DC jury finds former Boyceville woman guilty in connection with emaciated dog
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A Dunn County jury has found a former Boyceville woman guilty on one felony count of mistreating an animal and one misdemeanor count of intentionally failing to provide food for an animal.
The jury delivered the verdict concerning Anne M. Iehl, age 30, following a two-day trial May 26 and 27 in Dunn County Circuit Court presided over by Judge Rod W. Smeltzer.
Iehl was charged in connection with an emaciated dog she brought to the Dunn County Humane Society on November 1, 2019, that she said she had found by the side of the road on state Highway 79 near Boyceville.
Iehl told shelter staff she did not know the dog’s owner.
Staff members at DCHS named the dog Gabriel.
Jamie Wagner, a staff member at DCHS, testified that when Gabriel was brought to the shelter, he weighed 23.5 pounds and that a little less than a month later on December 8, after receiving the proper food and nutrition, the dog weighed 55.6 pounds.
One videotape entered into evidence and shown to the jury was a tape of Wagner playing outside with Gabriel in an enclosed area at the shelter, tossing a ball for him.
When the video was taped, Gabriel had started to gain weight and was beginning to regain his strength. The dog also was wearing pajamas.
Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf asked Wagner why the dog was wearing pajamas.
Wagner testified that Gabriel was wearing pajamas for two reasons: it was November, and the fabric helped hold in his body heat.
The other reason, Wagner said, is that the Dunn County Humane Society is open to the public, and people coming to the shelter were shocked at Gabriel’s appearance and were upset by it.
Wagner also testified that the Dunn County Humane Society has what shelter staff call the “Little Pet Food Pantry” which is like the Little Free Libraries.
The Little Pet Food Pantry has pet food and supplies, was started in 2017, and is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week, Wagner said.
For 365 days out of the year, people can drop off pet food at the Little Pet Food Pantry, and people can pick up pet food with no questions asked, she said.
Water
Josh Dalton, executive director of DCHS in November of 2019, videotaped Gabriel trying to drink water right after he was brought in.
Dalton testified that while the dog was able to lap water, it appeared he could not swallow and that water was falling out of his mouth when he tried to lap.
Gabriel, he said, was in the worst shape of any dog he has ever seen.
Dalton also testified that when someone surrenders an animal to the humane society, each surrender is taken on a case by case basis, and if someone is experiencing financial hardship, the surrender fees can be waived.
Shelter staff keep records for two years of calls about surrendering an animal, and there was no record of Iehl calling about the dog and no record of a dog matching Gabriel’s description, Dalton said.
Shelter staff use a surrender form with questions and a script, he said.
Iehl’s attorney, Richard Yonko, asked if it was possible shelter staff did not always keep records of every call, and Dalton said it was possible.
X-rays
After their initial evaluation, DCHS staff took Gabriel to the Hoof and Paw Veterinary Clinic in Menomonie.
Yonko questioned the business relationship between DCHS and Hoof and Paw.
Several witnesses testified that each of the vet clinics in Menomonie take turns caring for animals at DCHS and that when Gabriel came in, it just happened to be Hoof and Paw’s turn to provide care.
Dalton videotaped the examination at the vet clinic, and Dr. Amy Prochnow of Hoof and Paw examined the dog.
When Dr. Prochnow first saw Gabriel’s emaciated condition, she exclaimed in a quiet voice, “Holy Hannah.”
Dr. Prochnow x-rayed the dog to rule out an advanced case of cancer as a reason for the dog’s condition. She also ran blood tests to check liver and kidney function and to find out if the dog was suffering from an infection.
The x-rays were shown so the jury could see them, and Dr. Prochnow pointed out Gabriel’s stomach could not been seen, and that normally, if a dog has food in the stomach, the dog’s stomach will be visible on the x-ray.
Dr. Prochnow also pointed out Gabriel’s intestines were filled with air and that there was no food or stool visible, that his heart was in a somewhat different position in the chest cavity because there was no fat to cushion it against the diaphragm, and that Gabriel’s bladder was not visible because there was little or no urine in it.
