 2002 raid.
The judge said his concern is not so much the money or the certificate, but that animals at the store are being abused.
An attraction at the store is its alligator. Customers can pay $2 to watch it eat a live mouse. The store carries other reptiles and fish, along with mice and rats that are sold and used as pet food.
Altschul's probation officer and a Humane Society officer testified that the owner has continued to keep the alligator in an enclosure that is too small and that the store has animal feces on the basement floor, sells products past their expiration dates, and reeks of animal waste, among other probation violations.
Altschul, who defended himself without an attorney at yesterday's hearing, said he was making improvements. He had taken in a stray cat, which then had kittens, and that is the source of the odor and waste. There are no federal, state or local standards for the keeping of reptiles and vermin, so he is not violating any laws, he said.
Three witnesses -- friends and customers -- made similar arguments.
Altschul said classes for the certification aren't being offered. He also said he had been bullied by the Humane Society and hoped to talk to his probation officer about the restitution payments.
None of those arguments is on point, Assistant City Attorney Tyler Wilcox said.
"The issue is: Did he do what the court ordered him to do?" Wilcox said. "He did not." | Source: Columbus Dispatch - March 1, 2008
Update posted on Mar 3, 2008 - 1:02AM |
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