Former Hagerstown man sentenced in animal cruelty case involving dogs found in hot shed
A former Hagerstown man received a suspended sentence Thursday after paying almost $4,000 in restitution for an animal cruelty case last summer in which three German shepherds were found in a hot shed.
One of the dogs, Tallka, died suddenly in her kennel on July 17, a few days after authorities removed the dogs under emergency conditions and put them in the care of the Humane Society of Washington County, according to court records.
The other two dogs were euthanized in November due to severe medical issues, Colin Berry, the humane society's executive director, told The Herald-Mail in a phone interview Thursday after the sentencing hearing.
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At the time Allan Hall pleaded guilty on Oct. 24 to four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, two of the dogs were still alive. Three of those counts were for inflicting unnecessary suffering on the dogs, while the fourth count was for unnecessarily failing to provide Tallka with necessary veterinary care.
In Washington County District Court on Thursday morning, Assistant State's Attorney Danielle Lackovic told Judge Mark D. Thomas that one of the dogs had died three days after being taken in by authorities.
At the plea hearing in October, Lackovic told Thomas she would ask for Hall to receive a suspended sentence if he paid the $3,824.36 in restitution in two months. That money is for the humane society to help with the costs of boarding and medical costs.
Hall showed up in court in January with a check for $400 toward the restitution, but Lackovic said Thursday there was an issue with the check.
The issue with the check was not immediately known. In some cases, defendants submit checks that are not made out to the proper payee.
Thomas, in January, gave Hall another 60 days to make restitution before sentencing him.
Hall, 60, did not provide a comment to the judge during Thursday's sentencing hearing.
Lackovic said the only prior record Hall had was a 2005 second-degree assault for which he received probation before judgment.
Assistant Public Defender Daniel Tait told Thomas that Hall had nothing else on his record like this, is working and has a good place to live in Montgomery County, Md., Tait said.
Hall's address was listed earlier this year in Bethesda, Md., but he filed a change of address to Owings Mills in Baltimore County, Md., with the court in January. He has a Bethesda address on his online court docket.
Thomas sentenced Hall to 360 days, or almost a year, in jail but suspended the sentence. That's the maximum 90 days per misdemeanor.
Hall will be on supervised probation for two years. His probation conditions include he is not to possess or have care or custody of any animals.
The judge also suspended $4,000 in fines because Hall paid the restitution.
The conditions the dogs were found in on a hot July day
The case involves three German shepherds found with tarps thrown over their kennel on a hot July day last summer at a residential property along Dunn Irvin Drive in Hagerstown, according to court records.
A humane society field services officer, on July 13, found the shed locked with no air flow and could see an empty water bucket in one of the kennels, according to court documents. A dog who turned out to be Tallka was "very thin" and the officer provided it water from a hose. The officer posted a 24-hour abandonment notice on the shed door.
The next day, the humane society received another report via a 911 call about dogs locked in a shed at that property. The officer found the dogs inside the shed and the notice still posted. The water bucket he had filled was empty and on its side while the other two dogs had just enough water to cover the bottom of their buckets, court records state.
The "very thin" dog could be seen to have several teeth broken down to the gums and hair hanging because it was not shedding its coat, court records state.
Another dog, Zeus, also was thin, and all three dogs had curled nails and hanging hair from not shedding.
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The temperature inside the shed was 97 degrees, court records state. Despite two small windows, there was no air flow and the dogs were below a plywood wall with tarps around the kennels.
No corrections had been made and the floors were soaked with urine and there were dried feces, with the air pungent, court records state.
The officer contacted the State's Attorney's Office and officials decided to remove the dogs under emergency conditions with Hagerstown Police on scene, court records state.
Unfortunate outcome for dogs seized in animal cruelty case
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.
An air sac in Tallka's lung enlarged, slowly rupturing the lung and affecting her ability to breath, Dr. Karen Nelson, a veterinarian with the humane society, has said.
While the other two dogs had gained weight by the time of the plea hearing, Berry said Thursday that their health declined and Zeus and Tala were euthanized in November. Zeus' issues included severe hip dysplasia and chronic pain that could not be managed. Tala had advanced kidney disease and cardiac issues.
Zeus and Tala were around 10 years old.
Berry texted that both were "sweet dogs who enjoyed interacting with people."
Asked why dogs can't always be immediately seized, Berry said there must be evidence to support that an animal is being housed or cared for in a way that violates a local ordinance or state law.
"Which unfortunately means that even if we don't agree with how an animal is being cared for, we are not always able to impound the animal right away," Berry said in a phone interview.
"We always encourage people to let us know if they see something that is in violation of a local ordinance or animal-related state law," Berry said. They can call 301-733-2060 and ask to speak with field services.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: All three dogs from 2023 Hagerstown animal cruelty case end up dead