Yonko, who called Dr. Prochnow by her first name, Amy, rather than Dr. Prochnow, asked why Amy had not euthanized the dog right away if she thought he would not survive.
“You have to give him a chance,” Dr. Prochnow said, noting that the dog was surprisingly alert.
Another concern about Gabriel’s condition was “re-feeding syndrome,” she said.
When a dog — or any animal, including a human — is starving and eats too much to start out, it can kill the animal by causing a heart attack or causing other organs, such liver or kidneys, to shut down.
Dr. Prochnow said she had never treated re-feeding syndrome in her more than 20 years as a veterinarian, and that many dogs who come to the clinic have the opposite problem from Gabriel: rather than being too thin, they are too fat.
Nodolf pointed out that according to Dr. Prochnow’s testimony of seeing 60 to 75 dogs per week, during her career to date, she has treated 70,000 dogs.
Weekend
November 1, 2019, was a Friday, so Dr. Jason Westcott of Hoof and Paw took Gabriel home with him for the weekend to keep intravenous fluids running and to feed him small amounts of food every two hours.
Gabriel could have been sent for emergency veterinary care in the Twin Cities, but the dog needed constant care, he said.
When a dog is in the state Gabriel was in, there is a concern about the liver and kidneys shutting down, Dr. Westcott said.
Iehl had told DCHS staff she had found the dog as a stray, but Dr. Westcott testified that in his experience, stray dogs are able to find something to eat because there are plenty of road-killed deer and other dead animals in the woods.
There’s also garbage to eat and water to be found, he said, noting he has four labrador retrievers and knows from experience that dogs are good at finding garbage.
Yonko, who also called Dr. Westcott by his first name, asked if Jason’s main concern about the dog was food and water.
“Yes,” Dr. Westcott replied, because food and water — not enough or too much — for a dog in Gabriel’s condition could lead to death.
Have A Heart
Maria Gerlach, who worked at Have A Heart adult daycare in River Falls with Iehl, said she had gone to look at Gabriel with a co-worker, Kimberly Schuh, August 11, 2019, when Iehl was trying to find another home for the dog.
At the time, Iehl lived in Boyceville, had two children, was pregnant with her third child and was no longer in a relationship with her husband.
During the trial, Iehl noted she is pregnant with her fourth child.
Gabriel looked skinny then in August of 2019, Gerlach testified, and said she had taken pictures of the dog and had sent them to her husband.
Gerlach ended up giving a home to another dog Iehl owned named Willard.
After Gabriel had been turned in to DCHS, Gerlach testified she had seen pictures of the dog on Facebook and said to Iehl, “That’s your dog.”
Iehl replied she “did not want to talk about it,” said Gerlach, who subsequently called law enforcement.
Schuh, who also worked at Have A Heart, said when she saw Gabriel at Iehl’s home in August of 2019 he was sweet, loving, liked attention and was very malnourished and dirty.
When Schuh asked about Gabriel’s weight, Iehl said he had been sick.
Schuh testified she was a full-time student and working full time and that she did not take Gabriel because she thought she would not have enough time to care for him.
Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin testified when he interviewed Iehl about the dog, Iehl said she fed him three times a day but that he did not put on any weight.
Police Chief Lamkin said he had informed Iehl the dog had gained 17 pounds in the first week at the Dunn County Humane Society.
Iehl
Iehl took the witness stand in her own defense, testified for two hours, and cried most of the time during her testimony.
Yonko introduced two photo collages of Harley, as Iehl called the dog, and Iehl testified that the pictures covered the time from when the dog was a puppy until he was an adult and included images of the dog playing with her children and going to work with her.
When she was scheduled to work, Iehl said, she would get up at 3 a.m., get her children up, would take them to the babysitter’s in Amery, would drive to River Falls, work a full shift, then drive back to Amery to get her children and then home to Boyceville.
The car she drove, Iehl said, had 335,000 miles on it.
Iehl also testified that she did not want to ask anyone for money.
Hard times
During her closing argument, District Attorney Nodolf acknowledged that Iehl was going through a difficult time but that going through a difficult time was no excuse not to feed her dog.
Gabriel had no underlying medical condition, and when he got food, he put on weight, she said.
