Oneida County woman to serve weekends in jail for animal cruelty charges

This is a photo of Sapphire, one of two dogs at the center of an animal abuse case in Verona.


An Oneida County woman arrested on animal cruelty charges in August will serve 10 weekends in jail and pay more than $3,300 in fines.

Bridget LaClaire, 49, of 5076 Route 365, Verona, was sentenced Tuesday night in town of Verona Court. She was charged in August with two counts of animal cruelty and one count of harboring an unlicensed dog – all misdemeanors under state Agriculture and Markets law - after sheriff's deputies found two dogs on her property chained outside without food and water.

Deputies said they found one dog, a white pit bull named Sapphire, chained to a tree by a choke collar so tight it ripped into his neck. A deputy used bolt cutters to free the dog; the wound was infected with maggots, deputies said. A second dog, a huskie named Sunday, was also taken from the property.

The case has been publicized on a Facebook page created by Sapphire's new owner, called "Sapphire's New Life." The page encouraged followers to contact the judge in Verona and Oneida Healthcare, where LaClaire works as a nurse, calling for her to receive the maximum sentence and lose her nursing license.

The dog's new owner, Kim Strong, attended Tuesday night's sentencing with Sapphire in tow, and called the decision "precedent setting." She applauded the judge for "enforcing the laws and not giving criminals a chance to do it again because they are a first-time offender."

"This is a huge win for us," she wrote on the Facebook page after court.

Supporters of LaClaire said the sentence was inappropriate because the prosecutor and the county probation department recommended no jail time.

Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Steven Feiner said he initially recommended a plea deal that called for 45 days of house arrest and three years probation.

The probation department came back with a "completely different recommendation," Feiner said. LaClaire said the probation department recommended no jail time and that the charges be dropped.

He said "the court is always free to accept or reject" the recommendation of the probation department or the prosecutor. He said LaClaire had the option to revoke her guilty plea and go to trial after the judge changed the sentence.

Verona Town Justice Randall D. Smith and probation officials could not be reached for comment.

LaClaire said she chained her two dogs outside last summer after her niece moved in with her four small children, ranging in age from 3 to 10.

"The dogs were jumping all over the little ones," she said. "Putting child safety first, we put the dogs outside."

She said Sapphire and Sunday were on a 20-foot chain under a tree, which was shaded, allowing them to run along the length of the yard. She said the dogs were fed, watered and walked each day.

LaClaire said the town's dog control officer recommended the "choke collar" for Sapphire after a neighbor filed a complaint that the dog had been escaping.

Less than four days later, LaClaire said, sheriff's deputies came to her door with the dog control officer and took the dogs away. LaClaire said Sapphire was on the chain collar for less than 24 hours.

"It doesn't get that bad that fast," she said.

LaClaire said she met with a probation officer this fall, who listened to her story and told her the case should be dropped.

Feiner said LaClaire's account of the incident to probation officials "doesn't jive with the evidence we have."

LaClaire said she has received threatening letters from animal rights advocates. She said she took the plea deal to protect her children from a trial.

"It was an accidental thing," she said.

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