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March 16, 2007 -- Marcy Trescott-Helmick, 60, was cited with nine counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and 34 counts of improper care of animals after Boulder County sheriff's deputies discovered that she'd been keeping horses in "deplorable" conditions. She was sentenced to two years of probation.
July 11, 2007 -- Boulder animal control officers mailed an animal-cruelty ticket to a couple whose bulldog died from heat stroke after being left in a hot car for about an hour in Boulder. Authorities didn't release the names of the couple, who lived outside the city.
March 1, 2008 -- Officials with the Humane Society of Boulder Valley ticketed Joy Douglas for violating a section of the city's code that prohibits dying or coloring "fowl, rabbits or any other animals" after learning that she dyed her poodle pink. Douglas reached an agreement with the city attorney to dismiss her case after six months if she didn't commit a similar violation in that time.
June 3, 2008 -- Authorities charged a Longmont pet store owner with 34 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty after police found several dogs stuffed into small kennels at the store.
April 14, 2009 -- Former University of Colorado student Abby Toll, 20, was arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty after police said she taped her 2-year-old shiba inu upside-down to a fridge. Her case is scheduled to go to trial in April.
Dec. 11, 2009 -- Police arrested Kenneth Gookin on suspicion of "subjecting animals to unnecessary suffering," a Boulder municipal violation, after he killed his puppy by taping her mouth shut, according to Boulder police. He was given a brief jail sentence.
Dec. 17, 2009 -- Thomas Leurck was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor cruelty to animals after police said he kicked his beagle so hard the dog became unresponsive and struggled to breathe.
Source: Camera archives
Local law-enforcement officers investigating reports of suspected animal abuse should consult with the Boulder County District Attorney's Office before determining charges, according to the DA's new protocol.
Suspected incidents involving serious animal injury or neglect, torture, mutilation, repeated patterns of abuse or death should be brought to the attention of Deputy District Attorney Lisa Pearson, who is handling animal-abuse cases for the office and will be available around-the-clock for questions from law enforcement, according to the protocol.
The guidelines come two months after a 26-year-old homeless man was charged with a municipal infraction for killing his 4-month-old beagle in a Boulder apartment by taping the puppy's mouth shut.
Kenneth Gookin appeared in Boulder Municipal Court to resolve his case before the District Attorney's Office could get involved.
Had prosecutors known about the case before it was settled, District Attorney Stan Garnett said they would have seriously considered filing felony animal-cruelty charges against Gookin, who taped his dog's mouth shut and locked her in a bathroom because she had chewed up his phone charger.
The double-jeopardy rule precluded the District Attorney's Office from bringing new charges.
But Garnett said he hopes the new animal-cruelty protocol and liaison will prevent similar situations in the future and make the county more consistent in its handling of animal-abuse cases.
"Proper enforcement of Colorado's animal cruelty laws requires education of the community about Colorado law, prompt reporting of incidents of possible abuse, thorough investigation by law enforcement and proper charging by the District Attorney's Office," according to the new protocol.
Education and cooperation are especially necessary in light of the state's relatively new statute establishing a felony charge for aggravated animal abuse, Garnett said.
In the eight years that the beefed-up felony statute has been on the state's books -- animal cruelty used to be a misdemeanor in Colorado -- Boulder County has charged only five people under it, and Broomfield County has charged just one.
Last spring, University of Colorado student Abby Toll, 20, was charged with felony animal abuse after she was arrested on suspicion of taping her boyfriend's dog upside-down to a refrigerator. Toll's case is scheduled to go to trial in April.
"We want to make these cases a priority because they matter to the community on a lot of different levels," Garnett said. "There seems to be a correlation between people who abuse animals and people who abuse other people."
Humane Society of Boulder Valley CEO Lisa Pedersen said the new protocol will promote consistency and "give some clarity as to what cases are applicable to the aggravated animal-abuse charge."
