Maryland Community Newspapers Online
A Rockville woman charged with animal neglect and unsanitary conditions for the way she held many dogs in wire crates in a trash-strewn house is fighting a request to keep her from owning or caring for animals.
Judy Cahill, formerly of 2 Foxden Court in the Potomac Highlands neighborhood, told District Court Judge Patricia L. Mitchell that it would affect her life drastically if she were ordered not to own or possess any animal for five years.
That the county is seeking the order is "rather extraordinary," said Jim Savage, a lawyer with the county attorney's office.
Mitchell agreed to continue the case to Nov. 17 to give Cahill, who has been living in a homeless shelter, time to find a lawyer.
The neglect charge was filed because one of the nine dogs Cahill had euthanized before she had to leave the home had an infected ingrown toenail that had not received veterinary care.
But, "keeping the animals in those unsanitary conditions without proper air and space can be an element of neglect," said Capt. Michael Wahl, head of the Montgomery County Police Department's Animal Services Division.
The neglect charge carries a maximum $500 fine.
Allowing animals to create an unsanitary condition carries a maximum $100 fine.
Neighbors had complained about Cahill's kennel and yard-keeping for years.
She fought back and won a $37,000 judgment against the county after a court found that police, responding to complaints, entered her home without probable cause in 1994.
Cahill refused a reporter's request for an interview.