A Shady Grove couple found guilty in April of abusing nearly 80 farm animals have been cited again, now for the alleged abuse of four dogs at their home.
A total of 14 animal cruelty citations were filed against Ralph and Susan Fries, said Franklin County Humane Society Police Officer Floyd "Buck" Hessler.
They have not yet entered a plea with Magisterial District Judge Duane Cunningham.
The dogs, which Hessler described as "husky-type," were seized April 23 from the couple's residence at 1704 Buchanan Trail East. Hessler said he acquired a warrant to go to the home after a neighbor contacted him about the conditions there.
All four dogs, one male and three females, are currently being held at Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter, Chambersburg.
Three of the dogs had medical issues when they were seized, Hessler said.
The Frieses are cited for not providing veterinary care to the male dog, which allegedly had severe infections in both ears. After the dog was seized, a veterinarian prescribed medication for the infections.
"The dog was in severe pain because this was not taken care of by a vet," Hessler wrote in the citation.
Two of the female dogs exhibited a "severe skin condition," according to Hessler. Medicine was prescribed for both dogs after they were seized.
Hessler's citations allege that he found the dogs living in unsanitary conditions. He said they were forced to live in contact with their own feces and urine.
It appeared that the dogs, all adults, were kept in small cages in one room of the house "for hours at a time" whenever they were brought inside, Hessler said.
The cages were too small for the dogs to stand or turn freely, Hessler said. Urine and clumps of fur were "all over the floor" of that room, according to one citation.
The strong smell of ammonia from urine inside the house "took your breath away," according to another citation.
In an outdoor kennel behind the garage, Hessler wrote that he saw dogs "walking and standing in the mess" of feces that had not been cleaned out.
One citation alleges that shelter in the outdoor kennel was inadequate, since there were no dog houses "to protect the dogs from weather conditions rain, snow, cold, heat, wind."
Another citation alleges that the dogs were not properly groomed, and had long toenails and clumps of fur falling out due to a lack of brushing.
Hessler said the dogs were apparently being fed and provided with water.
Ralph and Susan Fries each face seven summary citations for the alleged neglect of the four dogs.
Hessler said that if the couple is found guilty, he intends to ask for the maximum fine of $750 on each citation. He is also asking that they permanently surrender the dogs and pay restitution for veterinary, grooming and kennel fees.
He said the total cost of caring for the seized dogs is not yet known.
If they are found guilty, Hessler wants the Frieses to be prevented from owning any animals during a court-ordered probationary period.
While the law allows higher-level charges for repeat animal cruelty offenders, Hessler said he couldn't seek such charges in this instance, because the dogs were seized before the Fries' were found guilty of a previous set of violations.
On April 28, Ralph and Susan Fries were found guilty of 14 citations for the mistreatment of 70 goats, seven donkeys, a horse and a pony kept on a farm in St. Thomas.
Magisterial District Judge David Hawbaker ordered them to pay court costs and fines of $100 for each citation. Those animals remain in the care of a farm at an undisclosed location, Hessler said Thursday.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Ever Have One of Those Lives?
I am finding myself beyond frustrated. Most days (not today) I love my job and I don't mind working full time, BUT everything else is so much more complicated. Part of it is my control freak ways. My house needs vacuumed desperately and it BOTHERS ME. I am putting on some weight and it BOTHERS ME. Basically, it makes me feel like shit. I don't feel as good as I did when I was working out regularly. My kids are at asshat ages and it BOTHERS ME. I hate that they are here alone so much because The Genius cannot be trusted. I feel helpless in my own life and I have little to no idea what to do about any of it.
Getting to the gym means the possibility of pissing off people. But the fact is, if I get a handle on my exercise again, I may feel better in all the other aspects of my life. Once a week kickboxing and walking the dog are not cutting it for me. I felt strong in almost every aspect of my life when my workouts were regular. My patience level was better. I was not freaking exhausted ALL THE TIME. I accept the fact that I am getting older and maybe being more tired is normal, but not this desire to nap half the freaking afternoon.
I love my dog, but at times it is hard to have him at work everyday especially now in the hotter months. I could otherwise get a few things accomplished on my lunch hour. Granted, when the kids are out of school, he will be staying home at least part of the time with them. They need to learn the responsibility.
