Dog-Cruelty Conviction Reversed

A Superior Court judge has overturned the 1994 animal-cruelty conviction of a former Mason County resident accused of mistreating Yorkshire terriers at her kennel.

Jeanne Bright, 62, was convicted in District Court. County prosecutors said Friday they planned to ask Judge Toni Sheldon to reconsider her finding. The next step would be state appellate court.

Sheldon ruled Monday that the state’s 1993 animal-cruelty law under which Bright was convicted was unconstitutionally vague and “failed to provide sufficient standards for enforcement by law enforcement.”

The 1994 Legislature amended the law to remove the ambiguity.

Bright was convicted after authorities reported numerous dogs at the kennel she operated were in terrible shape and living in unhealthy conditions. The dogs, mostly Yorkies, were covered with fleas and their own feces. The eyes of some suffered chemical burns from urine-soaked bedding.

Her lawyer, Jim Freely, said she moved to California after her conviction, which prompted hate mail.

Bright has leukemia and may not live long enough to be retried, Freely and prosecutors said.