Hoof and Paw determined Gabriel had worms, but because of his condition, did not want to treat with dewormer right away. In spite of the worms, the dog gained 18 pounds in the first week, Nodolf said.
Iehl testified she had treated the dog with dewormer several times because he seemed to show symptoms of parasites but that the dewormer did not help him gain weight.
Nodolf said she also understood it was difficult for Iehl to ask for help but that Dunn County has resources to help people in her position, and the Dunn County Humane Society also is willing to work with people and has the Little Pet Food Pantry.
Nodolf also noted that on the security video at DCHS when Iehl brought Gabriel to the shelter, Iehl was not crying.
Iehl knew it was cruel not to feed the dog, Nodolf said.
“It was not one day I forgot to feed my dog,” she said, adding it was no food for the dog over a long period of time — that it was 82 days from the time Gerlach and Schuh had seen Gabriel in August, when his physical condition was already deteriorating, until he was brought to DCHS November 1.
Not feeding Gabriel put him at the risk of death and great bodily harm, Nodolf said, noting the veterinarians did not know if the dog would make it and that Dr. Prochnow said “the prognosis was guarded.”
Iehl was crying on the witness stand, but what pain did Gabriel feel, going without food day after day, locked in his kennel? The veterinarians testified there was nothing wrong with Gabriel — he just needed water and food, Nodolf said.
Name
When people give a dog a name, they are trying to humanize it, Yonko said in his closing argument.
But what’s the difference between a dog and the chickens dropped off a rooftop in Ridgeland for Pioneer Days? he asked.
What’s the difference between a dog and the thousands of deer slaughtered during deer hunting? Yonko asked.
It is offensive that the state [District Attorney Nodolf] says she knows anything about poverty, he said.
No matter how the dog looked then, he is fine now. What is the difference between one and nine [on the body score indicator] — skinny or fat. What does it matter? Yonko said.
Why was the dog not euthanized? Because there was hope to believe he was not that bad off, he said.
Amy and Jason said they could not assess the dog’s pain, but the district attorney said she knew the dog was in pain in his kennel, Yonko said.
Maria took pictures of the dog, but he was not “so horrible” she reported the dog’s condition. Kimberly did not think he was bad enough to report, he said.
The suggestion that Iehl should go online to find information about the humane society pre-supposes means and opportunity. It is offensive to hear the state comment on poverty, Yonko said.
Iehl was making $11.25 an hour, and the district attorney said “screw your kids and take care of the dog,” he said.
The defendant has no support, no family in the area, and her fiance has four children, too, Yonko said.
Do not empathize with a dog, he told the jury.
Difference
During her rebuttal in the closing arguments, Nodolf pointed out that the law says, “feed your animals,” and that the difference between deer hunting and a dog being starved is that it is against the law to not feed your dog.
Between August of 2019 and November 1, 2019, Iehl did not give the dog food and to say the dog is fine now is not relevant, Nodolf said.
A person does not need to go to veterinarian school to know that you should feed your dog, she said.
Letting an animal get to this point is cruel, Nodolf said, pointing out she has no obligation to prove motive and only has to prove a crime was committed.
Some people say, “it’s just a dog.” The law and society say there is a minimum standard of care for a dog, and Iehl failed to provide a minimum standard of care to a helpless dog, Nodolf said.
The defendant said she was helpless, “but only Gabriel was helpless,” she said.
Jury
The jury was excused to deliberate on the case at 12:30 p.m. May 27 and returned with a verdict at 2:38 p.m. that Iehl was guilty on both counts of felony mistreatment of an animal and misdemeanor failure to provide food for an animal.
Judge Smeltzer ordered a pre-sentence investigation and allowed two hours for a sentencing hearing scheduled on July 27 at 10 a.m.
District Attorney Nodolf had asked for three hours for the sentencing hearing, but Yonko objected to any people who are not directly involved being allowed to make a statement to the court.
Although District Attorney Nodolf moved to revoke Iehl’s bail, set with a $200 signature bond on December 10, 2019, Judge Smeltzer did not revoke the bond and Iehl remains free on bond.
