Longtime dog rescuer convicted of animal neglect by Katerina Lorenzatos Makris
After fewer than three hours of deliberation, a San Diego county jury today found longtime dog rescuer Alice Via guilty of five misdemeanor counts pertaining to failure to obtain a kennel license and failure to care for animals.
County animal control officers arrested Via last March and removed from her El Cajon home 62 dogs, some of whom they said showed signs of criminal neglect.
Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy, who prosecuted 62-year-old Via, told Animal Beat (AB) that the maximum sentence for each count would be 180 days of incarceration, but added this is “probably not a jail case,” indicating a likelihood of probation. Sentencing is scheduled for March 11.
Alice Via (in purple) and supporters who adopted dogs from her Photo: K.Makris/AnimalBeat.org
Possible restitution payment of $100,000
Via might also be required to pay more than $100,000 in restitution for the care of the confiscated dogs, most of whom remained in county shelters for several months, said Reedy.
That amount includes expenses associated with medical care for Maggie Mae, one of Via's four personal dogs taken from her during the raid, Reedy added.
County officials told AB that while impounded in a county shelter, Maggie Mae developed "bloat." (Bloat, also known in some cases as torsion or gastric dilatation-volvulus, is a deadly gastrointestinal disorder that many veterinarians warn may be triggered by stress or excitement.) In the process of treating that ailment, county veterinarians discovered the dog had cancer, which caused her death some weeks later.
California Superior Court Judge William J. McGrath did not allow jurors to hear Information about Maggie Mae's illness and death.
County shelter workers often asked Via to take problematic dogs
During her five-day trial Via and some Boxer Rescue San Diego volunteers testified that she ran the group for 17 years, taking in and re-homing about 1,500 unwanted boxers, Chihuahuas and other breeds and mixes.
County shelter workers testified that they often phoned Via to request that she take in dogs with health or behavioral problems. Via said she accepted 259 such animals from the county over the years.
Shelter workers admitted they never asked Via how many animals were in her home, but added that if they had known she kept beyond the legal limit of six they would not have given her more.
The shelter workers said that in the weeks just prior to the raid on Via’s home, Via agreed to their request that she take Dana, a boxer with tumors and demodectic mange, a skin parasite.
Charges of failure to care related to mange, feces, and suture staples
According to prosecutor Reedy’s closing argument, the neglect charges stemmed from particular dogs who were “kind of representative of what was going on in the house.”
One of the failure to care charges focused on a Chihuahua named Aldo afflicted by demodectic mange, for which Reedy alleged Via did not seek veterinary care.
During the trial Via testified that she frequently fostered animals suffering from mange, tumors, and other ailments, and thus she treated Aldo’s skin with the same veterinarian-approved methods she had used frequently and successfully over the years. Her veterinarian told jurors that demodectic mange is a condition that in many cases may be treated without direct veterinary supervision.
A second charge of failure to care focused on a mixed-breed puppy named Dewey, who on the day of the raid was found with dried feces in his fur and claws, according to animal control officers and the county shelter veterinarian.
Via and several witnesses testified that she kept the dogs’ kennels and environment clean. If animal control officers found feces and urine in the kennels or on the dogs, Via said, it was because during the four-hour raid the animals were not allowed outdoors to relieve themselves. She also said that when the raid occurred she had not yet begun the morning routine of letting the dogs into the backyard and cleaning their kennels.
Jurors rejected another charge of failure to care, which focused on Dana, the boxer with tumors who animal control had asked Via to accept during the weeks before the raid, Reedy said. A shelter worker testified she told Via that Dana’s previous owners had left their dog at the shelter instructing she be euthanized because she had tumors they were unwilling or unable to treat.
After taking Dana into the rescue, Via paid for the dog’s tumor removal surgery out of her own pocket, according to defense testimony and documents. However Reedy argued that 45 days after the surgery Via had not yet taken the dog to the vet for removal of the stainless steel staples used in the incision. A veterinarian for the defense testified that going beyond the two-week period normally recommended for removal of such staples is not harmful.
Reactions to the verdict
“I’m happy about the verdict,” said prosecutor Reedy. “I’m happy that the community, which is evidenced by this jury, feels that the defendant treated these animals improper and inadequate.”
Via’s attorney Chris Morris was not immediately available for comment.
Terry Steel, a volunteer at Boxer Rescue San Diego who has adopted three dogs from Via in the past, said in a telephone interview, “I don’t believe that the jury honestly took the time to go over every issue. I think their minds were probably made up. I don’t think in two hours’ time they could’ve done it justice.”
On nearly every day of the trial, Steel and a group of between eight and twelve people who have adopted animals from Via over the years gathered in the courtroom to hear testimony or sat outside with their dogs to demonstrate their support.
“Alice Via’s home was clean,” Steel emphasized. “Yes, she had a lot of dogs, there’s no question about that, but she took care of these dogs. She was taking in dogs to be adopted out. She was only taking in dogs to find them homes. They were loved, they were cared for.”
For more information about the Alice Via case and its implications for private rescue organizations, shelter law, and public animal policy, please stop by this page again in the coming days. Read previous articles about the Via case.
Katerina Lorenzatos Makrisis 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.
