SOURCE: thereddingpilot.com by Adam Tarchoun
Lind-Larsen will go to trial for animal cruelty charges
After three pretrials and months of delay, Redding resident Lisa Lind-Larsen, 75, will be going to trial to face two charges of animal cruelty after a judge declined her appeal for rehabilitation.
In July, Ms. Lind-Larsen’s mustang horses, Chinook and Cheyenne, were seized after the Department of Agriculture’s animal control division became aware of the animals’ malnourished state. The horses were shown to have been locked in unsanitary stalls for long periods with insufficient food and contaminated water.
Ms. Lind-Larsen’s appearance in court was preceded by last month’s pretrial closing on an appeal for accelerated rehabilitation, a program offered by some state criminal systems to give offending parties a “second chance” and avoid criminal charges. Ms. Lind-Larsen did not plead guilty nor was she convicted of any charges. The accelerated rehabilitation would function as a way to bypass a trial. Some programs can last up to two years. A key qualification is that the individual have no prior criminal history.
Ms. Lind-Larsen failed to meet that qualification. She faced a judge and assistant district attorney without any representation as she tried in vain to appeal for accelerated rehabilitation. Ms. Lind-Larsen has not had an attorney by her side in defense since she parted ways with Stephen Harding on Sept. 17. The two parted because she “didn’t feel comfortable with his representation.”
Deborah Mabbett, an assistant district attorney with the Judicial District of Danbury, brought to light Ms. Lind-Larsen’s ineligibility for accelerated rehabilitation by citing an outstanding criminal charge. “Regarding the appeal for accelerated rehabilitation, we find that the defendant is not eligible due to a charge from 1992,” Ms. Mabbett said.
The charge has since been cleared through a probationary program but because the charge still reflected a criminal record, Judge Susan Reynolds dismissed Ms. Lind-Larsen’s appeal.
The case will now go to trial as there is no longer an option for rehabilitation. The trial means that the courts will find a resolution to the charges against Ms. Lind-Larsen. Following the dismissal, Ms. Mabbett requested on behalf of Ms. Lind-Larsen “the longest continuance that your honor can give,” in order for the defendant to find an attorney and to wait for the outcome of a separate court case involving her horses. The continuance is a postponement of action until a later date. The period of waiting will give Ms. Lind-Larsen the time to prepare for trial.
“I am waiting for a decision to come down from another court regarding my horses,” Ms. Lind-Larsen said in seeking a continuance. The decision concerning the horses is pending a ruling by the Hartford civil suit.
The case will resume on Dec. 2. Until then, the status of Ms. Lind-Larsen’s horses, her defense, and criminal charges against her all remain unresolved.
The mustangs, Chinook and Cheyenne, were once wild horses before being rounded up in Nevada in 2002 and Utah in 2003. They are currently in the care of the state Department of Agriculture at a facility in Niantic.
Categories: Horse Health, Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I commented on the site – possibly this gal was either physically or financially unable to care for these horses! BUT – before anyone accuses me of defending her—there are people or organizations “out there” that will help or take the horses off her hands. How anyone could possibly see these animals daily & watch them lose the weight & DO NOTHING is beyond me. Being older or poorer is NO excuse!!!
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Absolutely, Maggie. It is essential that anyone who owns animals be responsible for reaching out for help if they can’t care for them for any reason. It is also the responsibility of people to be a voice for the voiceless if the observe situations of neglect.
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So typical. The abusers have all the rights, the poor abused animals almost no rights at all. The poor horses wouldn’t be in this shape and suffering at the hands of this witch if the BLM and the government would leave them alone in the wild where they belong!!!
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The bottom line is that they should NEVER have been removed from their Legal Herd Management Areas in the first place.
Well-meaning people try to help, but often find out (too late) that they have taken on more than they can handle.
The REAL BLAME should be aimed at those who have pushed to have them removed from Public Lands and the agencies that have complied.
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these people are old enough to what is right and wrong, they were responsible for these animals, they should not have anymore animals after the treatment that was given to the 2. I agree, how can someone not call and get help, knowing what was going on. I don’t care what the age, this should not of happened.
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The only way to keep people from doing this kind of damage is to see to it that children are taught about the sentience of animals at a young age. We need as a society to bombard children with books, videos, and TV shows teaching them about animals wild and domestic. If they learn to love animals at a young age, they will not grow up to become abusers. (Where is Flipper, Bambi, and Lassie these days?)
And as to help from the outside, how much PR is done by helping organizations and how many organizations are there out there? I live in CA and I do not know of one helping organization. Linda Horn in NM did a comprehensive list of groups that help with all equine needs. We need more of this. Of course, there is always animal control/shelters, but people are scared they will be prosecuted if they make the call and many do not know what to do.
I do not condone this in any way, but we must make an effort early to prevent the ensuing brutality and/or neglect that manifests in older children and adults, IMHO.
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there is way too many court continueance? and to many out avenues , too many laws that work way too well for crimnals . this regime has been to cruel these 2 past yr.s with the way the anti-animal laws have pass . and those hateful ” whistle-blower laws and then by the states ,i just can’t believe the hate,@louie , i saw that paper you downloaded sat. and it was a report on range condictions . in it i found 3 contradictions to their dragging their feet now on shelter , eco-helpers ,and they do have predators all this by their admissions in that paper . fodder for our side when it’s needed . have a good night all and happy holiday’s
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