ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 9, 1997 TAG: 9704090031
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON THE ROANOKE TIMES
A motion was filed Tuesday to establish 15-year-old Brandon Green as part owner of some of the neglected animals.
It's no longer just Valery Green vs. the Franklin County Humane Society.
Brandon Green, son of the former breeder, is now part of the saga that has resulted in a court order giving the Humane Society permission to adopt out more than 100 animals his mother had been boarding at her home near Ferrum.
Wayne Inge, Valery Green's lawyer, filed a motion Tuesday saying Brandon Green is part owner of a number of the animals taken from his mother last month and that the 15-year-old is entitled to some compensation when the animals are sold.
The Greens were in court Tuesday to explain why a dog was in a pen on their rental property March 26.
Valery Green cannot own a pet, according to a March 11 ruling by Circuit Judge B.A. Davis. The judge also upheld a lower court decision that Green was incapable of caring for the 119 dogs and cats she kept.
The animals are being offered for adoption by rescue organizations that agreed to help the Humane Society, which hopes to recoup some of the cost it incurred for boarding Green's animals.
Brandon Green told Davis that the dog spotted March 26 had been wandering around near the Greens' home for several days. He said he put the dog in a pen because he was afraid it might get hit by a car.
"Why didn't you just call animal control to come pick it up?" Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood asked the boy.
"They'd just lock the dog up, anyway," he replied. "It wasn't tearing nothing up."
The dog has since been taken to another home.
Davis dismissed the show-cause order against Valery Green, but afterward he looked at Inge and said: "Please admonish your client and her son that they are not to have dogs and cats on their property. And that means period. OK?"
Inge agreed.
The lawyer then exited the courtroom behind members of the Humane Society.
Inge handed the organization's president, Donna Essig, and member Tammy Javier copies of American Kennel Club papers. The documents prove that Brandon Green has part ownership of a number of animals being offered for adoption, the lawyer said.
The papers identify the breed of the dogs and their names, which included a German Shepherd named "Thor Midnighthunder Warrior" and two Pomeranians with the names "Sasha Orange Blossom Special" and "Bubbling Brown Sugarbear."
Inge said he and Hapgood had worked out a plea bargain in the case in early February. The agreement called for Valery Green to give up the dogs and cats and for special receivers appointed by the court to sell the animals.
The money made was to be split between the receivers and the Humane Society. Valery Green was to get what was left.
But when Inge saw the $14,800 in bills the Humane Society had paid to board and care for Green's animals after they were seized, he and Green decided not to accept the plea bargain.
"There's no way the Humane Society is going recoup all that money," he said. "If, in fact, that is the cost they're being made to pay."
Inge, in what amounted to an impromptu cross-examination of the Humane Society, tried to get its members to explain how much money the organization has spent and how much it plans to get back.
Essig told Inge that she's turning the situation over to the Humane Society's attorneys.
Javier, however, told Inge she thinks it's a moot issue because Brandon Green is a minor, and responsibility for his ownership of an animal would fall back on an adult.
Valery Green declined comment Tuesday.
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