When Caring is Over Your Head: A Dog Abuse Case in Stark County

On August 25, after receiving noise complaints from neighbors, Stark County Humane Society officers teamed with local cops to raid a barn in which three women were housing over 40 rescued stray dogs. The dogs were confiscated and the women in charge of Companion Animal Rescue Effort (CARE) -- Belinda Rife, 53, Candy Martin, 55 and Joan Fisher, 57 -- were all hit with charges of animal cruelty. Prosecutors claimed the women neglected to give the dogs ample drinking water and, with a pristine yard as evidence, that they had clearly not been allowing the dogs to roam outside. “The animals weren’t being taken care of,” says Humane Society Director Lou Criswell. “The combination of the number of dogs, and the small space they were kept in, created a bad situation.”
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