CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Charlottesville Albemarle SPCA leadership is calling for tougher laws, and better judicial enforcement, in the wake of the no jail time plea deal in Greene County for three men whose 81 dogs were seized in June of last year from a Free Union puppy mill.

A number of animal rescue organizations went to the aid of Greene County Animal Control who raided Shady Lane Farm, finding adult dogs and puppies inside boxes filled with waste and old, rancid food. All the dogs were transported to safe places in the days that followed. 68-year-old Nathan Yoder, 33-year-old Luke Yoder, and 40-year-old Maynard Swarey were all subsequently charged with one felony and 24 misdemeanor animal abuse and neglect counts.

The elder Yoder plead guilty to four misdemeanor counts and the other two men will not be prosecuted as long as they pay $15,000 reimbursement to the animal rescue agencies, and agree not to run a puppy mill or own a pet. Click here for that full story.

“Obviously we’re all very disappointed,” said CASPCA Executive Director Libby Jones to Cville Right Now. “I’ve already had so many members of our community, and other communities and neighbors reaching out and expressing their disappointment and lack of understanding why this plea deal was even done.”

Jones said they’re baffled by the judge very clearly saying there was enough evidence to convict the three on all the charges leaves them stunned why there was a plea deal.

“And we haven’t really had any response from the D.A.’s (Commonwealth’s Attorney’s) office as to why this plea deal was even on the table,” Jones said. “You know, we work really hard with our law enforcement, we work really hard with our legislators to try and get accountability and enforcement power for the state laws. And in this particular case, they had the enforcement powers, the laws protected the animals, and to plead out just doesn’t make sense because that just tells basically anyone else who wants to make a profit out of breeding dogs on a ridiculous scale, who are treating dogs in horrible conditions, it just basically says you can plead down, you can get away with it, you just have to basically negotiate your guilt.”

Jones said they will also be calling on state legislators to strengthen the laws even more. These include reclassifying large-scale or chronic neglect as felony abuse, closing sentencing loopholes that allow abusers to avoid jail time, and increasing licensing requirements and oversight of breeders.

As for consumers, Jones urges those who love a specific breed and really want to purchase, do so with a lot of education and background checks “to make sure you are buying from a reputable breeder who follows critical processes to ensure the well-being of their animals, and the health of the animals as well as those coming”.

“We always encourage everyone to check out their local rescue or shelter first, because we get purebred animals all the time,” Jones said.

However, if one decides to go to a breeder, reach out to the local shelter because they can provide advice on how to screen breeders, “to ensure you’re not promoting this egregious system”.