County staff asked allegedly neglectful rescuer to take in dogs a week before they arrested her
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
County of San Diego Animal Services staff asked Alice Via to take in a dog with a tumor—one of many dogs they had called on her to rescue over the years—just a week before they arrested her for animal neglect, according to her attorney Chris Morris.
San Diego county spokesman Lt. Dan DeSousa said that Via did not provide the dozens of dogs on her property with adequate medical care.
Raid on Alice Via's home took 63 dogs (Photo - SDDAS)
During the March 10 raid of Via’s Lakeside, California home rescue facility attended by news media, 63 dogs were found “with no access to food and water, and with medical conditions,” and thus were removed and impounded in county shelters, said DeSousa. Officers led Via away in handcuffs.
One of Via’s four personal dogs, a boxer named Maggie Mae, died in June while in county custody. As per a judge's order Via was allowed to take home her three surviving personal dogs last Friday. The other 59 remain in county shelters, but officials said they will begin accepting adoption applications this week.
On the day of the raid, animal control officers found two Chihuahuas “with no hair,” DeSousa said. “Via admitted she had not taken them to a vet. It’s impossible for one person to give proper care to so many dogs. She told us that she had them in the [airline] crates for 22 hours a day.”
Via had dog care “down to a science,” says attorney
Via’s attorney Morris explained, “She had a lot of dogs but she had a lot of capacity to handle the dogs. She had individual kennels for each animal. She had a very elaborate exercise, walking, and feeding schedule, where she had these huge grease boards up, and groups of dogs were identified [to be] rotated through the yard.”
“She gave them adequate exercise and playtime, and interaction time with other animals,” Morris continued. “So it sounds like a lot [of dogs], but she had it down to a science. She had been doing it for 17 years.”
County staffers regularly called Via to take dogs
“The county kept giving her dogs,” said Morris. “I mean, what’s she gonna do? You know how the shelters are--they’re in a bad way. And when they stop taking animals in from owners, then the job of the rescues goes through the roof.”
County spokesman DeSousa agreed that county shelters often gave Via dogs that had medical problems or other issues and thus were difficult to re-home. He explained that the county “worked on the assumption” that Via was quickly placing the dogs in foster or adoptive homes.
“Would we have given her dogs if we knew she had 63 dogs in her home? No,” DeSousa said.
“She filled out all the proper paperwork,” said prosecutor Huffman, “and they had no reason to suspect she was doing anything other than properly looking after these dogs. To their considerable surprise, I suspect, they discovered that there were 62 of them in the living room.” [Or 63, counting now-deceased Maggie Mae.]
Via’s attorney Morris said that County of San Diego Department of Animal Services Deputy Director John Carlson knew that the county was calling Via to take dogs, and that his staffer Tiffany Shields was one who often asked her to do so.
Carlson explained, “Typically when an adoption partner rescue group takes an animal, they typically place it immediately into a foster home until they can find a permanent placement. I am not aware of any other adoption partner or rescue group that, for lack of a better term, hoards all the animals together. They place them out. Their goal ultimately is to put them in permanent homes. But this [Via's] was not a typical situation.”
Was Via a hoarder?
In response to Carlson and several media reports characterizing Via as a “hoarder” [someone who collects animals to the point of not being able to properly care for them], her attorney Morris said, “Her record indicates that she’s been adopting out dogs for 17 years. I have hundreds of letters of support from people who’ve adopted dogs from her. She probably takes in hundreds of dogs a year and she only had 50 [approximately] at the time. She adopts dogs out regularly. Her goal is to get them adopted out.”
County spokesman DeSousa alleges that Via herself admitted to authorities that she was “overwhelmed” with dogs.
Morris said that Via made that statement when “at one point the county called her to take even more dogs and she said, ‘No, I can’t take any more dogs. I’m at my limit here, guys. I can’t do this any more.’ So that’s the way it went down, with them calling her to take dogs, and her saying ‘I can’t do this anymore, I’m at my limit with dogs.’”
‘Thought she was doing a good deed’
Via’s arraignment is set for July 8. Some of the charges against her could carry up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine, said her attorney.
“I know that Ms. Via has been forever damaged by this thing, that’s for sure,” he added. “She thought she was doing a good deed by picking up the slack for the county, then the next thing you know, she’s arrested and dragged in front of the cameras. The whole thing has just been a travesty for her.”
