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Wednesday, November 19, 2008 12:27 PM Elm City man sentenced in animal cruelty case By Gina Childress | Times Staff Writer An Elm City man was sentenced in Wilson County Superior Court Tuesday on animal cruelty charges. Lester Farmer, 54, of 6612 Bridgersville Road was charged July 28 by the Wilson County Sheriff's Office Animal Control Unit for neglecting eight Shih Tzus. The Wilson County District Attorney's Office entered into a plea deal with Farmer and reduced the original eight counts of felonious animal cruelty charges to seven counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty charges. Resident Superior Court Judge Milton F. Fitch Jr. consolidated all of the charges into separate sentences and placed Farmer on three separate probation sentences. Farmer received a 45-day sentence in the Wilson County Jail on each set of charges. That sentence was suspended, and he was placed on community punishment and ordered to perform 48 hours of community service. He also has to pay three sets of court costs and pay a $450 fine. All supervision fees and attorney fees were waived in the case. Lewis King, Farmer's court appointed attorney, waived his fees because he says Farmer hasn't been able to work since 1998 because of injuries sustained in a work accident that disabled him. "These were his personal dogs," King said. "It was not his desire for the dogs to be mistreated. He just didn't have the means to properly care for them." The dogs were almost completely hairless and their skin was blistered, bloody, scabbed and cracked when they were seized by animal control officers. "He had been able to cure this with the dogs once," King said. "But when it came back, he tried to cure them on his own because he didn't have the money to take them to the vet." King said that Farmer really loved the dogs, and he was very sorry that this had happened. "He has inquired about the welfare of the dogs and all of them have been adopted out," King said. "They are all cured and are living in Texas." gina@wilsontimes.com | 265-7821 |
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