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Century Residents Found Guilty On Multiple Animal Cruelty Charges
February 25, 2010
Two Century residents have been found guilty on multiple animal cruelty charges.
Steven Wayne Billiot, 57, and Faye Marie Kyle, 48 were both convicted in Escambia County Circuit Court this week on eight animal cruelty charges stemming from confining animals without food or water last year.
Both were sentenced to 12 months probation concurrent on each count. They will each be required to pay $55 per month cost of supervision, public defender costs of $938.29, an indigent application fee of $50. Together, they will be responsible for $878.03 in restitution to Panhandle Equine Rescue, the animal welfare group that seized their livestock.
During their probation, Billiot and Kyle will not be allowed to own any livestock and will be required to allow Panhandle Equine Rescue to check their household.
Billiot and Kyle were charged in July, 2009, on multiple charges of confinement of animals without sufficient food, water or exercise. They were also charged with child abuse and neglect, but those charges were later dropped.They were arrested last year after authorities discovered a horse, a donkey, four goats, two pigs and dog were living without food and water at a mobile home outside Century; and a young teen was found in their mobile home living in what deputies described as “squalor”.
The animals were discovered July 9, 2009, at mobile home at 2390 Highway 168, where rescuers say they had been living for days without water or food. The horse named Champagne was tied to a tree with an extension cord at the rear of the trash-covered property. Her ribs were clearly visible as she stood in an unfenced circle of dirt surrounded by tall grass. She had tried so hard to get to the grass that was just outside her reach that her bridle had worn a large sore on her head. Deputies said that when they provided water for Champagne the horse, she drank nearly a five gallon bucket of water.
The two small pigs were living in a crudely constructed pen made of wire and wood. The dirt in the pen was dry and dusty, according to deputy James Moretz, when he discovered it. There was no water in the pen for the pigs.
The four goats were in a wire pen, also with no water. The donkey was tied to a tree in the front yard of the mobile home, again, with no water. And the dog, also tied a tree in the front yard, appeared to be malnourished and had no water.
Panhandle Equine Rescue, a non-profit group authorized by the court system to investigate equine cruelty in Escambia County, seized the horse and donkey. After difficulty getting any other agency to remove the goats and pigs, PER seized them as well. All of the animals were transported to an area veterinarian for treatment.The dog was seized as evidence by a crime scene investigator with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and transported to the Escambia County Animal Shelter in Pensacola.
Click here for more NorthEscambia.com exclusive photos from the 2009 rescue, the animals and the property. (Some readers may find some of the photographs in the photo gallery to be disturbing.)
Pictured top: This horse was found without food or water at a mobile home on Highway 168 in July. The horse was unable to reach the grass in the photo because of being tied to a tree. Pictured inset: Deputies James Moretz and Randy Murph remove goats from the property. Pictured below: The backyard of the mobile home were the animals were located. NorthEscambia.com exclusive file photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
7 Responses to “Century Residents Found Guilty On Multiple Animal Cruelty Charges”
A hand up? Is that what they need?
What they NEED… is JAIL TIME. Chaining an animal to a tree and confining other animals out of reach of water is torture, plain and simple.
Water cost NOTHING… throw the trash in jail. Good riddance.
Possibly a sentence of cleaning up their property and doing a set number of hours at a animal habitat/shelter would be more applicable. I doubt if the system ever sees a dime from these individuals. The judge was correct in not allowing these people to have animals again. They apparently can not take care of themselves let alone animals. Sad.
Wow… Let a 17 year old KILL a donkey and he gets a year with REAL criminals that have done MUCH, MUCH worse… At least the donkey didn’t suffer for a long period of time like these peoples animals did! Now when that 17 year old gets out he will know how to cover his tracks better cause locking him up has done nothing but put him in a life of covering up – instead of learning a lesson – look how old these folks are – no telling just how long these animals have been done like they were… been a while cause animals don’t look like that from just a day or two of being without water or food. And people wonder what’s happening to our kids now days!
Of course jail time should not correlate with one’s ability (or lack of) to pay the fines. Crimes were committed against helpless animals by these folks, regardless of their income.
With strong evidence out there linking animal abusers going on to abuse humans, judges need to get tough on animal abuse. Jail time should have been mandatory AND they should be forbidden to ever own an animal again.
Could it be that the judge set penalties based on the ability of the perps to pay? I would think $2087 would be a lot for each of these two to come up with.
Which is better? Slap a huge fine on them that won’t be able to pay, or fine them according to their abilities? Just asking, not taking a stand here.
For crying out loud! People do more harm to humans and get less punishment. The punishment more than fits the crime. Hopefully these folks can get the help they need to get back on track with their lives. They need a hand up if you ask me, not jail time!
The Judge that heard the case is NOTORIOUS for meting out minimal to no justice in animal cruelty cases. We, in the animal rescue community, see his *slaps on the wrist* over and over. Very tragic!