Puppy World owner Machelle Martin is charged with 33 counts of animal abuse and neglect in connection with Puppy World, which closed in late January after Martin's business license was revoked by the state. Officials said the Ingram Mill Road store had failed several inspections.
The public defender also expressed concern that Martin's July 26 trial on kidnapping and child-endangerment charges would generate more publicity prior to her animal-abuse trial at an undetermined date.
In addition, Martin faces a charge of possession of a controlled substance involving methamphetamine. Case Updates| Posted on Apr 12, 2005 - 2:23AM | Machelle Martin received a year in jail Monday (April 11, 2005) after pleading guilty to 10 counts of animal abuse. Martin, 28, also admitted in a plea agreement to passing a bad check and interference with the legal process.
Her jail sentence will run concurrent to a 17-year prison term she received last year for kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child and interfering with child custody.
Assistant Greene County Prosecutor Jill Patterson said she was satisfied with the time Martin will spend incarcerated on the cases. Brady Musgrave, Martin's public defender, could not be reached for comment.
State animal control officials closed Puppy World, Martin's Ingram Mill Road store, in January 2004 after it failed five inspections.
The inspections led to nearly 50 violations ranging from standing puddles of water in animal enclosures to poor ventilation. Springfield Animal Control reported receiving dozens of complaints about the business after it opened in December 2003.
The Southwest Missouri Humane Society allowed several Ozarks families to have Puppy World animals healthy enough to adopt. Officials said four dogs died after their rescue.
Several Ozarks families later adopted Puppy World's animals from the Southwest Missouri Humane Society.
Authorities located Martin � also known as Machelle Kelley and Machelle Slavens � at an Ozark motel after she failed to appear for a February 2004 court appearance.
She has contended that Puppy World was unfairly targeted. Martin denied last year that animals were improperly cared for, and that the business owed breeders money for dogs sold at the store.
"It's a bunch of falsified lies," Martin said previously.
The former pet shop owner had been charged with 33 counts of animal abuse and neglect for dogs seized from Puppy World and a rural home. However, several counts were dropped through her plea agreement.
A Greene County jury convicted Martin of kidnapping in July for taking her baby without permission from a Cox South hospital intensive care unit on Nov. 9, 2000, and leaving for Oklahoma. She was acquitted of a felonious-restraint charge. | | Source: Springfield News-Leader - April 12, 2005 |
| Posted on Jul 3, 2004 - 8:24AM | A judge has denied a motion to move former Puppy World owner Machelle Martin's animal abuse trial to another county.
However, Associate Greene County Judge Mark Fitzsimmons said a venue change motion may be reconsidered before her trial. |
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