4-H club queen cleared of animal abuse

LAPEER, Mich. – A judge dismissed animal cruelty charges Monday against a 4-H club queen who had been accused with her family of torturing and killing animals at the family’s farm.

Lapeer District Judge Laura Barnard said she dismissed the charges because of a lease showing that Kate Mills, 20, did not live at home at the time of the March arrests.

Mills was living in East Lansing, where she is a full-time preveterinary student at Michigan State University.

Charges remain in place for her father, Mark Mills, 46; mother, Ellen Mills, 44; and brother, Andrew Mills, 19.

The family was arrested after animal control officers removed seven dead lambs, a dead horse and three undernourished dogs from the farm in Imlay Township, about 45 miles north of Detroit.

They were each charged with a felony count of torturing and killing animals and misdemeanor charges of animal abandoning and cruelty, improper animal burial and having an unlicensed dog.

Family attorney David Richardson said he believes there are problems with several of the more serious charges against the family.

But he said he was pleased with the judge’s dismissal of the charges against Kate Mills.

“Now she can go on with her education and pursue her degree and not have this following her around,” he said.

A message seeking comment from Lapeer County Chief Prosecutor Byron Konschuh was left Monday afternoon.

Kate Mills had been suspended and faced losing her crown if she had been convicted. L.C. Scramlin, an Oakland County 4-H Club board member, said the board could reinstate Mills’ title as queen in a vote June 18.