Provost guilty of animal cruelty, sentencing Friday

Three years after being charged with animal cruelty, Sharon Provost was convicted on June 23 in Adams County Superior Court. Sentencing for the Lind resident is set for Friday, July 15, at 2 p.m.

The case originated on July 12, 2008, when the Adams County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant and arrested Provost on East Third Street in Lind.

Jury selection was on June 22, and the jury found Provost guilty on four counts of first-degree animal cruelty and two counts of transporting or confining animals in an unsafe manner.

The jury went into deliberations at 10:44 a.m. and returned to the courtroom after 1 p.m.

Provost was initially charged with one count of animal cruelty for a dog that had apparently strangled itself and was left in the kennel as well as four counts of second-degree animal cruelty for the dogs left in the kennel with the dead dog.

The search warrant and arrest culminated from a complaint received by the sheriff’s office on July 3, 2008, from a potential buyer of the miniature Australian shepherds Provost raises.

The buyer notified the sheriff’s office that Provost had a large number of dogs that were being mistreated and not taken care of properly, including the dog that apparently strangled itself on its collar and was left in the kennel with several other dogs for an extended period of time, at a location on Smart Road.

Accompanied by about 30 Adams County Pet Rescue volunteers, the sheriff’s office seized 111 dogs, which appeared to be purebred or mixed miniature Australian shepherds.

While searching the residence, the sheriff’s office located carcasses of four adult dogs that had been there for an extended period of time.

The dogs ranged in age from newborn to 10-12 years old.

Dr. Marvin Chamberlain, DVM, and veterinary technicians from Moses Lake were on scene to inspect the condition of the animals.

Two dogs were humanely put down because of their declining medical condition.

One of the destroyed animals was deformed on one of the legs.

Another dog had lost the use of its right front foot, which was bent all the way back, but rescuers were unsure if it was a birth defect or from an injury that healed improperly.