Catherine "Dodie" Cariaso, a dog breeder from Loveland, Colorado, is accused of abandoning 84 Labrador retrievers in a Berthoud home this summer is holding to her claim that the Larimer Humane Society murdered 54 of her animals.
Authorities on July 3 discovered the dogs, many of them puppies, in waste-filled travel crates. Employees of the Larimer Humane Society, which euthanized 54 of the dogs, said the Labs suffered from physical and behavioral problems that in many cases were untreatable.
Cariaso, who is free on $11,000 bond, is charged with 16 counts of animal cruelty for allegedly abandoning 84 Labs without food or water at a rental home in early July. If convicted, she faces a maximum sentence of 18 months incarceration and/or a $5,000 fine for each charge. Case UpdatesTwo Larimer County sheriff's deputies who killed a suspected bank robber used justifiable force after the woman pointed a toy pistol at them, the sheriff's office said Wednesday.
Catherine Cariaso, 56, of Estes Park, died Jan. 12 after authorities caught up with her in Longmont. She had allegedly robbed a bank in Loveland.
Sheriff Jim Alderden said the officers were cleared by the Boulder County district attorney, who concluded the deputies were reasonable in believing that the black and silver antique toy revolver was a deadly weapon.
Alderden said the DA reached a conclusion similar to an internal investigation. The two deputies have been cleared to return to duty.
Cariaso was the operator of a puppy mill where 84 caged Labrador retrievers were found starving, deformed or injured at a home in Berthoud in July 2004. She pleaded guilty to 15 misdemeanor counts of neglect and nine counts of abandonment and was sentenced in August to 60 days in jail, five years supervised probation, and ordered to undergo mental health counseling. | Source: CBS Denver - Feb 9, 2006
Update posted on Feb 10, 2006 - 7:16PM |
A Larimer County woman found guilty in 2005 of animal abuse was identified as the suspect who robbed a bank in Loveland and pointed a fake gun at law enforcement officials before she was shot and killed north of Longmont on January 12, 2006.
Catherine Cariaso, 56, of Larimer County was identified as the deceased. She was accused of abandoning 84 dogs in July 2004. In August 2005, she was sentenced to 60 days in jail in the Larimer County Detention Facility and five years of supervised probation.
According to a press release from the Boulder County Sheriff's Office, Cariaso robbed the Chase Bank at 1905 W. Eisenhower in Loveland at 1:30 p.m. Cariaso reportedly told bank employees that she was armed, and she was given an undisclosed amount of cash, according to the sheriff's office. Cariaso fled in a white minivan and was followed by witnesses. A uniformed Larimer County Sheriff's deputy and a Berthoud police officer spotted the minivan west of Berthoud. Another Larimer deputy joined the pursuit.
The chase lasted a half hour before it crossed into Boulder County, and Cariaso stopped near the intersection of 83rd Street and Yellowstone Road, north of Longmont. Cariaso reportedly got out of the minivan and pointed a fake gun at officials. Both the Larimer deputies shot her. Officials then requested emergency medical assistance, but she died at the scene.
The Boulder County Sheriff's Office is investigating the shooting, and the Loveland Police Department is investigating the bank robbery.
In June 2005, Cariaso tried to withdraw her guilty plea to 20 counts of cruelty to animals. She was convicted of abandoning 84 Labrador retrievers without food and water for several days near Berthoud. Fifty-four of the dogs were euthanized and three died. Twenty-seven were adopted. | Source: Greeley Tribune - January 13, 2006
Update posted on Jan 15, 2006 - 5:10PM |
A Larimer County judge Monday ordered a woman who last year abandoned 84 malnourished Labrador retrievers to spend 60 days in jail and be forbidden from breeding animals.
Judge Ronald L. Schultz ordered Catherine Cariaso, 56, to begin serving her jail sentence on Sept. 19. The judge told Cariaso that she cannot breed any animal during her five years of probation. She also must undergo mental health counseling. Cariaso will have to pay restitution, but prosecutors have not tallied a final dollar amount, Linda Jensen, Larimer County district attorney spokeswoman, said.
The sentence stemmed from Cariaso's guilty pleas to 15 misdemeanor counts of neglect and nine counts of abandonment. | Source: Rocky Mountain News - Aug 23, 2005
Update posted on Aug 23, 2005 - 8:33AM |
Catherine Cariaso, the woman accused of abandoning 84 dogs last July, appeared in court at the Larimer County Justice Center on June 16 and tried to withdraw her guilty plea.
But Larimer County Judge Ronald Schultz ruled that her guilty plea will stand.
Cariaso said she was pressured by public defender Norman Townsend not to go to trial.
Townsend, Cariaso's then-defense attorney, said he feared she wouldn't get a fair trial and admitted pressuring her to accept a guilty plea of 20 counts of cruelty to animals.
Cariaso did that in April, but her new court-appointed private attorney, Stefani Goldin, said she never wanted to plead guilty and wanted to go to trial.
Cariaso's next day in court will be for sentencing in August for abandoning 84 Labrador retrievers and leaving them without food and water for several days near Berthoud in July 2004. Fifty-four of the dogs had to be euthanized because of their conditions; three more eventually died, and 27 survived and are in private homes.
Cariaso faces a maximum of three years in prison and no fines, a far cry from the 1481/2 years and $500,000 in fines she could have received if she hadn't accepted the plea bargain. Cariaso, who left the courtroom wearing sunglasses and refusing to comment on the judge's decision, never spoke before the judge.
Larimer County Assistant District Attorney Clifford Riedel said Cariaso has a "mercurial personality" and that she had buyer's remorse: "There is something to be said for the finality of a plea." | Source: greeleytribune.com - June 17, 2005
Update posted on Jun 17, 2005 - 1:02AM |
| Cariaso will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. June 2 at the Larimer County Courthouse. | | Update posted on Apr 12, 2005 - 2:19AM |
Catherine Cariaso pleaded guilty to 20 counts of animal cruelty on Monday, April 11. In a past court appearance, she had insisted the dogs were healthy and that she had only left them for a few hours.
Humane Society officials said they found 84 dogs in filthy kennels without food or water on Cariaso's property near Berthoud. Many were suffering from severe neglect, and more than half had to be euthanized.
Authorities said Cariaso ran a labrador breeding operation at her home for years. | Source: CBS 4 Denver - April 11, 2005
Update posted on Apr 12, 2005 - 12:14AM |
Cariaso faces a maximum punishment of 148 1/2 years in jail and almost $500,000 worth of fines. She is accused of leaving the Labrador retrievers, most of them sick, dehydrated and malnourished, July 3 at her rental home near Berthoud. Animal control officers had to destroy 54 of the animals.
She faces 15 counts of neglect and mistreatment of animals and 84 counts of animal abandonment. The misdemeanor charges carry as long as 18 months in jail on each count and as much as a $5,000 fine for each count.
The former owner of Symposium in Mud, a Loveland pottery shop, she pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Cariaso was originally charged with 16 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, but the district attorney�s office added the additional charges after receiving more information from the Humane Society, said Janet VanDoren, secretary for Larimer County Courtroom 3A, where Cariaso will be tried.
In a written motion to not allow new charges, Cariaso claimed the district attorney filed the charges as retaliation because she was exercising her right to trial.
The trial is expected to last three days. | Source: The Daily Reporter Herald - April 11, 2005
Update posted on Apr 11, 2005 - 9:27AM |
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