COMING UP SOON:
* The death of Maggie Mae: Official explains how confiscated dog died in county custody
Animal Beat will provide continuing coverage of Alice Via's developing story.
Where are the breeders of the thrown-away dogs seized from allegedly neglectful rescuer? (opinion)
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
In a small home on a small lot in a quiet suburb, a 65-year-old woman named Alice Via and fellow volunteers devoted time and money over the years to Boxer Rescue San Diego.
They nursed and found new families for an overwhelming deluge of thrown-away purebred dogs and mixes, many of whom County of San Diego Animal Services staff had asked them to take in.
Some of the dogs had medical conditions such as blindness, deafness, and skin problems, often congenital, and often due to careless breeding practices, or other issues that rendered them difficult for the county to adopt out.
On March 10, acting on someone’s complaint about conditions at Boxer Rescue, the county sent animal control officers into the dog-crammed house, removed all 63 animals there at the time, arrested Via, and led her away in handcuffs.
Television news shows, regional newspapers, Internet outlets, and international wire services eagerly carried the high drama.
Then the county began its prosecution of the woman for alleged neglect, and began its impoundment of the animals for no crime of their own.
In June, one of Via’s personal dogs, a boxer named Maggie Mae, died while in county custody.
Hours later, Via took her three surviving personal dogs home, all former rescues, or throwaways— McDuff, a boxer; Dundee, a 1 ½-year-old white, deaf boxer; and Oliver, an 8-year-old Chihuahua.
Via’s arraignment is set for July 8 on six misdemeanor counts in connection to the neglect with which county officials allege she treated the dogs.
As of this week, the 59 remaining dogs will have spent four months in county shelters.
The facts
Regardless of one’s opinion on which of the humans in this acrimonious case are in the right or in the wrong, some facts are clear.
One of Via’s dogs is dead.
Fifty-nine dogs that came from Via’s home have occupied kennels in county shelters for nearly four months, and counting.
Every year an estimated half a million dogs and cats are euthanized in California animal shelters for lack of space and funding needed to care for them till adopters come along.
In the United States as a whole, that sickening statistic is estimated at three to four million.
The California Department of Public Health reports that the yearly number of dogs and cats being euthanized in municipal shelters statewide climbed 14.6% in recent years from 378,445 in 2004 to 432,512 in 2008—not including the kills in private shelters.
Another burgeoning number is that of dogs and cats crowding California municipal shelters yearly—729,238 per year in 2004 to 835,642 in 2008, also a 14.6% increase.
A new law initiated by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and passed by the legislature reduced from six days down to three days the time which public shelters must keep animals before destroying them.
That slashed by half the second chance these orphans had been guaranteed in the past.
A prediction
Given such sad facts, yet another thing about the Alice Via drama seems alarmingly clear.
It’s bound to happen again.
Even if somehow the rest of this case goes relatively well, and those dozens of confiscated dogs still taking up space and taxpayer dollars in the county shelters quickly find loving homes, and Via’s fate is resolved soon one way or another, we can almost bet that this drama—or tragedy—will be re-staged.
The cast members are all assembled.
There are untold millions of unwanted dogs and cats in the United States of America—not just neglected or abandoned—but often abused in horrific ways to boot.
There are thousands of good-hearted people in this good-hearted nation of ours who try to help them, and who hemorrhage time, strength, and money —even risk prosecution—to do so.
But no matter what those people do, no matter how hard they work, or how much they sacrifice, or how much time and taxpayer money the counties and cities keep spooning out from ever-dwindling budgets, there will be this massive, ongoing, crushing avalanche of unwanted animals that will keep on knocking everybody flat.
There are just too many.
One dog
Annabelle (photo above and right) was a throwaway taken in by Boxer Rescue in 2008.
Entry from the Boxer Rescue San Diego website:
"Annabelle is a 6-month-old brindle female.
"7/1/08 Received from owner... has mange but is an extremely sweet girl.
"9/18/08 I added a recent photo... her swollen neck is gone and her hair is coming in nicely!
"She's a pup who gets along with everyone, could use obedience but is a sweet-natured dog."
Four questions
Why do so many people—well-meaning people as often as callous ones—allow their dogs, purebred or not, to breed?
Why isn’t low-cost or free spay/neuter made easily and routinely available in every jurisdiction—prevention that’s worth a pound of cure, not to mention heartbreak?