So I need a PLAN. I cannot keep going this way. It is making me crazy. There are days when I feel like I am on the verge of tears all day long just because I hate the helpless feeling of not being in control of my life.
So there are options for the gym.
I love my Wednesday night service at church but I am considering giving it up to go workout and then going back to the church for 8:00 rehearsal. I can either get to the Y on a Sunday or I need to switch my grocery day so I can workout on Monday. I have stuff here at home to work out but every time I attempt it, I am inundated with children and questions and mocking about what I am doing. Plus, my resources are limited here and with it being the onset of summer, we don't have central air and I am not about working out in a sauna.
I don't care if I go to the gym before or after dinner. Either works. I just need to get there...though it is harder to leave to do it once I am home, but I will just make myself do it. I think my eating took a nose dive when the church blew up (and incidentally, more people are leaving) and I have not regained control. I am still a size 18 but things are not as roomy as they once were and if I do not intervene, I will not stay an 18.
If this plan doesn't work (and when The Brit travels I am not sure at all of how it can work) something has to give. The way I feel right now this moment cannot continue.
Just sayin'
Getting to the gym means the possibility of pissing off people. But the fact is, if I get a handle on my exercise again, I may feel better in all the other aspects of my life. Once a week kickboxing and walking the dog are not cutting it for me. I felt strong in almost every aspect of my life when my workouts were regular. My patience level was better. I was not freaking exhausted ALL THE TIME. I accept the fact that I am getting older and maybe being more tired is normal, but not this desire to nap half the freaking afternoon.
I love my dog, but at times it is hard to have him at work everyday especially now in the hotter months. I could otherwise get a few things accomplished on my lunch hour. Granted, when the kids are out of school, he will be staying home at least part of the time with them. They need to learn the responsibility.
So I need a PLAN. I cannot keep going this way. It is making me crazy. There are days when I feel like I am on the verge of tears all day long just because I hate the helpless feeling of not being in control of my life.
So there are options for the gym.
I love my Wednesday night service at church but I am considering giving it up to go workout and then going back to the church for 8:00 rehearsal. I can either get to the Y on a Sunday or I need to switch my grocery day so I can workout on Monday. I have stuff here at home to work out but every time I attempt it, I am inundated with children and questions and mocking about what I am doing. Plus, my resources are limited here and with it being the onset of summer, we don't have central air and I am not about working out in a sauna.
I don't care if I go to the gym before or after dinner. Either works. I just need to get there...though it is harder to leave to do it once I am home, but I will just make myself do it. I think my eating took a nose dive when the church blew up (and incidentally, more people are leaving) and I have not regained control. I am still a size 18 but things are not as roomy as they once were and if I do not intervene, I will not stay an 18.
If this plan doesn't work (and when The Brit travels I am not sure at all of how it can work) something has to give. The way I feel right now this moment cannot continue.
Just sayin'
Sunday, May 15, 2011
I do not understand the male species....
....AT ALL.
They set things on fire, they lie, cheat and steal, they find farts hysterical, love cartoon movies, have an answer for everything, always think they are right and can turn the tables on you in the midst of any argument where you have been wronged. I love them, but I just don't get them. Not even a teeny, tiny bit.
And with that being said, please let me say that single moms....you have my absolute respect. I have had a big enough dose of single parenting lately to know that I salute those of you who do this every single day of your lives. I hate it. I hate it even more working full time. I love, love, love my job, but trying to single parent around nine hours a day? Not fun at all.
Last week The Lawyer set fire to a trash can outside from a cigarette butt my sister in law left in the outside ashtray. He decided he wanted to know what would happen if he set fire to a plastic bag that was in the trash can. Well, he found out. It melted the trash can. Thankfully, a neighbor came down to help put it out and then his wife proceeded to make me feel like a terrible mother, offering to let The Lawyer be in her daycare for an hour a day for $20 a week because "he is obviously lonely and trying to get attention." Gimme a break-he is home for an hour and fifteen minutes before I get here; he was just being a boy and I kicked his butt for it.
