Trial set for October in deaths of 146 dogs at a Mantua Township home
An October trial date is scheduled for a terminally ill woman charged with numerous felonies in the deaths of 146 dogs at a Mantua Township home in June.
Meanwhile, a misdemeanor case against the dog rescue group she co-founded and led also continues.
Barbara A. Wible, 69, pleaded not guilty last week to 146 counts of fifth-degree felony cruelty to a companion animal in a grand jury indictment in Portage County Court of Common Pleas.
According to court records, Wible attended the arraignment via Zoom. Judge Laurie J. Pittman set a personal bond.
The Portage County Animal Protective League executed a search warrant at a Mantua Township home Wible owns in mid-June and reported finding 146 dogs, all dead. The APL said the dogs showed indications of extensive neglect and malnourishment.
The APL filed 50 counts of first-degree misdemeanor cruelty to companion animals, arguing that due to Wible's reported medical condition, she was more likely to live to see the conclusion of a misdemeanor case, which tend to be shorter than felony cases.
Wible is defendant in 25 of those counts and those charges were dismissed July 26 after prosecutors filed a notice of dismissal following the indictment's filing.
However, the other 25 charges, which were filed in a seperate case, have not been dismissed. Court records indicated as recently as Monday that Wible is the defendant doing business as Canine Lifeline, Inc. in that case, but DanaMarie Pannella, one of the APL's prosecutors, said Monday that this is an error and Canine Lifeline is the defendant in the case.
"That one will not be dismissed," she said.
Pannella also confirmed that Wible has terminal cancer.
Animal welfare advocates pushed for Wible to be charged with felonies in Portage County, as she has been in a case in Cuyahoga County. One of those advocates is Kim Goddard, daughter of the late meteorologist and animal lover Dick Goddard.
Kim Goddard has said she wanted Wible charged under Goddard's Law, the state law named after her father that allows for felony charges. It was recently amended to make animal cruelty a violent offense.
The Portage County Prosecutor's Office took the case on its own to a grand jury and the indictment containing the 146 felony counts was filed July 20. Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci said the charges were filed under Goddard's Law, as well as Nitro's Law, another Ohio statute that also allows for felonies but is aimed more at kennels, animal rescues and similar operations.
In Cuyahoga County, 36 dogs were found at a Parma home Wible also owns after the Parma police and firefighters responded there to conduct a welfare check in early June, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office said.
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office said the dogs all showed indications of neglect and malnourishment. A dozen dogs were dead at the scene, three were euthanized and 21 were taken to a local shelter.
A grand jury subsequently indicted Wible on 36 counts of fifth-degree felony cruelty to a companion animal.
Wible's Portage County attorney did not return a phona call seeking comment.
Attempts to identify her attorney in the Cuyahoga County case have been unsuccessful.
Wible is currently scheduled for an Oct. 24 jury trial in the Portage case. She is also scheduled for a status conference and pretrial hearing Sept. 6 and a pretrial hearing Oct. 18.
Her arraignment on the Cuyahoga County charges is scheduled for this Friday.
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Trial set for October in deaths of 146 dogs at a Mantua Township home