Who bred, created, and sold the many purebreds among those dozens of dogs who Deputy District Attorney Richard Huffman says Via kept in airline crates “stacked like cordwood” in her modest home—dogs who were bred on purpose by somebody, sold on purpose by somebody, bought on purpose by somebody, then thrown away to end up virtually ruining Alice Via’s life, and who now exist in four-month confinement on your dime and mine at the county shelters?
And where are those breeders now?
‘Whole thing fabricated,’ supporter says of neglect charges against dog rescuer
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
Terry Steel joined a group of about 20 supporters at a San Diego county courthouse last week to lend her support to Alice Via, who for 17 years has been rescuing dogs, and now faces criminal charges connected to alleged animal neglect.
“The whole thing has just been so fabricated,” said Steel. “It wasn’t right. I’ve been in her home. It was clean, the dogs were taken care of. If I had not felt that they were truly taken care of and that she didn’t truly love these dogs, none of us would be here.”
Steel said that during her nine years of friendship with Via she often volunteered at Boxer Rescue San Diego in Lakeside, California, helping Via with the dogs.
“I’m hoping somebody will go and investigate why all this is going on and why animal control is so against legitimate rescues such as Alice and many others trying to help these excess dogs,” she said. “I have three dogs that I have adopted from her myself, and I just am very upset at the way that animal control has done this.”
Via and Toby, who sometimes boards with her. (Photo-K.Makris)
Rescue volunteer says he has 'no faith' in county adoption process
John Cunningham said he and his wife have also volunteered with Alice at Boxer Rescue over the years. “My wife Sandy and I have two boxers that we adopted from her, and they’re just absolutely gorgeous animals. We’re best buds.”
Frustrated that county officials have impounded Via’s dogs for nearly four months, Cunningham said, “There are people that are friends of Boxer Rescue that would be happy to foster these dogs, but no one wants to tell us how when where we’ll get them. I’ve called down there [Animal Control], my wife has called down there. And now they’re telling us,‘Oh yes sure, give me your information [for applications].’ But I don’t know. I don’t have any faith in it.”
Friends worry about the welfare of Via’s dogs held in county shelters
Steel expressed anger over the death in June of one of Via’s personal dogs, a boxer named Maggie Mae, while the dog was impounded at the county shelter. She said she worries about the care the rest of the dogs may or may not be receiving.
“There’s [a] dog that has atrophy in the hind legs,” she said. “There’s another dog that has an esophagus [problem]. We don’t know if they’re OK or alive. There’s a couple of deaf dogs. One is a young boxer named Tinkerbell that I’m hoping maybe I can get.”
[Please watch this page for upcoming article about Maggie Mae’s death.]
County official says dogs are “doing surprisingly well”
Fourteen volunteers gathered last week for a meeting at Mission Animal and Bird Hospital, organized by Lisa Hamilton of Boxers N Birds Animal Rescue, to discuss the logistics of fostering and caring for Via’s confiscated dogs should the county and/or Via ask for their help.
John Carlson, County of San Diego Department of Animal Services Deputy Director attended the meeting and told the group that the county prefers to place the dogs directly into adoptive homes, but might call on them to assist with the animals that are more difficult to re-home due to medical conditions or other issues.
He said that the animals are “doing surprisingly well.”
“They’re doing fine right now,” he assured the prospective volunteers. “They get a lot of playtime. We take them out in play groups. They get to play in the water.”
Carlson emphasized that the dogs receive a great deal of attention from his staff at the Central Shelter [on Gaines Street], including “a lot of socializing and playtime.”
County often gave Via dogs that were difficult to place, spokesman admits
In a phone interview with Animal Beat (APE), county spokesman Lt. Dan DeSousa said that the shelters had given Via dogs that had medical problems or other issues and thus were difficult to re-home. He explained that the county “worked on the assumption” that Via was quickly placing the dogs in foster or adoptive homes.
“Would we have given her dogs if we knew she had 63 dogs in her home? No,” DeSousa said.
Via kept the dogs with no access to food or water, says county spokesman
During the March 10 raid of Via’s Lakeside, California home rescue facility, DeSousa said dogs were found “with no access to food and water, and with medical conditions.”
There were two Chihuahuas “with no hair,” he said. “Via admitted she had not taken them to a vet. It’s impossible for one person to give proper care to so many dogs. She told us that she had them in the [airline] crates for 22 hours a day.”
