Prosecutor asking for jail time in animal cruelty case if restitution pay late

Correction: This story was updated at 8:55 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2023, to correct the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation. The Herald-Mail apologizes for the mistake.

A Washington County prosecutor is recommending almost a yearlong sentence in jail for a former Hagerstown man, but would ask for all of that time to be suspended if he pays close to $4,000 in restitution in an animal cruelty case by his sentencing hearing in two months.

If Allan Hall, 59, doesn't pay the full $3,824.36 by the sentencing hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Lackovic said she would ask for a portion of the sentence to be imposed as active jail time. The state would still want Hall to make restitution to the Humane Society of Washington County while on probation with some suspended jail time.

Allan Hall, who now has a Bethesda, Md., address, pleaded guilty Tuesday to four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty in Washington County District Court in a case in which one of the dogs ended up dying after the humane society seized three dogs due to emergency conditions.

Hall owes the humane society $3,824.36 in restitution for medical and boarding costs, Lackovic told Judge Mark D. Thomas on Tuesday afternoon.

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Assistant Public Defender Matthew Bronson asked for 120 days before sentencing to give his client time to come up with close to $4,000.

Thomas gave Hall 60 days and told him to be creative in coming up with the money.

"If you have to sell a car, sell a car," Thomas said.

People don't always realize how many resources they have, the judge said.

Thomas then explained that sentencing in such cases isn't supposed to "drag out long" and legislative changes to the restitution process also were a factor.

What conditions were the German shepherds found in that led to their emergency seizure?

The case involves three German shepherds found with tarps thrown over their kennels on a hot July day this summer, according to Lackovic and charging documents.

A humane society field services officer received an emergency call on July 13 about three large dogs locked in a hot shed with no air flow at a residence the officer had previously responded to in February 2022, Lackovic told the judge.

The officer arrived to find the dogs in the same shed as the prior year, with two small windows open in the front and tarps surrounding all sides of the kennels leading out from the building, according to charging documents.

A "very thin" German shepherd, Tallka, was in one kennel with an empty water bucket so the officer provided her water from a hose, court documents state. The officer posted a 24-hour abandonment notice at 5 p.m. on the shed door. The officer explained the process to neighbors, who came out and asked if he was taking the dogs because Hall hadn't been there in a week.

The next day, the officer received a 911 call about dogs locked in a shed at the same Dunn Irvin Drive address in Hagerstown, court records state.

He returned to the property around 1 p.m. to find the dogs inside and the notice still posted.

The water bucket he filled the prior day was empty and on its side. The other two German shepherds had "just enough water to cover the bottom of the buckets," court documents state.

The "very thin" dog had hair hanging from the dog not shedding its coat and several teeth broken down to her gums.

Another German shepherd, Zeus, also was thin and the third German shepherd, Tala, appeared to have a good weight, court records state. All three dogs had curled nails and hanging hair from not shedding.

The temperature inside the shed was 97 degrees and there was no air flow even with the two small windows.

The abandonment notice was still posted and no corrections had been made, with the floors still plywood and soaked with urine, court records state. There also was dried feces on the floors and a pungent odor that "took your breath away."

The officer contacted the State's Attorney's office and officials decided to remove the dogs under emergency conditions with Hagerstown Police present, court records state.

Dr. Karen Nelson, a veterinarian with the humane society, noted the dog's conditions, including that Tallka had ribs visible through her haircoat and other prominent bones, according to charging documents. Tallka had a wound on her nose, missing teeth and several teeth ground down, indicative of chewing hard objects over a long time.

Tallka weighed 49.5 pounds, Tala weighed 71 pounds and Zeus was 76 pounds, according to court records.

On July 17, Tallka died suddenly in her kennel, found dead about 30 minutes after being bathed.

A necropsy determined Tallka's cause of death was pneumothorax and her manner of death was a ruptured pulmonary bullae.

Interviewed Tuesday, Nelson explained that an air sac in Tallka's lung enlarged, slowly rupturing the lung and affecting her ability to breath.

Nelson said the other two German shepherds, Zeus and Tala, were still at the humane society shelter. They had gained weight and were doing well. Both dogs are around 10 years old.

Nelson didn't have an age for Tallka, but said she was an older dog.

Plea deal in animal cruelty case with dogs left in hot shed

Hall pleaded guilty Tuesday to four of the 18 misdemeanor animal cruelty counts with which he'd been charged.

Three of those counts are for inflicting unnecessary suffering or pain on Tallka, Tala and Zeus, according to court records. The other count is for unnecessarily failing to provide Tallka with necessary veterinary care while she was in his care and custody.

The maximum penalty for each of those counts is 90 days and a $1,000 fine.

Under the plea deal, the other 14 counts are dismissed.

Lackovic also asked for two years supervised probation, transferable to Montgomery County, and that Hall's probation conditions include he not own, care for or have custody of any animals.

Hall told the judge he works for a charter bus company.

Bronson could not immediately be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Maryland man pleads after German shepherds found in hot kennels