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Casey woman in court on dog cruelty charge

August 25, 2010|By BEN KLEPPINGER | bkleppinger@amnews.com

LIBERTY — The Casey County woman accused of neglecting a large number of dogs pleaded not guilty to one count of second-degree animal cruelty at an arraignment Tuesday morning.

Cheryl Turner, 50, was charged in early August after police found more than 100 dogs living in poor conditions and with health problems at her home on Chelf Ridge Road. Police also discovered about a dozen dead dogs stored in a home freezer.

The dogs were removed by United Rescues of Kentucky on Aug. 8 and taken to the Garrard County Humane Society for emergency care. Most of the dogs have since been placed with other humane societies and rescue groups.

Mark Hurte, the humane society’s executive director, attended Turner’s arraignment. He said Turner requested a public defender, but a judge denied the request.

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Turner has a pretrial hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 7.

More charges against Turner are still a possibility, but an office worker at the Casey County Sheriff’s Office said no more charges are expected.

Casey County Attorney Tom Weddle confirmed there are no plans for additional charges against Turner at this time.

Weddle said Turner approached him before the arraignment to learn what his recommended sentence would be if she pleaded guilty.

Weddle made her aware of what his recommendation would be, but she opted to plead not guilty instead.

Second-degree cruelty to animals is a Class A misdemeanor in Kentucky, which is punishable by up to one year in the county jail.

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