Critter Control Inc. Kevin Clark Critter Control Inc. Abuses Animals! Michigan Michigan,R.I.,E

According to the Westerly Sun, Rhode Island Critter Control franchisee Christy Clark was charged with cruelty to animals by the state Department of Environmental Management.

Apparently, Christy Clark forgot that she had left a raccoon she had trapped in the back of her truck and went out of town for a week.

According to the Westerly Sun,

The animal died a slow death after surviving for six days “baking in the hot sun with no food or water,” said Thomas Gulluscio, Westerly’s animal control officer…

The formal charges came after a neighbor heard the animal crying and scratching from the back of Clark’s Critter Control vehicle in the days after Clark left the raccoon with no food or water. The neighbor went to the Westerly police station on Sunday, June 9, and talked to Officer Tony Allicchio, expressing concern about the manner in which animals are disposed of at the Lorraine Road location.

Gulluscio said he investigated the incident the next day, nearly a week after Clark left, and found the raccoon dead in the back of the truck. Gulluscio said he sent a report of the incident to the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which passed it along to DEM’s criminal division. Gulluscio said he was informed that the animal had been alive on Sunday but died on Monday.

In a follow-up article, A.J. ALGIER of the Westerly Sun reported:

The woman, Christy Clark, 36, of 14 Lorraine Road, pleaded no contest to state Department of Environmental Management charges before Judge Madeline Quirk in 4th Division District Court  on Wednesday.

Clark was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals. The department said she willfully authorized or permitted that animal to be subjected to unnecessary torture, suffering or cruelty. A charge of holding an animal in captivity for purposes of release or disposal for more than 24 hours was dismissed.

A plea of no contest means that a defendant agrees that there would be enough facts for conviction had the case gone to trial.

The charge was filed, meaning that if Clark stays out of legal trouble in the next year, it will be expunged from her record.

Clark was ordered to pay $500 to the victims fund and lost her Nuisance Wildlife Control Specialist License for six months.

Another person at her address is also a Critter Control franchise owner, but DEM Enforcement Officer Mark Saunders said the suspension pertains only to Clark’s license.

The animal died a slow, horrible death, said Thomas Gulluscio, Westerly’s animal control officer. He said the raccoon “survived six days baking in the hot sun with no food or water.” He said that Clark, when questioned later, had admitted to forgetting about the animal.