Images for this Case
CONVICTED: Was justice served?
more information on voting
When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.
Case #9140 Rating: 2.8 out of 5
Puppy mill - 39 dogs, 17 birds, one cat seized
Sutton, AK (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Jun 29, 2006
County: Matanuska Susitna
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 1 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Marcie A. Doppelt
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Sutton dog breeder faces 70 cruelty to animal counts after officers removed 57 dogs, birds and a cat from her home. Mat-Su chief animal control officer Dave Allison says Marcie Doppelt also faces one count of operating a kennel without a borough license.
Officials say animal control officers confiscated 39 dogs, 17 birds and a cat living in filthy conditions at the home. Borough officials say the officers seized the animals after receiving a complaint that they lived in unsanitary conditions, and the cat and dogs were killing the birds.
Authorities say the animals lived in their own feces and urine. One bird was found dead. Doppelt declined to speak about the case because it's headed to court in a week.
Each animal cruelty count carries a potential 300 dollar fine; the license violation could brings another 150 fine.
Case UpdatesAbout two dozen dogs seized from a Sutton home will be ready for new homes early this week, a Matanuska-Susitna Borough spokeswoman said.
One had to be put down.
Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said the dogs, including German shepherds and cocker and springer spaniels, but no puppies, should be ready for adoption Monday.
"It's on a first-come, first-served basis," she said.
Sullivan said volunteers came forward with donations of dog treats and toys once the story of the animals, rescued from what officers described as squalor, was publicized.
Borough animal control officers on June 27 seized 39 dogs, along with 12 exotic birds, a Persian cat, a Canada goose, three chickens and a peacock. Their owner, Marie Doppelt, 60, pleaded no contest July 7 in Palmer District Court to four counts of animal cruelty and one of operating an unlicensed kennel.
One dog, an older Dalmatian that animal control officers described in court July 6 as having an open, untreated wound on its leg, had to be euthanized, animal control chief Dave Allison said in an e-mail.
The initial complaint against Doppelt led animal control to issue an impound notice on 12 peafowl an officer saw living in poor conditions.
Those peafowl were missing June 27 when officers returned to confiscate them. With a warrant, the animal control officers, escorted by Alaska state troopers, discovered the dogs living in their own filth throughout Doppelt's house and kennels. As part of her agreement, Doppelt agreed to have them delivered to animal control, and the borough agreed that a friend of Doppelt's would have first adoption privileges for the peafowl.
Allison by e-mail Friday stated all 12 had been brought to the shelter and many had been adopted, with the exception of four peafowl that needed further rehabilitation.
Animal control officers had left Doppelt with four dogs, the limit allowed under borough codes for homes lacking a kennel license. Her plea agreement allowed Doppelt to swap the dogs for four held at the shelter. Doppelt has traded her four dogs for four German shepherds, Sullivan said.
Allison said last week that his department has been incredibly busy. When the animals showed up, they went through a triage process. Those most seriously in need of care were taken first. Volunteers pitched in.
That the animals are ready for adoption this week is the result of a lot of hard work from his staff and the volunteers, Allison said.
The borough entrusted the Alaska Bird Club with the 12 exotic birds -- five cockatiels, three conures, two macaws, one Amazon parrot and one dove. Club vice president Leanna Rein said the birds are not ready for adoption.
"They're coming along," she said, but "these birds all need a little bit of work."
All of them are in rehabilitative foster homes. Rein expects that soon, perhaps in another few weeks, the birds will be ready. Until then, she urged anybody who wants to adopt the birds to fill out an application at the club Web site at www.alaskabirdclub.org.
Applications are also available for anybody who wants to be a part of the group's network of bird foster homes.
"This confiscation really tapped us," she said, and the club could use more volunteers. | Source: Anchorage Daily News - July 16, 2006
Update posted on Jul 17, 2006 - 1:35PM |
A Sutton woman facing 69 counts of cruelty to animals pleaded to consolidated charges in an agreement with the Mat-Su Borough Friday morning.
Marcie A. Doppelt, 60, went forward with a non-jury trial in Palmer District Court Thursday, but before the trial could continue Friday, lawyers for both sides settled.
Doppelt pleaded no contest to one count of running a kennel without a license and four counts of cruelty to animals. Doppelt agreed to relinquish ownership of the animals confiscated by the borough: 20 cocker spaniels, six 6-week-old cocker puppies, seven German shepherds, five German shepherd puppies, two springer spaniels, one Dalmatian, one Persian cat, one Canada goose, one peacock, three chickens, two macaws, one Amazon parrot, 3 conures, five cockatiels and one dove. Doppelt also will forfeit ownership of 12 peacocks she removed from her property before the borough could take them.
Doppelt accepted a $1,350 fine, which will go toward the $5,000 she agreed to pay the borough for boarding the animals.
"Our goal was for a healthier, cleaner, safer environment for the animals," said Nick Spiropoulos, borough attorney. "One of the reasons for 70 counts was every conviction meant a forfeiture of an animal."
After a former tenant reported a multitude of animals living in filthy conditions, animal care officers went to Doppelt's residence June 23, and returned with warrants to remove the animals June 27. The sheer number of dogs and birds filled the shelter, which already was undergoing renovations. The Sutton animals, covered in dirt and feces, needed to be examined by a veterinarian, bathed and treated for skin and ear infections.
Doppelt, who was allowed to keep four dogs, may exchange them for four at the shelter, as long as they aren't any of the dogs with severe infections or the one that had a fish hook embedded in its fur, Spiropoulos said.
The crowded situation at the animal shelter had been alleviated by people who made room in their homes for adoptable animals, said Dave Allison, chief of animal control.
"We haven't had to euthanize any animals," Allison said.
"The rescue organizations, Compassion in Action and Alaska Dog and Puppy Rescue, helped by finding homes for animals that are harder to place."
Highland Mountain Correctional Center, a bird-rescue organization in Anchorage and people from all over Alaska, Canada and from Outside, including some as far away as Illinois and Louisiana, offered to take animals, Allison said.
"There's been a big community outpouring of people willing to help, willing to shelter," he said.
The animals removed from Doppelt's acreage aren't ready to leave the shelter yet, but Allison said he hoped they could start adoptions soon.
"They still have medical care, treatment and grooming issues," he said. "But now we can make them very comfortable."
The person who took the 12 peacocks for Doppelt will be allowed the first option of adopting them, if qualified, according to the agreement. But Allison said people adopting birds do get special scrutiny.
"We look at their facilities," he said. "We look at their ability to keep these birds safe and secure. They do fly, and they can be aggressive. You have to be careful with birds." | Source: Frontiersman - July 9, 2006
Update posted on Jul 10, 2006 - 10:49AM |
References |
