HOT SPRINGS — After a four-day trial in Garland County Circuit Court, a woman was found guilty Friday evening of six of 12 misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty for running a puppy mill that was shut down by authorities last year.
Prosecutors had originally charged Pamela Thomas, 60, who operated Happy Times Kennel, located beside her residence at 210 Barbershop Trail, with six felony counts of aggravated animal cruelty and the 12 misdemeanor counts.
But Judge John Homer Wright issued a directed verdict Thursday dropping the felony charges after the state rested its case.
The seven-woman, fiveman jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before finding Thomas guilty of six of the counts and innocent of the other six.
Authorities arrested Thomas and seized 175 dogs on Nov. 7, 2011, when Garland County sheriff’s deputies, with the assistance of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Garland County Humane Society, used a search warrant to check on the dogs on the property.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/05/2012