The decision to file charges took time, says prosecutor
Asked why the county went forward with prosecuting Via, Deputy District Attorney Richard Huffman said, “Well, it was a decision we took some considerable time evaluating, frankly. But the keeping of 62 of these dogs in these conditions for an extended enough period of time for them to suffer some of the conditions that they had—we were in a position where we had to do something, I believe.”
“After considerable reflection we filed a six-count misdemeanor complaint dealing primarily with the neglectful care of the dogs as well as having more than six adult dogs in that 750 square foot of space [in Via’s home] in clear violation of the code,” said Huffman. “You can’t have more than six—she had 62.”
Or 63, counting Maggie Mae.
COMING UP TOMORROW:
County was giving dogs to rescuer accused of neglect up to a week before they arrested her, says attorney
and
Who—and where--are the breeders of dozens of dogs seized from allegedly neglectful rescuer?(opinion)
Animal Beat will provide continuing coverage of Alice Via's developing story.
County's treatment of allegedly neglectful rescuer and confiscated dogs is 'wrong,' say supporters
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
When Abby Laoingco recently decided to vacation for a few days, she entrusted her boxer Toby to Alice Via.
The fact that San Diego county is prosecuting Via, a longtime rescuer, for allegedly neglecting the dozens of dogs she kept in her home does not affect Laoingco’s opinion of the Lakeside, California woman’s caregiving abilities.
Alice Via (right) with supporter Abby Laoingco and boxer Toby (Photo - K.Makris)
“Toby boarded with her from Tuesday to Friday night,” said Laoingco. “We went to Catalina and she took care of him. She got him neutered for me. He loved her.”
Laoingco and Toby joined a group of about 20 of Via’s friends and fellow rescuers outside the county courthouse in El Cajon last week, after a hearing that determined the fate of the 62 dogs held in county custody since they were taken from Via’s home facility, Boxer Rescue San Diego, in March.
The county originally confiscated 63 dogs from Via, but Maggie Mae, one of Via’s four original personal dogs, died while in county custody in June.
[Please watch this page for upcoming article about Maggie Mae’s death.]
Via kept dogs 'stacked up like cordwood,' says prosecutor
Via stands charged with six misdeameanor counts in connection to the neglect with which Deputy District Attorney Richard Huffman says she treated the dozens of dogs that animal control officers took from her home March 10. Her arraignment is set for July 8.
“These animals were all stacked up like cordwood in [Via’s] living room," said Huffman. "They were up to four deep—or four high—dogs in airline crates, stacked up. And there were 62 dogs kept in this environment."
County spokesman Lt. Dan DeSousa said the animals did not have access to food, water, or adequate medical attention.
Asked by Animal Beat if Via took good care of Toby while he boarded with her, Laoingco said, “Oh yes, absolutely. She’s great. She’s amazing. So we’re here to support her.”
Via nursed and found homes for many dogs over the years, say supporters
Teri Tremper, her mother Glendora Tremper, and young nephew Geoffrey attended the hearing, and told AB about a boxer named Sniffer, now four years old, that Geoffrey adopted from Via three and a half years ago--a dog they say is just one of many needy animals Via has rescued and re-homed.
“We have pictures of him when Alice [first] got the dog,” said Terri Tremper. “He was skin and bones. His skin was in deplorable condition and by the time we got him about a month later, she had taken care of him and spent all the money she needed to [in order] to get his skin well.”
County’s treatment of Via and her dogs “unconscionable,” says adopter
Sniffer was an example of the kind of dog that the county animal shelter “won’t adopt out,” said Teri Tremper. “They’ll just euthanize them. He’s a wonderful dog, and when we [thought about] what Alice did for this dog, we saw that we had to say something. Then when I saw what they [county authorities] did to her dog— basically they killed her dog—I thought that it was unconscionable that they be doing this to her.”
Referring to other reporters covering Friday’s hearing, Tremper said, “I just heard from one of the media people that they waited until the media got there before they arrested her, so they set it up on purpose to make a media circus out of it. I just didn’t think it was appropriate use of public funds, basically, to be treating someone who’s doing a good job like that.”
“If you ever watch Animal Cops, they always give a bunch of hints [to animal neglecters],” said Tremper. “Even with animals that are really, really in bad shape, they give a lot of opportunities. They didn’t give Alice any opportunities. They didn’t do anything like that. So that’s why we’re here—to support her.”
