As reported by City Pages, CBS Local, and several other news media, a woman is facing 14 felonies and two misdemeanors of animal cruelty for the way she chose to end the lives of animals under her care. Her attorney, however, is arguing that since the charges involved "commercial animals" and not household "pets", the woman should not be facing felony charges.
D.B., a dog breeder and owner of a commercial kennel in the Northfield area, has been accused of drowning puppies in buckets of water held in place by a weighted bucket, weighing down puppies with cinder blocks and then tossing them into a pool to drown and breaking a dog's neck.
Bob Miller, D.B.'s attorney, has begun his defense by arguing that there is a statutory difference between pets and commercial animals, with the latter being subject to different rules.
Miller told reporters that he will challenge the warrant authorities used to search D.B.'s kennel in September 2011 and that a judge will hear his motions in November. D.B. is to be tried early in 2013.
After a 2011 search of the kennels by the Dakota County Sheriff's Department, officers located a freezer chest that held 10 dead small breed dogs that appeared to have been wet before they were wrapped in plastic and frozen.
D.B., with allegedly 40 years of dog breeding experience, was seen killing dogs by means of drowning and strangulation. The former employees that reported their witness account to authorities, according to Miller, had been fired by D.B. and were getting back at her for it.
D.B. told reporters that the former employees spoke out against her because "Apparently they did what they could do to make such terrible, scathing lies that they want to see what they can do to put me out of a job. It's a terrible, vindictive retaliation and the scathing lies are awful, awful."
D.B. has posted her $16,000 bail and returned to the kennel. Her husband stated that business has dropped approximately 90 percent since the allegations were made public.
According to investigators, the case against D.B., 61, is one of the worst cases of animal cruelty that they have seen.
Investigator Keith Streff, a senior investigator with the Animal Humane Society for 25 years, said, "It's just a sad deal all the way around. To have a rope tied around your head and to be drowned in a swimming pool is kind of repulsive to me. So, under the circumstances there I think the charges are consistent with her behavior."
Streff understands that kennel owners, from time to time, must euthanize animals. However, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstron, D.B.'s methods were "not an appropriate way to take the life of an animal, regardless of its condition."
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