More than 160 dogs will be returned to an Austin dog breeder today after more than two years of sitting in the Pulaski County Humane Society as evidence during her animal cruelty trial and further proceedings.
Pulaski County Humane Society board of directors President Andrea Underwood said the organization has been holding 169 dogs but will return only 164 of them because of 59-year-old Sandra Nance's conviction of misdemeanor animal cruelty on five counts concerning individual dogs.
The five dogs for which Nance was convicted of animal cruelty will stay with the Humane Society, where they may now be adopted.
Nance and her attorney believe the number of dogs that should be returned is closer to 180, however.
The dispute began when the Lonoke County sheriff's office and the Pulaski County Humane Society seized about 138 dogs from Nance in June 2012, according to court records.
Nance was prosecuted in Lonoke County in October 2012 on animal cruelty charges related to her dog-breeding operation, which sold mostly purebred dogs -- including English bulldogs, French bulldogs, shih tzus, poodles and Chihuahuas -- out of a store in Searcy called Smoochie Poochies.
While the case worked its way through the courts, the Pulaski County Humane Society held the dogs, which were not adoptable because they were evidence in the case. The Humane Society, which normally holds about 250 to 300 animals, placed the dogs -- some of which later bred -- throughout the overwhelmed facility on Colonel Glenn Road in Little Rock, including a conference room.
Nance was convicted of five misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in March 2013 and was found innocent of numerous other animal cruelty charges. She was sentenced to a $500 fine and 100 hours of community service.
She appealed her case all the way to the Arkansas Supreme Court, arguing that the search and seizure of the dogs without a warrant was illegal and also argued in part that the state's animal cruelty law, Arkansas Code Annotated 5-62-106, was unconstitutional because it does not provide for due process to contest the seizure of animals. The state argued that the law was constitutional, noting that it includes a 15-day period in which the owner of a seized animal can petition for a hearing of its return.
In May, the state Supreme Court affirmed in part and dismissed in part her case. Her convictions were upheld after a rehearing in Lonoke County Circuit Court.
Lonoke County Circuit Judge Sandy Huckabee ruled July 28 that the dogs Nance wasn't convicted of abusing be returned within 10 days, provided that she had completed her sentence.
Nance's attorney, Jerry Sallings, said Nance had served her hours and had been attempting to submit her fine to the clerk's office.
He said the Humane Society and Nance had agreed to begin exchanging the dogs today, and Nance said the dogs would go to a veterinarian before returning to her home.
Meanwhile, Underwood and Nance still disagree on which environment is best for the dogs.
"It's just not going to be good for them to go back in that situation," Underwood said. "But we didn't have a choice."
Underwood said the Humane Society has better resources, including an in-house veterinarian, to care for the dogs.
She said the dogs were living in much worse conditions than Nance's conviction indicates and that the dogs were not properly protected from extreme heat or given proper water, noting the sweltering weather that prompted the seizure two summers ago.
But Sallings noted that Nance was not convicted of charges about insufficient water or food.
"I get it. The public sentiment when you hear the word 'puppy mill' is against her, but it is a legal business," he said.
The dogs were kept in pens outside, which they will continue to use, but Nance said the dogs will have more access to air-conditioning when they return to her.
Nance said she had fans running while the dogs were outside before the seizure, although some of them did not work. She said the dogs also had an air-conditioned facility that was being remodeled and pools that they could use.
She said the case was rooted in tension between people who believe animals should be treated like humans and people who don't think that's necessary, the latter of which she said she identified with.
Sallings said he believes the dogs were kept in worse conditions at the Humane Society, adding that 21 of the dogs died there.
Underwood said six adult dogs and six puppies died, and 11 more puppies were stillborn.
Underwood said the dogs were in poor condition upon arrival at the Humane Society. She said she did not know the circumstances of the individual dogs' deaths but added that she believed the deaths were not because of a lack of care on the organization's part.
Nance disagreed.
"They didn't die because they were sick when they [the Humane Society] got them," she said. "They weren't."
Underwood said the Humane Society cared for the animals with their veterinarian and provided them with medications. She said that the cost of caring for the animals has been about $500,000 altogether and that there is no plan for the organization to be reimbursed.
Still pending, Sallings said, is a lawsuit by Nance against the Humane Society, alleging that the dogs were unlawfully taken without legal warrant and requesting compensation for the loss of property.
Metro on 08/12/2014