Neglecting dogs and a bird - two dogs found dead Theodore, AL (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003 County: Mobile Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abusers/Suspects: » Carroll Ferdinandsen » Alice Ferdinandsen

Case ID: 1707 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull), bird (pet) View more cases in AL (US) Login to Watch this Case

A couple accused of being father and daughter and held on incest charges pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and were ordered not to have a pet for the rest of their lives.

Carroll Ferdinandsen, 53, and Alice Ferdinandsen, 30, were sentenced to six months in jail Thursday after entering the pleas.

Circuit Judge Judson Wells also said that, as a condition of accepting their pleas, he was ordering them to never have a pet again.

"Never is a very, very, very long time," the judge told the Ferdinandsens. "You are never to own pets, you are never to breed pets."

The second-degree animal cruelty charges were filed against them after authorities found two dead dogs, a dead bird and other poorly treated dogs at the couple's mobile home in Theodore. One of the dogs that survived later had to be put to sleep.

The Ferdinandsens had been arrested earlier on incest charges after relatives said they were father and daughter. An October trial is scheduled on those charges.

In the animal cruelty case, Wells said the Ferdinandsens will have to submit to spot checks from the Mobile Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The spot checks will not be to see if the Ferdinandsens are taking care of their pets, Wells said, but to make sure they have no pets at all.

"It sends a real clear message, that people will go to jail for stuff like this," said Elizabeth Flott, a humane officer for the Mobile SPCA.

"We'll check up on these people," she said. "They're going to be gone for a long time besides these charges. They probably won't be at the same residence, but we'll find them."

The Mobile Register has reported that court records show Alice was the third child of Carroll and Shirley Faye Ferdinandsen, and her mother filed for divorce when Alice was only 4 months old. Her mother said she later met and married Charles Stewart, who Alice listed as her father on her marriage license application after previously using "Ferdinandsen" as her last name, the newspaper said.

Neighborhood Map

For more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.

Back to Top

Add this case to:

Del.icio.us

|

Digg

|

Furl

|

References

Atlanta Journal Constitution

« AL State Animal Cruelty Map

Not sure what these icons mean? Click here.

Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.

For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.