Humane agent to Pittie Paw Rescue operators: "You failed these cats."

Michaela Sumner | Newark Advocate

NEWARK - Two animal rescue operators will likely serve 10 days in jail each after they left more than 20 cats abandoned in a tied-shut trailer in August.

Kristin Beaupry, 24, of 14436 Dutch Cross Road, Centerburg, and Joyce Meisenhelder, 43, of 16711 Texas Road, Heath, each pleaded guilty to two counts of prohibitions concerning companion animals and one count of abandoning animals, all second-degree misdemeanors.

The remaining 20 counts each of prohibitions concerning companion animals were dismissed as part of a plea deal. Beaupry pleaded guilty to an additional failure to obtain dangerous dog registration charge in a separate case.

The pair, who operated the Frazeysburg-based Pittie Paw Rescue, were charged in August after the Licking County Humane Society took custody of 21 cats abandoned by the agency.

More: Humane society rescues 21 cats abandoned by rescue shelter in a tied-shut trailer

In August, Lori Carlson, humane society director, told The Advocate the organization was evicted from the property and while the woman took the dogs, they left the cats behind in a trailer which was tied shut. Less than a week after the eviction, the Licking County Sheriff's Office was called to the property, where officials found 23 cats inside the trailer - two of them deceased.

Carlson said a veterinarian determined one had been deceased for about a week and the other was deceased between one and three months. Carlson described the conditions as horrific, adding each of the 21 living cats had fleas, and there were feces all over the trailer. The cats, she added, had no food or water.

At the time, the humane society collected 12 adults and nine kittens from the building.

Following the court hearing on Friday afternoon, Carlson said one cat became seriously ill post-rescue and was euthanized. While one cat awaits adoption, she said, the remainder have been adopted.

During the court hearing, Paula Evans, a humane society agent, addressed the courtroom, explaining the mission of rescue. She described the scene of what she and another humane agent arrived to at Pittie Paw last August, when they were forced to enter the trailer in bio-hazard suits with fleas crawling all over them.

Evans said they found a deceased cat crawling in maggots and another that had been dead so long, its body was attached to the couch it died beneath.

"Kristin and Joyce, you failed these cats. You did not protect them," Evans told the pair. "Instead you perfected the art of manipulation by deceiving people with your drama-filled Facebook posts. ... You made a decision to walk away and leave these cats and kittens in horrendous conditions."

Their defense attorney, Samuel Shamansky told Judge David Stansbury his clients recognize the seriousness of their misconduct in the case.

"They've expressed to me...that they've also come to realize despite their good intentions, good intentions aren't good enough," Shamansky said on their behalf. He added regardless of whether they were trying to rescue animals, they unfortunately turned into the animals' neglectors instead.

According to Shamansky, the pair surrendered all animals they cared for in Licking and Knox Counties.

Stansbury sentenced Beaupry and Meisenhelder to 180 days in jail each, with 170 days suspended. They were both barred from running or participating in an animal rescue shelter. He also imposed a $75 fine each and ordered them to pay a joint restitution of $2,001.95 to the Licking County Humane Society.

Stansbury imposed a $25 fine in Beaupry's separate case. He placed both on a three-year probation term.

Following the hearing, Carlson said Licking County has made it clear they won't tolerate animal cruelty, and their organization takes cases such as these seriously.

"I think from the perspective of an animal advocate, we would certainly like there to be stronger punishments for people that abuse animals," Carlson said. "But having said that, I feel very confident that justice was served today, that the court did hold them accountable for what happened."