Glendora Tremper said, “For them to go in and take her own dogs, well, it’s just wrong. It traumatized them.”
“And one died,” added Teri Tremper.
Tremper rested her hand on her nephew Geoffrey’s shoulder. “He wouldn’t have his wonderful dog if it weren’t for Alice. I’m sure a lot of people here have the same stories.”
Please check this page later today for upcoming article including more responses from county officials and remarks from Via's supporters.
Animal Beat will provide continuing coverage of Alice Via's developing story.
County to accept adoption applications for dozens of dogs seized from allegedly neglectful rescuer
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
Dozens of boxers, chihuahuas, and boxer-pit bull mixes kept in San Diego county shelters for nearly three months after they were confiscated from an allegedly neglectful rescuer will soon be available for adoption, a county official said Friday.
Boxer behind bars at county shelter (Photo - SDDAS)
County of San Diego Department of Animal Services Deputy Director John Carlson made the statement minutes after a judge decided that Alice Via’s 62 dogs, held since March 10, could be released.
An additional dog taken during the raid, a boxer named Maggie Mae, one of Via’s four personal dogs, died in June while in custody.
Via, who has run Boxer Rescue San Diego in Lakeside, California for 17 years, has been charged with six misdemeanor counts resulting from the neglect with which Deputy District Attorney Richard Huffman said she treated the dogs in her home rescue facility.
The charges came as a surprise since county shelter officials had asked her to take many dogs from them over the years, including some of those confiscated in March, because medical conditions and other issues had made them difficult cases for adoption, according to Via’s attorney Chris Morris.
On Friday, hours after the judge’s ruling, Via was allowed to take home her surviving three dogs: McDuff, a boxer; Dundee, a 1 ½-year-old white, deaf male boxer; and Oliver, an 8-year-old Chihuahua, with the stipulation that animal control officers will monitor the dogs' welfare.
Following a Court hearing [Friday], the County Department of Animal Services announces it is accepting adoption applications for many of the 63 dogs taken from a property on Moreno Avenue in Lakeside on March 10. The dogs were seized after Animal Control Officers responded to a complaint of neglect.
The Department agreed to release the owner’s three personal dogs back to her. Until several unspecified dogs can be identified as possibly belonging to other persons, the actual adoptions cannot take place. But applications can be accepted. Once identity is confirmed, the approximately 50 remaining dogs, mostly boxers, will be available for adoption by the public.
The Department will also be working with its approved rescue partners in placing the dogs. Starting on Wednesday July 7, the Department will have a special adoption application available on its website, www.sddac.com, for anyone interested in adopting one of the dogs.
All dogs will be neutered or spayed, microchipped and vaccinated prior to going home with their new family.
For more information on adoptions at any of the three County animal shelters, or to view photos of available animals, please visit the department'sAdoptions page.
For exclusive interviews and more details on Alice Via's developing story please stop by Animal Beat again.
Supporters rally around longtime rescuer who is accused of keeping dogs 'stacked up like cordwood'
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
About 20 supporters of a California woman accused of neglecting the dogs she was supposed to be rescuing filled seats in a San Diego county courtroom Friday while a judge decided the fate of 62 dogs seized from her Lakeside home in March.
Sighs of relief could be heard among friends and colleagues of Alice Via, who ran Boxer Rescue San Diego, when Superior Court Judge Allan J. Preckel ruled that her three personal dogs could go home with her, and that the county could begin placing the rest of the dogs in adoptive homes or with other rescue organizations.
Alice Via (center) with supporters after judge's ruling. (Photo - K. Makris)
Dog died while in county custody
One of Via’s original four personal dogs, a boxer named Maggie Mae, taken by animal control officers along with dozens of others in a March raid of her home rescue facility, died in June while in custody at the shelter.
Via has been charged with six misdemeanor counts in connection with the alleged neglect, according to Deputy District Attorney Richard Huffman.
Via's supporters 'very upset' with county officials
In interviews with Animal Beat after the hearing, friends and fellow rescuers surrounding Via at the courthouse expressed frustration, bewilderment, and anger about why she is being prosecuted, about the county’s impoundment and treatment of her dogs since they were confiscated from her on March 10, and about why the animals have not been released sooner.
