Case Snapshot
Case ID: 17209
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: horse
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Attorneys/Judges
Defense(s): Dana Cormier
Judge(s): Victor V. Ludwig


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



Thursday, Feb 11, 2010

County: Augusta

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Terry Lynn Sullivan

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Augusta County Sheriff deputies launched a preliminary investigation into another case of potential horse abuse at the hands of repeat offender Terry Lynn Sullivan, authorities said Friday.

An animal control officer driving by Sullivan's Staunton farm Thursday alerted authorities after noticing a group of malnourished horses foraging for food and picking at sticks, said Sheriff Randy Fisher during a Friday interview with NBC 29, media partner to The News Virginian.

Another horse lay dead in a barn just a short distance away, Fisher said.

Sullivan, 61, of Shaner Lane, could not be reached for comment.

A state veterinarian visited the farm Friday morning to examine the dead horse and check the status of the 28 remaining horses, Fisher said.

"The state vet has ruled that the horses are in need of attention, care and feeding," he said. "Some of them are pitiful, but I can't speak as to whether that's parasites or not being fed or not seeing a veterinarian or what."

While authorities have not pressed charges against Sullivan, Fisher said she voluntarily surrendered the horses to the Augusta County Regional SPCA.

Authorities transported the dead horse to a state laboratory in Harrisonburg to determine the cause of death, he said.

This isn't Sullivan's first run-in with the law. In 1996 authorities seized several horses and convicted her of animal cruelty, court records show. An Augusta County judge sentenced Sullivan to one year of probation and fined her $2,500.

A year later, a judge found she violated the terms of her probation and took the rest of her horses. In all, Sullivan lost 19 horses from those charges, records show.

Sullivan still battles a 2008 animal cruelty conviction in the Virginia Court of Appeals. In April 2008 an officer with Augusta County Animal Control found a sick mare in one of Sullivan's fields, records show.

The horse died that same day.

A state necropsy report of the dead mare listed it in poor body condition, with eroded teeth, prominent ribs, hair loss and ridden with parasites and internal lesions.

In court, Sullivan testified the animal was "an old horse with a history of being stubborn," according to appellate court records.

She received a sentence of six months in prison with the understanding she would own a horse for two years, records show.

Sullivan's defense attorney, Dana Cormier, said a three-judge panel at the Court of Appeals heard the case, but one of the judges dissented.

"There was no direct or circumstantial evidence presented at trial that [Sullivan] deprived [the horse] of 'necessary food, drink, shelter or emergency veterinary treatment," wrote Judge Elizabeth A. McClanahan in her dissent.

Cormier said he filed a petition in January for a re-hearing, this time in front of the entire Court of Appeals.

As for the most recent incident, Fisher said the Commonwealth Attorney's Office is considering whether to bring charges against Sullivan, and if so, how many.

"It's going to be several days before any determination can take place," Fisher said.


Case Updates

A Staunton woman convicted of animal cruelty by an Augusta County jury Thursday night was sentenced to six months in jail.

Terry Lynn Sullivan, 62, of Shaner Lane, appeared before an Augusta County judge Friday afternoon to ask to be released on bond while pursuing an appeal.

A judge granted her a $2,000 bond. She was still listed in custody at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona as of Friday night.

Jurors sentenced Sullivan at the end of a two-day trial. The jury found her guilty on three of 27 charges.

Authorities charged her in February 2010 with animal cruelty after an Augusta County Animal Control officer discovered one dead horse and a hungry herd on her property.

Sullivan's attorney, Dana Cormier, said he wasn't pleased with the outcome.

"I'm extremely disappointed that they found Ms. Sullivan guilty on three of the counts," Cormier said. "I'm more disappointed with the sentence than I am with the guilty finding."

Given a moment to speak before Judge Victor V. Ludwig sentenced her, Sullivan sounded defeated.

"I don't know if there's anything else I could say that would make any difference," she said.

Convicted of animal cruelty twice since 1998, Sullivan has denied wrongdoing and accused authorities of destroying her reputation.
Source: newsvirginian.com - Jan 8, 2011
Update posted on Jan 9, 2011 - 3:58PM 
Attorneys opened a two-day animal cruelty trial Wednesday by sparring over a Staunton woman's intentions and the signs of starvation found in horses she surrendered to authorities.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Robin Boylan called several witnesses to testify about the health of horses overseen by Terry Lynn Sullivan, 62, who faces 24 counts of animal cruelty.

Convicted of animal cruelty twice since 1998, Sullivan has denied wrongdoing and accused authorities of destroying her reputation.

In February 2010, a county animal control officer driving by Sullivan's property off Shaner Lane said he noticed horses stripping bark from trees and nibbling honeysuckle. Officer Gary Webb said he drove to the property and found a thin herd of horses and one dead mare in a barn.

Sitting next to defense attorney Dana Cormier, Sullivan listened with little reaction as the prosecutor promised jurors evidence of "extreme emaciation" in the herd.

In Cormier's opening remarks, he argued Sullivan did the best she could with a herd of horses inherited after the collapse of an equine care organization she formerly led.

Cormier painted a picture of a well-intentioned woman plagued by a disability, arthritis, hypertension and poverty.

Delving into an extensive history between Sullivan and county authorities, Cormier called into question the intentions of some of the people and organizations involved in the investigation, including the Augusta Regional Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"The SPCA made nearly $6,000 in profit off her herd," Cormier told jurors. "The evidence will establish that [the horses] were pretty good [and] within a couple of weeks to be adopted."

In addition to the herd's quick recovery, Cormier pointed to a March 2010 civil lawsuit in which the SPCA sought to maintain their right over the herd, which they gained after the county surrendered it to them.

According to court records, SPCA Director Debbie Caywood hired attorney John Hill in the organization's fight to terminate the "priority interest" of Sullivan's former employee, Kevin Johnson, in the herd. Johnson acquired a lien on the herd from Sullivan in a previous legal battle, records show.

The SPCA won that battle.

Caywood is scheduled to take the stand today.

Cormier said Sullivan used to direct the now defunct Fern Leigh Equine Foundation, which took in abused and neglected horses to restore their health.

"That's how she came into possession of this herd," he said. "The history of this herd is the history of Ms. Sullivan's and Fern Leigh's financial problems."

Animal Control Officer Gary Webb testified Sullivan chose to surrender the horses to Augusta County after he knocked on her door to ask about starvation.

His visit came at the tail-end of a major snowstorm, he said. The snow blocked hay deliverers from getting to her property, he testified.

"I just can't keep doing this anymore, this is it," Webb recalled Sullivan saying.

Former state veterinarian Charlotte Robinson testified she scored the herd's health one by one. Together with a scribe and trainee, Robinson felt each horse for body fat levels.

She stood before the jury with an anatomically correct plastic horse to demonstrate how she scored the horses.

Most of Sullivan's horses scored at the low end of the 1 to 10 health scale, Robinson said.

"A horse with a body score of one is a horse that has no visible fat," she said, pointing to a photo of one of the horses.

Once she analyzed the horses, Robinson said Mountain View Equine Hospital in Steeles Tavern took charge of the herd. One was euthanized and the rest have been adopted out, a Mountain View veterinarian testified.

Cormier is to begin presenting evidence this morning.
Source: newsvirginian.com - Jan 06, 2011
Update posted on Jan 9, 2011 - 3:53PM 

References

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