Case Details

Animals living in feces, disease at county shelter
New Lisbon, WI (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Oct 31, 2005
County: Juneau
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 4 files available

Alleged:
» June D Kline - Dismissed
» Michelle R Ott
» Lynn P Rittenhouse
» Lynn Leatherberry

Case Updates: 2 update(s) available

Case ID: 7807
Classification: Neglect / Abandonment
Animal: dog (non pit-bull), cat
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Suspect was in animal welfare field
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Three Juneau County residents face dozens of charges for mistreating animals, and they were the people who were supposed to care for the animals. June Kline, Michelle Ott, and Lynn Rittenhouse ran the now-defunct humane society for Juneau County.

On March 21, 2006, the Juneau County District Attorney's office filed 48 animal neglect charges against each of three former executive board members. All former board members are scheduled for an initial appearance in Juneau County court on April 17, 2006.

An investigation surfaced into the shelter after the Clark County Humane Society, near Eau Claire, received a call last November 2005 asking to take animals out of the Juneau County Humane Society. What Clark County workers found were conditions that even made the rescuers sick. CCHS's shelter manager Chuck Wegner said he found 16 dogs and 29 cats. He said conditions at JCHS were cramped, dogs were stuck in cages with feces several inches thick, and disease was everywhere. "A lot of upper respiratory things going on, a horrible case of ringworm going on," said Wegner. "Just attrocious conditions. The smells were just miserable, awful."

Kline (former president), Ott (former secretary), and Rittenhouse (former treasurer/shelter manager) face 45 misdeanors charges of mistreating animals for each of the 45 animals recovered in November 2005. Three more charges for each woman is for a felony count of mistreating anumals, with intentional mutilation, disfigurement, or death. The criminal complaint quotes a former shelter employee, Faye Demaske, who claimed three cats died when the heat wasn't turned on during the winter of 2002-2003.

27 News attempted to contact all three women. Rittenhouse told us she was unaware of the charges against her until we called. She said she's not aware of what the three felonies were referencing, and insists that no one at JCHS abused or neglected animals. She added that the facility has had a "twenty-year track record of mischief," and "hindsight is 20/20." The former treasurer said JCHS took in between $19,000 and $23,000 in revenue most years, made up of adoptions fees and donations. Wegner said of the 45 animals, six dogs were eventually euthanised because they were too vicious. The Juneau County Humane Society closed after the animals were rescued. A new board of directors has since formed to open a new shelter.

Case Updates

Just one week before the case was scheduled to go to trial, animal mistreatment charges against the former president of the Juneau County Humane Society were dismissed this week.

Charges were filed in November of 2005 when 45 animals were transferred from the Juneau County shelter to the custody of the Clark County Humane Society amid concerns that they could not be properly cared for at the New Lisbon facility.

An assistant manager at the Clark County shelter, Krystal Koehler, told detectives that the conditions at the Juneau County shelter were "unbelievable" and the smell inside the facility was "indescribable," according to the criminal complaint. Koehler told authorities she felt the animals, some of which were found to have parasites, ring worm and ear mites, had not been treated humanely.

About four months after the transfer of the animals, June Kline, 68, of Mauston was charged with 45 misdemeanor counts of animal mistreatment and three felony counts of mistreatment resulting in the death of an animal. Authorities alleged that Kline - along with two other former board members - had treated the animals at the shelter in a cruel manner.

The three felony charges resulting from the alleged death of three cats in the winter of 2003 at the shelter have since been dismissed by the prosecution for all three former board members.

"I think they are realizing now that they didn't have much of a leg to stand on," Kline said in a phone interview Friday about the recent dismissal of the 45 misdemeanor charges.

Kline said she felt the charges against her and other board members were drummed up by a former disgruntled employee of the humane society, who she would not name.

Kline's former attorney, Rebecca Richards-Bria of Mauston, had previously filed a motion to dismiss the charges claiming that the criminal complaint failed to allege any criminal activity on the part of Kline.

Kline's current attorney, Thomas Croke of Adams, reinstated the motion last month.

In a hearing this week, Juneau County Assistant District Attorney Stacy Smith did not contest the motion, allowing Judge John Roemer to dismiss the 45 misdemeanor charges against Kline.

Doubts of competency

Smith said Friday that he decided not to contest the motion, in part, because he had doubts about Kline's competency to stand trial.

"Looking at the case as a whole, I didn't want to put resources into convicting somebody that I have doubts about," Smith said.

After an examination ordered by the court, Kline was found to be competent last year.

Kline said Friday that she took offense to Smith's statement. "He doubts my competency? Well, excuse me. He was sitting right there beside me in court when my attorney said that I was a very intelligent person," Kline said. "I have been very cooperative in this."

Smith said the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be re-filed at any time. However, he said, it is unlikely the DA's office will re-file.

A tough time for Kline

Kline said the turmoil has been difficult for her, especially a bond condition imposed by the court that prevented her from keeping animals at her home.

In November of 2004, Kline's husband, David Kline, was the victim of a robbery and kidnapping by convicted murderer Maurice Mason, 39, of Baraboo. Mason was involved in a crime spree that also resulted in the shooting deaths of two individuals.

Mason robbed David Kline, bound him to a post and left him for dead in an isolated shed in a rural area south of Mauston. Authorities found Kline six days later. Doctors had to amputate his hands because of the way they had been bound.

June Kline said having the animals around would have provided therapeutic rehabilitation for her husband, who was traumatized by the incident.

The other two defendents

The misdemeanor charges against the humane society's former treasurer, Lynn Rittenhouse-Leatherberry, are still pending and her case is scheduled for a five-day jury trial in Columbia County next November.

Former secretary Michelle Ott, formerly of Wonewoc, has already pleaded no contest to three of the misdemeanor charges. The other misdemeanor charges were dropped in exchange for Ott's cooperation with the prosecution regarding the cases of her co-defendants, Kline and Rittenhouse-Leatherberry.

Bail jumping dismissed

Kline and Rittenhouse-Leatherberry were both subsequently charged with felony bail jumping after witnesses - one of which was a former shelter employee - told authorities the two women were speaking to each other outside the Juneau County Justice Center. The two former board members were ordered by the court not to speak to each other while their cases were pending.

Those charges have also been dismissed.

Current president innocent

Current board president Steve Rittenhouse, the brother of Rittenhouse-Leatherberry, was charged with three misdemeanor animal mistreatment charges after authorities found dogs housed in the shelter while painting was going on at the facility.

A Juneau County jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of those charges last month.

The shelter has also been ordered to allow inspection of its financial records following a judgment on a civil matter filed by former members of the humane society. The shelter is appealing that judgment.
Source: Wisconsin News - April 15, 2007
Update posted on Apr 15, 2007 - 8:26PM 
The three board members charged (June D. Kline, 67, Mauston, Michele R. Ott, 31, Wonewoc and Leatherberry, 49, Elroy) all face 48 counts of mistreating animals. Three of those charges are felony counts of intentionally treating animals in a cruel manner, resulting in the animals' deaths, for which the maximum penalty is five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Source: Wisconsin News - March 27, 2006
Update posted on Apr 29, 2006 - 4:34PM 

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References

WKOW News - March 23, 2006
Org Sites - April 2006

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