The second part of The Genius story is that he did not just drop out of Credit Recovery because of track. Noooo...he dropped out of track too so he could walk to his friend's house in the west end of town every day when he was "at practice." So he is currently under a microscope and he is grounded from his phone and life until he passes this class and gets his Biology grade up to at least a 75% which is what he needs to pass for the year.
The Lawyer fried his phone in the bathtub because he talks to his great grandma on the phone at bath time so it was just waiting to happen. He, of course, blamed it on the cat. Go figure.
The Brit has been gone more than he has been home, thus my salute to single moms. I don't think anyone has any idea of what we do and what we have to deal with when we are on our own. There is no down time. By the time the kids are in bed, the lunches are packed, the house is semi-cleanish, and the pets are taken care of, we are too freakin' exhausted to do anything more than go to bed so we can wake up and do it all over again. Men often come home and when they walk in the door, they are done for the day. They sit down to dinner and move from there to the television. This is not my life. Not when there are meals for the next day to think of, laundry to do, dishes to deal with (the men in my house think we have gnomes who do the cups and spoons they just lay in the sink when they are finished...a huge pet peeve of mine. It seems to just be an assumption that I will do them. I mean, how else will they get done?), grocery shopping to do, yard work, etc. All the stuff that HAS to be done.
I tried not to complain about any of this when I was 20 hours a week, but it is harder to keep my thoughts to myself at 40 hours a week. I just wish there was more help.
Next week is Tod's show "1776" and I am looking forward to a night out...again with my kids...but with some friends as well.
The dog is the light of my life at the moment. He is a constant companion who does not argue with me. His name should have been Houdini as we cannot seem to confine him to the computer room to go anywhere. He is left alone VERY rarely. He has so far eaten though a gate, knocked one over and crawled under another. Yesterday, The Brit cut a door off and put it on hinges to keep him in there but today when the kids and I went to church, he jumped the door. Nothing funnier though than pulling up in front of the house and seeing his handsome head pop up from where he is laying in front of the door. Too cute and he has so far not been destructive so I guess we will give him the downstairs on a test run for Tod's show!
Hoping my week is uneventful as that would be a great chance of venue for me!
/rant
They set things on fire, they lie, cheat and steal, they find farts hysterical, love cartoon movies, have an answer for everything, always think they are right and can turn the tables on you in the midst of any argument where you have been wronged. I love them, but I just don't get them. Not even a teeny, tiny bit.
And with that being said, please let me say that single moms....you have my absolute respect. I have had a big enough dose of single parenting lately to know that I salute those of you who do this every single day of your lives. I hate it. I hate it even more working full time. I love, love, love my job, but trying to single parent around nine hours a day? Not fun at all.
Last week The Lawyer set fire to a trash can outside from a cigarette butt my sister in law left in the outside ashtray. He decided he wanted to know what would happen if he set fire to a plastic bag that was in the trash can. Well, he found out. It melted the trash can. Thankfully, a neighbor came down to help put it out and then his wife proceeded to make me feel like a terrible mother, offering to let The Lawyer be in her daycare for an hour a day for $20 a week because "he is obviously lonely and trying to get attention." Gimme a break-he is home for an hour and fifteen minutes before I get here; he was just being a boy and I kicked his butt for it.
The second part of The Genius story is that he did not just drop out of Credit Recovery because of track. Noooo...he dropped out of track too so he could walk to his friend's house in the west end of town every day when he was "at practice." So he is currently under a microscope and he is grounded from his phone and life until he passes this class and gets his Biology grade up to at least a 75% which is what he needs to pass for the year.
The Lawyer fried his phone in the bathtub because he talks to his great grandma on the phone at bath time so it was just waiting to happen. He, of course, blamed it on the cat. Go figure.
The Brit has been gone more than he has been home, thus my salute to single moms. I don't think anyone has any idea of what we do and what we have to deal with when we are on our own. There is no down time. By the time the kids are in bed, the lunches are packed, the house is semi-cleanish, and the pets are taken care of, we are too freakin' exhausted to do anything more than go to bed so we can wake up and do it all over again. Men often come home and when they walk in the door, they are done for the day. They sit down to dinner and move from there to the television. This is not my life. Not when there are meals for the next day to think of, laundry to do, dishes to deal with (the men in my house think we have gnomes who do the cups and spoons they just lay in the sink when they are finished...a huge pet peeve of mine. It seems to just be an assumption that I will do them. I mean, how else will they get done?), grocery shopping to do, yard work, etc. All the stuff that HAS to be done.