“I have known Alice for nine years,” said Terry Steel. “I’ve worked with her on boxer rescue. I’ve helped her rescue some of the dogs. I have three dogs that I have adopted from her myself, and I just am very upset at the way that animal control has done this.”
“I’ve been in her home,” Steel continued. “It was clean. The dogs were taken care of. If I and these others had not felt that they were truly taken care of and that she didn’t truly love these dogs, none of us would be here.”
John Cunningham said, “We have dogs that we’ve adopted from Alice, and we are also rescue workers out there with her. And we know for a fact that there are dogs [among the 62 impounded in the county shelter] that will never be adopted. They’re either blind or no one’s going to adopt them [for other medical reasons].”
“What’s going to happen to them?” Cunningham asked, shaking his head. “The shelter’s normal response is that they euthanize them. And we’re just saying that there are people that are friends of Boxer Rescue that would be happy to foster these dogs, but no one wants to tell us how, when, or where we can get them.”
[For additional comments from these and more supporters, please visit this page again for upcoming article “Supporters of allegedly neglectful rescuer are frustrated about her prosecution and the county’s treatment of her dogs.”]
Dogs 'stacked up like cordwood,'says prosecutor
In response to the frustration about the county’s process in releasing the dogs for adoption and fostering, Deputy District Attorney Huffman told Animal Beat, “These animals were all stacked up like cordwood in [Via’s] living room. They were up to four deep—or four high—dogs in airline crates, stacked up. And there were 62 dogs kept in this environment. So make a long story short, what we don’t want to have happen is anything even remotely resembling a repeat of that.”
No 'coffee table dogs,' says animal control official
County of San Diego Department of Animal Services Deputy Director John Carlson explained, “We don’t want to adopt these out to become coffee table dogs. By that term I mean, so that people can say, ‘here’s my dog that I rescued.’ Just a display animal. These animals need a home environment where people want to commit to that animal for the rest of its life. That’s what we want. We don’t want someone to take an animal just so that they can show it off then end up neglecting the animal, either intentionally or unintentionally. So we want to focus on a permanent home, you know. That’s our key.”
Supporters will attend arraignment
Supporters plan to attend Via’s upcoming July 8 arraignment, some with dogs they adopted from her—dogs they say are among the many whose lives she has saved over the years.
For exclusive interviews and more details on Alice Via's developing story please stop by this page again.
Allegedly neglectful dog rescuer reunited with 3 of 62 dogs seized by animal control
by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
A longtime rescuer accused of neglecting the dozens of boxers and other dogs found in her Lakeside, California home has been reunited with three of the 62 animals that have been held in San Diego county shelters since their seizure by authorities nearly three months ago, said her attorney Chris Morris.
The other 59 dogs will remain in the shelters while the county considers placing them in adoptive homes and with other rescue organizations, said John Carlson, County of San Diego Department of Animal Services Deputy Director.
Speaking with Animal Beat earlier in the day, Via said she was eager to be reunited with her dogs McDuff, a boxer; Dundee, a 1 ½-year-old white, deaf male boxer; and Oliver, an 8-year-old Chihuahua.
Another one of Via’s personal dogs, Maggie Mae, died in June while in custody at the shelter.
Toby is sometimes a guest boarder with Via. (Photo - K.Makris)
All four dogs were originally rescues.
“Today we’re thrilled,” Morris told Animal Beat. “These dogs got out today. And that was what this hearing was all about. These dogs are out, and that’s all we wanted. The judge released Alice’s personal dogs back to her. We’re very, very happy about that. One of her dogs died in the custody of animal control. Hopefully the other three dogs are in decent shape.”
Friends including Abby Laoingco, who sometimes boards her dog Toby (photo above) with Via, turned out to support her at the hearing.
Via faces six misdemeanor charges related to the neglect allegations, said Morris. Her arraignment date is set for July 8.
For exclusive interviews and more details on Alice Via's developing story please stop by this page again.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makris is the author of 17 novels for
publishers including Avon, E.P. Dutton, and Simon & Schuster, and
hundreds of articles for publications such as National Geographic
Traveler, San Francisco Chronicle, and Veggie Life. She wrote a
teleplay for CBS and short fiction for The Bark magazine. With coauthor
Shelley Frost, she wrote Your Adopted Dog
(The Lyons Press). Holding a B.A. in Environmental Science Studies and
a lifelong interest in animal issues, she spends a lot of her time
battling a severe addiction to dogs.
