Puppy Mill - 517 Dogs Seized Bunnell, FL (US) Incident Date: Saturday, May 31, 1997 County: Flagler Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abusers/Suspects: » Henry Brinkley » Linda Brinkley

Case ID: 2517 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

West Flagler County residents Linda and Henry Brinkley were ordered to pay $51,120 to reimburse the shelter for caring for hundreds of mistreated dogs seized from their home in 1997.

After being convicted in 1998 on 12 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, the court ordered the Brinkleys to pay the Humane Society $51,120 for expenses incurred taking care of 517 dogs seized from the couple's home in unincorporated Flagler County. During the trial, witnesses said many of the dogs from the Brinkleys' puppy mill ended up for sale at a flea market.

Henry Brinkley died in July 1999 before serving a 180-day jail term. Linda Brinkley later received two years probation rather than the jail time. For years, the debt went unpaid because Florida law doesn't allow creditors to force the sale of a debtor's home to recover debts.

Humane Society got lucky when Brinkley decided to sell a piece of property along State Road 100, but she couldn't do it without satisfying the judgment on the property.

With a check for $30,000, the Flagler County Humane Society can close the books on an animal cruelty case that made national headlines seven years ago.

It was stated this was also  to Brinkley's advantage because she hopes to have her rights to own an animal reinstated -- the Humane Society has objected to allowing that, in part, because of the unpaid debt.

The seizure of the dogs in 1998 made national headlines with people protesting outside the courthouse and the trial being moved to St. Johns County. The initial count of the dogs reached 386, but many were pregnant. In all, the dogs numbered 517.

Wade-Carotenuto said thanks to the media coverage, 474 dogs were adopted, while the rest were put to sleep.

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