I tried not to complain about any of this when I was 20 hours a week, but it is harder to keep my thoughts to myself at 40 hours a week. I just wish there was more help.
Next week is Tod's show "1776" and I am looking forward to a night out...again with my kids...but with some friends as well.
The dog is the light of my life at the moment. He is a constant companion who does not argue with me. His name should have been Houdini as we cannot seem to confine him to the computer room to go anywhere. He is left alone VERY rarely. He has so far eaten though a gate, knocked one over and crawled under another. Yesterday, The Brit cut a door off and put it on hinges to keep him in there but today when the kids and I went to church, he jumped the door. Nothing funnier though than pulling up in front of the house and seeing his handsome head pop up from where he is laying in front of the door. Too cute and he has so far not been destructive so I guess we will give him the downstairs on a test run for Tod's show!
Hoping my week is uneventful as that would be a great chance of venue for me!
/rant
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Interesting Weekend
So yesterday we went to breakfast and ran into the whole old church crowd. Several said good morning, Strat's dad waved though her mother would not look at me, and The Puppet Master's wife came back and hugged us both. Not sure what the hell that is all about.
The rest of the day was yard work, which I love, and a haircut at yet another new salon: Bella Salon and Spa. A bit pricier than what I am used to, but a great haircut in a professional atmosphere. My last cut was done by someone else in my former "new salon" and she screwed up the stacking in the back and after my appointment, the girls were all spinning their boyfriends around in their chairs and flipping each other off, etc. Now, I am no saint but when I am paying for a service after a long day at work, I do not wish to see children playing adults and not succeeding, ergo Bella Salon. Apparently, I am getting old.
Today was Kirk and Brent's graduation from Eastern Mennonite University and I was a little apprehensive about going due to folks from the old church who were my friends but I had not heard from since I left my job out there. I almost didn't go, but Kirk has been such a good friend of mine for a long time so I went and had a really good day other than it being cold and rainy and the graduation being outside! But it was fun and good to be around everyone again.
So a good day.
My friend Renee from California is running an experiment this week about us girls taking care of ourselves. Our assignment for tonight, the first night, is to gauge on a scale from 1-10 how we were/are feeling about tomorrow at 8:00 tonight. I gauged myself at a 5 mainly because I was and am tired from the long drive today and being out in the chill and rain. Then before bed, I have to sit cross legged on the floor and take five deep breaths. The experiment will progress this week and I will try to blog to keep you all informed.
Still in love with my dog. He is a total love bug and so cute.
I mean, who in their right mind can resist this face?
The rest of the day was yard work, which I love, and a haircut at yet another new salon: Bella Salon and Spa. A bit pricier than what I am used to, but a great haircut in a professional atmosphere. My last cut was done by someone else in my former "new salon" and she screwed up the stacking in the back and after my appointment, the girls were all spinning their boyfriends around in their chairs and flipping each other off, etc. Now, I am no saint but when I am paying for a service after a long day at work, I do not wish to see children playing adults and not succeeding, ergo Bella Salon. Apparently, I am getting old.
Today was Kirk and Brent's graduation from Eastern Mennonite University and I was a little apprehensive about going due to folks from the old church who were my friends but I had not heard from since I left my job out there. I almost didn't go, but Kirk has been such a good friend of mine for a long time so I went and had a really good day other than it being cold and rainy and the graduation being outside! But it was fun and good to be around everyone again.
My friend Renee from California is running an experiment this week about us girls taking care of ourselves. Our assignment for tonight, the first night, is to gauge on a scale from 1-10 how we were/are feeling about tomorrow at 8:00 tonight. I gauged myself at a 5 mainly because I was and am tired from the long drive today and being out in the chill and rain. Then before bed, I have to sit cross legged on the floor and take five deep breaths. The experiment will progress this week and I will try to blog to keep you all informed.
Still in love with my dog. He is a total love bug and so cute.
I mean, who in their right mind can resist this face?
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