Accused dog abuser freed
Legal grounds forced a judge to acquit the
man accused last May of keeping 29 Russian wolfhounds
in his home
By CANDICE L. BOSELY Journal Staff Writer
MARTINSBURG - Although a circuit
court judge agreed the living conditions of 29 Russian
wolfhounds found cooped amid their own feces last
year were abominable, he acquitted the accused animal
abuser because the state failed to prove he lived
at the house.
Frank Snodgrass, 49, was charged with six misdemeanor
counts of animal cruelty after state troopers and
animal control officers found the dogs inside a Spring
Mills townhome filled with feces, overturned trash
and urine-soaked flooring.
Snodgrass was sentenced in magistrate court last
October to serve three years in jail, the maximum
sentence possible. His attorney, James Campbell, of
Leesburg, Va., immediately appealed the sentence to
circuit court.
Tuesday afternoon, assistant prosecutor Greg Jones
presented the state's case. He had two of Snodgrass's
neighbors lined up to testify, but had told the defense
that they might testify late last week. Judge David
Sanders would not let the neighbors testify, saying
that the defense was not given enough time to prepare
a possible rebuttal.
Jones said his case would have been stronger had
those neighbors been allowed to testify. Outside the
courtroom, they maintained that Snodgrass did live
at the house.
The dogs were seized in the early morning hours of
May 17, 2000, from 132 Morningside Drive in Falling
Waters. They were then turned over to rescuers who
specialize in the Russian wolfhound, or borzoi, breed.
Some of those rescuers were displeased with the outcome
of the case.
"I would very much like to see him punished
somehow," said Pennsylvania resident T.C. Carroll,
who temporarily fostered a mother dog and her three
puppies - which were estimated at 2 or 3 weeks old.
Carroll's wife, Leslie, drove to Martinsburg to pick
up the dogs.
"We love these dogs. And when I say we, we're
speaking for a lot of people," Carroll said.
Carolyn Backers, director of the National Borzoi
Rescue Foundation, oversaw the efforts to rehabilitate
and find homes for the dogs.
"There was no justice for these dogs,"
Backers said from her home in Alden, Mich.
All of the dogs have since been adopted, she said.
Two of the dogs, who escaped from animal control officers
as they took them out of the townhouse, were adopted
by a local couple.
During a gathering of borzoi owners in New York state
recently, some of the rescued dogs saw each other
for the first time since they were seized, Backers
said. After a few moments, they recognized each other,
Bowers said.
"They didn't really want to leave each other,"
Backers said. "It didn't really seem to trigger
any bad memories."
She said all of the dogs initially seemed scared
of men and terrified of belts, leading her to believe
they had been physically abused sometime during their
life.
They have improved greatly since, she said.
"I'm very pleased and I'm really proud,"
she said. "It's taken a lot of love and dedication."
The windows on the inside of the townhouse were sealed
with plastic and duct tape, Berkeley County Animal
Control officer Jason Ahalt said Tuesday. And the
woman inside, Snodgrass's wife, had a two-filter air
mask on when officers found her, he said.
The dogs seemed underweight and dehydrated, Ahalt
said. He said some of the canines could not stand.
Snodgrass, dressed in gray slacks and a blue blazer,
opted not to comment after the trial. His attorney
spoke on his behalf.
"I'm pleased that Frank can go on with his life,"
Campbell said, adding later, "He's pleased that
this is behind him and wants everyone to know that
he never intended anybody harm, including those dogs."
Prosecutor Jones applauded the efforts of state troopers
and animal control officers, but said he should have
anticipated Campbell's argument that Snodgrass did
not live in the home.
"This really rests on my shoulders," he
said. "I love dogs and I'm disappointed that
we couldn't get a conviction."
Judge Sanders said that he had to grant Campbell's
motion to acquit.
"We don't have a choice," Sanders said.
Sanders said 24 photographs of the townhome's interior
were "horrific," but said that personal
feelings cannot prevent him from ruling on points
of law.
In his motion to acquit, Campbell implied that Snodgrass
may have been visiting his estranged wife. The dogs
were discovered after she broke an upstairs window
and yelled for help. She had a loaded .22 gun, which
she turned over to officers.
"Any absentee owners might have no idea that
an animal is being mistreated," Campbell told
the judge. The hearing was a bench trial, meaning
no jury was called.
"You don't have a single, solitary witness saying
he lived there," Campbell said. Snodgrass arrived
at the house a few hours after police officers arrived,
after his shift at the Charles Town Races ended, Trooper
E.D. Burnette testified.
Burnette said that he found men's suits wrapped in
garbage bags in the townhome's basement bathroom,
the only clean room in the house. He could not prove
those clothes belonged to Frank Snodgrass, and Judge
Sanders said he could not make that assumption.
At his arraignment, held the day after the dogs were
found, Snodgrass posted bond on a $5,000 bail. He
served no jail time.
Snodgrass cannot be tried for the charges again,
because such a retrial would constitute double jeopardy. |
