Two Graytown brothers, who operated a ramshackle Benton Township hog farm that was closed by court order, will each spend 30 days in jail for animal cruelty.
Paul and Robert Hodgins were sentenced Friday afternoon in Ottawa County Municipal Court. Both were convicted of two counts of animal cruelty, a second-degree misdemeanor.
Judge Frederick C. Hany sentenced each brother to 90 days in jail -- with 75 days suspended -- on each count. Both were fined $250 on each count, plus court costs. Plus, both men received probation for three years, during which they are forbidden from owning domestic or barnyard animals.
In the courtroom, Hany played portions of a Humane Society of Ottawa County videotape filmed this summer at the 4072 Graytown Road farm. About 200 hogs lived there amid rotting carcasses in ghoulish, sewage-marred conditions -- along with a steer, living in a pen choked with feces 2 feet deep.
"It was a devastating case," special prosecutor Bree Brown said. "We just feel the county's a better place to raise these kinds of animals now."
Brown said she hopes Hany's ruling sets a precedent for similar cases in Ottawa County.
The Hodgins hog farm was phased out of operation late last year, with most of the animals sold for slaughter. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top References | Port Clinton News Herald |
« OH State Animal Cruelty Map
|
