Sunday, February 14, 2010

Coral Kerr - Porterville, California

Feb 14, 2010: Animal abuse trial

A May 20 trial date was set Monday for a California Hot Springs woman accused of keeping dozens of cats and dogs and one ram in squalid conditions on her southeast Tulare County property.

Coral Kerr, 62, faces three misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty.

On June 16, a Tulare County animal control officer and sheriff's deputy seized 32 cats and dogs, the ram and 16 dead kittens from her property.

Authorities said they found the property and one of its buildings reeking of urine and feces, with animal waste spread up to 8 inches deep on a kitchen floor.

Kerr, who has worked as an illustrator in film, theater and television, said she has been a volunteer animal rescuer for years.

A pretrial hearing was set for May 17...." Link (scroll to pg 2)

Oct 14, 2009: Motion to suppress evidence withdrawn in animal cruelty case

An attorney for the California Hot Springs woman accused of animal cruelty withdrew Wednesday a motion to suppress evidence in the case.

Inna Petrovsky, the court-appointed attorney representing 62-year-old Coral Kerr withdrew the motion in a pretrial hearing in Tulare County Superior Court in Porterville, according to a spokeswoman with the Tulare County District Attorney's Office.

Petrovsky, with the Tulare County Public Defender's Office, could not be reached Wednesday.

Kerr is accused of keeping dozens of cats and dogs in unsanitary conditions at her rural property in southeast Tulare County. On June 16, a Tulare County Animal Control officer and deputy sheriff seized 32 cats and dogs, one ram and 16 dead kittens from the property.

In an August interview, an attorney with the public defender's office questioned whether authorities had any reason or consent to enter Kerr's property in June. Cheryl Smith, the attorney, said the motion to suppress evidence was planned based on that question..." More



Sept 5, 2009: California Hot Springs woman pleads not guilty in animal cruelty case

A woman accused of keeping dozens of cats and dogs and one sheep in squalid conditions on her southeast Tulare County property pleaded not guilty Wednesday to three misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty.

Coral Kerr, 62, entered her plea during an arraignment in Tulare County Superior Court in Porterville.

Investigators with the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency found 35 dead kittensinside a home on Kerr's California Hot Springs property June 16, according to the Tulare County Sheriff's Department. Twenty cats, 12 dogs and the sheep were found alive in various stages of health, the sheriff's department reported.

The surviving animals were removed from the property, about 66 miles southeast of Visalia, and taken to Tulare County Animal Control, deputies reported.

The visit to Kerr's property was the second by the county in June. On June 10, after receiving a complaint about the number and condition of animals on the property, Tulare County animal control officials "gave notice" that the animals' living conditions had to improve, a sheriff's official said.

Six days later, health investigators returned and found the dead kittens.

"We're trying to determine why there was a delay [in discovering the kittens]," Lt. Keith Douglass said at the time.

The Sheriff's Department offered no additional details about the case Wednesday.

Kerr was never arrested in the case, a Tulare County District Attorney spokeswoman said Wednesday..." More

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