Health, Wellness and Fitness for People & Pets JUNE 2015 | Page 60

New York A1265 would create the crime of companion animal hoarding. The bill is in the
Assembly Agriculture Committee.

Animal Sexual Assault

Oregon HB 2693 would create a new misdemeanor crime of encouraging sexual assault of an
animal, defined as possessing or controlling a visual recording of a person engaged in sexual
conduct with an animal, and would increase the penalties for sexual assault of an animal. The bill is in
the Judiciary Committee.

THE LINK… IN THE NEWS
Woman Sentenced to Prison in Elder Abuse/Animal Cruelty Case

A Murrieta, Calif. woman who prosecutors said systematically starved 17
horses in animal abuse that the judge called “horrendous” was sentenced
on April 9 to four years in prison and ordered to pay the Riverside County
Department of Animal Services $200,000 in restitution. Janice Susan
Deutsch, 50, had earlier been convicted of felony elder abuse and
sentenced to seven years in prison after bringing her 86-year-old mother,
Deutsch watched as one of the 17
dehydrated, sunburned, covered in urine and feces, and with bleeding
horses was led away
bedsores and legs in a locked position, to a hospital (See LINK-Letter
November, 2012). The animal cruelty sentence is to be served after Deutsch completes her prison term
in the elder abuse case, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. The horses were placed under Animal
Services care for a year: all recovered fully and have been re-homed. Speaking at the sentencing,
prosecutor Rosie Semnar said, “It’s very clear that the defendant preys on the vulnerable.”

Domestic Violence Offender Charged with Animal Cruelty

An Oklahoma City man with a history of domestic violence who allegedly swung his
puppy around by the throat and threw it on the ground – and then reportedly told
eyewitnesses, “It’s my dog. I can do what I want.” – was arrested on April 25 on an
animal cruelty complaint. Witnesses who saw the incident at a local gas station called
police and took the dog into safekeeping. Scott Henry Reeves, 25, was convicted in
October, 2014 of multiple crimes including domestic abuse, resisting arrest and
assault and battery upon an emergency medical care provider, NewsOK reported.

Scott Henry Reeves

Three Children Rescued During Animal Cruelty Investigation

Authorities investigating an animal cruelty case in Cameron, W. Va. had to call child
protection officials to rescue three children who were “covered in muck” in a house
that was described as having “atrocious c