Breeder Costs Taxpayers Over $100,000 in Boarding Fees

Judge Orders County to Sell Dogs
UPDATE 2/2/08: A judge has ordered Pierce County to sell dozens of dogs seized last year from a dog breeder, calling it a reasonable way for the county to offset the more than $100,000 in boarding fees it has paid to the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County.

At $10 a day for 51 dogs, the fees for caring for the confiscated animals have added up quickly. The county only has a $1.1 million annual animal services budget, county officials said. "You could almost buy a condo for these escalating costs," Superior Court Judge Beverly Grant told the attorneys on the case before issuing her ruling Friday. "The dogs are going to be sold. All of them."

1/24/08: Plea Bargain Reached in Case of Dog Breeder
Tacoma, WA - A plea bargain has been reached in a case that has cost Pierce County taxpayers close to $100,000 in dog boarding fees. The breeder, Bernadetter Vohs, also known as Jackie Greatsinger, was scheduled to go to trial Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court. Instead, lawyers filed notice for plea hearing.

Vohs is charged with nine counts of second-degree theft and one each of first-degree theft, engaging in business without a valid license, second-degree animal cruelty and operating a kennel without a license. Authorities seized 38 of her dogs last summer, many have given birth and the county is paying $10 a day for the care of each dog. At 51 dogs, that's $510 a day.

Taxpayers deserve better laws.