CONVICTED: Was justice served?
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Case #2642 Rating: 2.8 out of 5
100 dogs Neglected
Joshua Tree, CA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 17, 2004
County: San Bernardino
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Arthur Zelda
» Jenietta Zelda
A married couple who at one time kept approximately 100 animals at their residence, 34 of them seriously hurt, pleaded guilty to five counts of cruelty to animals this month, said Deputy District Attorney Laura Ozols.
Arthur Zelda, who is in his mid-70s, pleaded to five felony counts of cruelty to animals and one felony count of injuring a peace officer, stated Ozols.
His wife, Jenietta Zelda, in her late 60s, pleaded to five misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and one misdemeanor count of resisting a peace officer.
In 2003, a code enforcement officer who visited the Zeldas' property in an unincorporated area of the Morongo Basin discovered approximately 100 animals were on the property. They found 34 of them suffering from major injuries including lacerations, mange and dehydration, which resulted from the Zeldas' failure to care for them, said Ozols.
Thirty-two of the injured animals had to be euthanized due to their injuries, she said.
A code enforcement officer also observed there were two houses on the property - one was a house and the other was a shed. Ozols said the code enforcement officer noticed the dogs had taken over the house while the Zeldas were living in the shed.
Enforcement officers also noted there was a thick layer of feces and a strong smell of ammonia from urine inside the residential house, stated Ozols.
In 2004, code enforcement officers and deputies went to the location to serve a search warrant and evict the couple from the premises, said Ozols.
Upon their arrival, Arthur Zelda told them no one would be entering the property, threatened to kill the code enforcement officer, then swung at the officer, said Ozols.
When the deputy tried to detain him, Zelda bit the officer on his hand, breaking the skin, stomped on his boot, then kicked the officer in the knee, according to Ozols.
Zelda's wife then approached the officers and assaulted another deputy at the scene, but there were no injuries to that deputy, said Ozols.
Arthur Zelda will not be allowed to have any animals for five years as part of his probationary term. He could spend as much as one year in jail.
Jenietta Zelda will not be allowed to have any animals for three years as part of her probationary term and may spend 60 days in jail, stated Ozols.
They will be sentenced Sept. 24,2004 References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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