UPDATE: Florence man pleads guilty to animal cruelty charge Florence County Detention Center Charles Bell By Patricia Burkett | WBTW Anchor/ Reporter Published: July 23, 2010 Updated: July 23, 2010 Charles Bell FLORENCE—A man charged with animal cruelty was sentenced to a fine and jail time after he pleaded guilty in a court hearing Friday morning. Charles Bell, 805 Ventura Court in Florence, was charged in late June after Florence County animal control officers found a large black dog, dead in a small transport crate. The crate was in Bell’s back yard and animal control officers said the dog had been in the crate in high temperatures without food or water for several days. Bell was sentenced by Florence City Court Judge Debra Jackson to a fine of $1,092 and 30 days to be served on weekends. City prosecutors had sought a maximum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Bell will also have to surrender his remaining animal to the animal control officials. Bell entered his plea in a courtroom packed with animal rights supporters. Spectators were turned away by court officers after the room filled up. The animal cruelty case drew national attention and people from as far away as Charleston drove to Florence to attend the hearing. Patricia Blackmon was one of the animal rights activists in attendance and said she felt compelled to come and speak up for those who could not speak for themselves. You have to give water and food and shelter or you don’t need to have an animal,“ said Blackmon. If you’re not going to treat it right, don’t get one.“ Many of those in the courtroom were driven to small outbursts or tears as the facts of the case were read. Suzy Ball fought back emotions during the hearing and said she and other had to resist the urge to say how they felt about the situation. We couldn’t speak out in court, we think the sentence was way too light. We need to have stronger sentences,“ said Ball. He should have gone immediately to jail and been locked up in a cage in the hot sun,“ she said. Blackmon echoed the sentiments felt by many animal rights activists, that the punishment did not fit the crime. This is not nearly enough. If this had happened in another state where they have better laws to protect the animals, that man would have been in jail…period,“ she said. When Bell was asked to give his side of the story in court, he told the judge that he was in fact an animal lover and that he left his 15-year-old son in charge of the dog’s care. Bell told the judge that he and his son noticed that the dog kept escaping from its kennel, so they placed it in the crate at certain times throughout the day. I can only be judged by God and only he knows the truth,“ Bell told Morning News multimedia journalist John D. Russell after the plea. Bell, who was emotional and surrounded by family afterwards, declined to be interviewed further. This was the second time Bell has run afoul animal cruelty laws, according to Florence’s Director of Community Services Scotty Davis. Bell’s first offense came in 2008, when officials found two pit bulls in a cage with feces, Davis said. During that incident, Bell had to surrender his animals but was not issued an official citation. Though many animal activists said they were hoping for stricter punishment, or at least the maximum penalty of 60 days in jail, they do say that the case helped shed a spotlight on an issue that desperately needs attention. We’ve seen so many cases of abuse and so many people who look the other way and we are not going to look the other way anymore,“ said Ball. We are going to see that people are persecuted the way they’re persecuting these poor, innocent animals.“ Rescue Angel Temporary Tattoos Order Buddy Unchained: Great Book for Grade School Children Order This Art on T-shirts, Gifts, and More Contact Info: Dogs Deserve Better, Inc. • P.O. Box 23 • Tipton, PA 16684 • Toll Free 1.877.636.1408 • 814.941.7447 email: [email protected] • Website designed and maintained by Crescent Communications
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 05:19:12 +0000
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