Animal abuse case: Owners get suspended prison time, lose collies

By Vera Haffey of The Montana Standard

An Alaska couple charged with a combined 360 counts of animal cruelty was sentenced in justice court Friday in Shelby to 10 years in prison, all suspended.

Toole County Judge John "Pete" Howard, who presided over the couple's re-trial in Anaconda last week, asked spectators in the packed courtroom to rein in their reactions before reading aloud the eight-page sentencing order.

They complied, according to Toole County Sheriff Donna Matoon.

Matoon placed John and Athena Lethcoe-Harman under arrest last Nov. 1 as they tried to enter the United States at the Sweetgrass Port of Entry with a semi-tractor trailer stuffed with 170 starving, diseased collies, plus other animals, all cold, wet and wallowing in their own waste. The couple was found guilty May 31 after the five-day justice court re-trial.

During that 10-year probationary sentence, a moratorium will be placed on the Harmans — as a couple and as individuals — disallowing them to own or harbor any animals, excluding John Harman's fox terrier, Athena's collie, Panache, and one cat. Panache, the dog Athena Harman claimed helped manage her diabetic condition, must be spayed, the order said.

Nancy Lethcoe, Athena's mother who owned an interest in the dogs, was allowed to keep one female dog and one puppy. The Harmans were also allowed to select 20 dogs for placement in various kennels of their suggestion so other breeders could preserve their so-called superior genetics related to collie eye anomaly. The state reserved the right to veto any of those placements.

Several other jointly owned animals will be offered to their co-owners.

All animals still in custody of Toole County sheriff's department after June 30 will become property of the state. The state

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will work with the American Working Collie Association and the Humane Society to place those rescued animals. Each of those must be spayed or neutered — unless the adoptive home objects to altering the animals, the order states.

Harmans were not fined, and won't be held liable for veterinary and other expenses incurred since the animals were rescued.

With the agreement, the Harmans relinquished their right to appeal the case to district court.

Toole County Attorney and prosecutor Joe Coble said if the couple appealed, a third trial would cost Toole County around $15,000. Their first trial in January ended in a hung jury, with five of six jurors voting for acquittal. Last week's guilty verdict in Anaconda allowed prosecutors the leverage to craft a deal in which Harmans were forced to relinquish their right to appeal.

Besides the court costs, a new trial would keep the dogs in custody another 12 to 15 months, Coble said. The animals are held at a temporary shelter in Great Falls dubbed Camp Collie, and are cared for by volunteers at a cost of around $1,000 per day.

With that volunteers, the collies received the best care of their lives, he said.

"I'm sure life has never been so good for them," he said.

Coble said the 10-year justice court sentence could be the first in Montana history, and justice court trials that last for five days are virtually unheard of. Justice court sentences are typically less than one year, he said.

It was the "sheer volume" of the evidence in the unique case that drove the time upwards, he said. Counts one through 20 each drew six months running consecutively. Counts 21 through 80 also drew six months each, all running concurrently.