Conditions at breeder's home 'horrific' vet says
http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=56235768
Saturday, 08/21/04 | Middle Tennessee News & Information
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FRANKLIN — Some female dogs were so old their teeth were falling out, they could barely stand and had large tumors, yet they were still being bred, a veterinarian testified yesterday at Maltese-dog breeder Jennifer Siliski's animal-cruelty trial.
One dog had undergone Caesarian-section surgery at least 10 times, veterinarian Mary Fooshee said.
Fooshee described Siliski's home-based breeding operation as ''the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my life.''
During the third day of testimony in the Williamson County Judicial Center, the focus was on how Siliski treated her dogs and whether it was fair to think of the animals in her house as pets or ''animals for sale.''
Siliski is charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty involving 12 dogs and two cats that prosecutors say suffered the most.
Authorities raided her Bowman Road home on Jan. 22, confiscating more than 230 dogs and cats. The house is just outside Franklin.
Most of the animals were being kept in steel, wire cages stacked three and four levels high, earlier witnesses had testified.
Defense attorneys tried to attack Fooshee's credibility later in the day by pointing out that she had had four jobs in a short period of time.
''Isn't there a difference in the agrarian approach to animals and raising house pets?'' defense attorney Rebecca Byrd asked veterinarian Paula A. Schuerer, a prosecution witness. ''There's a difference in treatment for pets and raising animals for sale. Some things are not required for a breeder that are for a pet owner?''
Schuerer, who owns a private animal hospital and kennel in Cool Springs where some of Siliski's dogs were treated, said there was a difference: Siliski created an environment conducive to the spread of disease and infection by not keeping the cages clean.
Schuerer said she identified 15 diseases, infections and parasites on Siliski's animals.
Fooshee, who worked for Williamson County Animal Control until two months ago, described how she said 14 animals Siliski is accused of torturing had suffered.
She said some of the dogs were so dehydrated they couldn't stand up, others suffered from infections of the ear and uterus, and a pair of newborn kittens had upper respiratory infections that caused their eyes to be crusted shut.
The vet said at least three dogs were over age 13 and were still being bred, despite blindness, dental disease and mange.
''It was the most horrific thing I've ever seen in my life, cruelty cases or otherwise,'' said Fooshee, appearing to hold back tears. ''The animals were so helpless.''
In an apparent attempt to attack Fooshee's credibility, Byrd asked her to tell the jury how many places she'd worked over the past three years.
''You've had four different jobs in the last three years,'' Byrd said. ''Why do you keep changing jobs, Dr. Fooshee?''
Fooshee said she has had disagreements with her bosses and prefers to work as a ''relief vet,'' filling in for other vets who go on vacation or need extra help.
At one point in the trial Circuit Court Judge R.E. Lee Davies excused jurors to decide whether Byrd could ask Fooshee why she had been fired from Williamson County Animal Control two months earlier.
Davies said he wanted to determine whether the questioning was relevant. Fooshee said it was for ''my inability to get along with the director and for a post I had made on the Maltese forum Web site.''
Fooshee posted a message on the Web site stating that the medical records she'd kept on Siliski's dogs had disappeared. Davies said the reason Fooshee was fired was not relevant but said he would allow Byrd to enter the Web site posting as evidence because it demonstrated that Fooshee had a bias in the case.
The trial will resume at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
