Linda Kapsa is out of the dog business.

Judge Susan Watters told the Ballantine woman that she can no longer breed dogs and must be under state supervision for the next two decades to ensure that she does not accumulate more animals than she can handle.

Watters told Kapsa that she could keep only three altered dogs, and she further reduced the number of chickens, goats and horses the 59-year-old woman can keep on her 10-acre property formerly known as Shady Lane Kennels.

The judge also ordered Kapsa to pay $50 a month in restitution for 20 years to partially reimburse the county for the cost of caring for the 200 dogs and other animals seized from her property in two raids in December.

Watters imposed the sentence at the conclusion of a three-hour hearing that included testimony from Kapsa and her civil attorney. Observers who filled the courtroom also heard two county officials provide the latest tally of the county's expenses since seizing Kapsa's animals, including about 200 dogs, dozens of chickens and several cats and birds.

Along with the three dogs, Kapsa will be allowed to keep only 20 chickens and 10 goats, Watters said. Kapsa had asked to keep 20 dogs and twice as many chickens and goats, which she said she uses for meat and milk for her and the dogs.

With only three dogs to feed, Watters said, Kapsa has no need for any more chickens and goats. Kapsa's only income is about $12,000 a year from Social Security benefits, the judge noted.

Watters also ordered that Kapsa sell four of her eight horses within 60 days, and she allowed Kapsa the same period to find an adoption agency or group willing to take the 20 or so English shepherds that escaped capture during the raids.

Kapsa must allow a state probation officer access to her property at any time to assess the number of animals there while she is under state supervision.

Kapsa was sentenced as a persistent felony offender to a 20-year suspended sentence to the state Department of Public Health and Human Resources. Kapsa has two prior felony convictions, and she was diagnosed recently as suffering from depression and personality disorders.

Watters said she crafted the sentence with the goal of preventing Kapsa from again accumulating more animals than she can properly care for while also allowing her access to mental-health services.

After the hearing, a prosecutor and a Humane Society official said they were satisfied with the sentence imposed in one of the state's largest animal cruelty cases.

"The total number of animals is still far, far too many," said Davie Pauli, regional director of the Human Society. "I can live with three dogs, but only under supervision."

Deputy County Attorney Ingrid Rosenquist said the case shows the need for a continued effort to revise the state's animal cruelty laws. Under current law, Kapsa faced a maximum prison sentence of two years for the felony conviction. An effort to pass an anti-hoarding bill failed during the last Legislature, she said.

Kapsa was escorted away from the public after the hearing and was not immediately available for comment. Her civil attorney, Liz Honaker, declined to comment outside the courthouse.

Kapsa testified during the hearing, telling the judge that she had spent her life raising animals for food and breeding dogs to sell. She asked the judge to allow her to keep 20 dogs, including two pair of unaltered dogs, so she could "preserve the bloodline" and give dogs to family members.

Kapsa also told the judge she should not have to pay any restitution or spend any time on probation.

"It's not like I've gone out and robbed and killed, you know?" Kapsa said. "I love my dogs."

Kapsa's court-appointed attorney, David Duke, asked the judge to impose a five-year suspended sentence. He said Kapsa should be allowed to keep up to 20 dogs, 40 goats, 20 chickens, eight horses, three cats and two cockatiels.

Duke also said Kapsa should not have to pay any restitution because county officials seized the animals when they knew that Kapsa's daughter, a veterinarian in North Carolina, had agreed to find new homes for most of Kapsa's dogs.

Yellowstone County Finance Director Scott Turner briefly testified that the county had spent a total of about $200,000 on food, shelter and veterinary care for Kapsa's animals since they were seized. The county received about $43,000 in cash donations, Turner said.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Schieno testified that many volunteers dedicated hundreds of hours to caring for Kapsa's dogs after the seizure. If the county had paid the volunteers even minimum wage, he said, the total cost would have increased by about $300,000.

Rosenquist, the prosecutor, asked Watters to limit the dogs in Kapsa's care to no more than six altered dogs. Kapsa's perception of her ability to care for animals does not reflect the reality of the conditions at her property that authorities found last December, she said.

During the raids, authorities found at least two dozen dead dogs, including several puppies, Rosenquist said. Many of the living dogs were matted in feces, and food and water bowls were empty or frozen solid.

Rosenquist responded to Kapsa's testimony that her crime was not robbery or murder.

"Well, your honor, she robbed her dogs of a normal life and she killed some of them by neglecting them," the prosecutor said.

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AFTERNOON UPDATE:

District Judge Susan Watters told Linda Kapsa today that she can no longer be in the dog business.

The judge sentenced Kapsa, a Ballantine dog breeder convicted of aggravated animal cruelty, to a suspended 20-year term with the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. Watters also limited Kapsa to keeping no more than three altered dogs on her 10-acre property.

Kapsa was also ordered to pay $50 a month in restitution for 20 years to partially reimburse the county for the cost of caring for the seized animals, which officials estimated was close to $200,000.

Watters further reduced the number of other animals Kapsa can keep on her property, saying mental health experts found Kapsa to have hoarding tendencies and a mental illness that impairs her ability to recognize when she is over-whelmed with the responsibility of animal care.

Kapsa will be allowed to keep 20 chickens and 10 goats, half the number contemplated in a plea agreement between Kapsa and the County Attorney's Office. Kapsa can also keep three altered cats and two cockatiels, and she must allow a probation officer access to her property at any time to assess the number of animals there while she is under state supervision.

Watters also said Kapsa has 60 days to sell four of her eight horses and turn over the 20 or so dogs that remain on her property after two raids in December.

Kapsa, who pleaded no contest to the felony charge last month, asked the judge to allow her to keep 20 dogs, including two pair for breeding.

"If I allowed you to have 20 unaltered dogs again we would be right back here where we started," the judge told Kapsa.

Kapsa operated an English shepherd breeding kennel called Shady lanes for years before the raids in December seized most of her dogs, which county officials said were neglected.

Kapsa was charged with two counts of aggravated animal cruelty and four related misdemeanor counts. Kapsa pleaded no contest to one of the felony charges and the remaining charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Deputy County Attorney Ingrid Rosenquist said she was satisfied with the sentence. But the case also points out the need to enact new laws in the area of animal cruelty, said Rosenquist, such as an anti-hoarding bill that failed to pass the last Legislature.

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Kapsa takes the stand at sentencing hearing

MORNING REPORT:

Linda Kapsa told a judge this morning that she would like to keep 20 dogs, including two pair for breeding, so she could benefit from their companionship and preserve the bloodline of her English shepherds.

Kapsa also told District Judge Susan Watters that she should not have to pay much in restitution or spend any time on probation after pleading no contest last month to a charge of aggravated animal cruelty.

"It's not like I've gone out and robbed and killed, you know?" Kapsa said late this morning while testifying at her sentencing hearing. "I love my dogs."

The hearing began shortly after 9:30 a.m. Watters admonished the audience that filled the courtroom that an outburst from anyone would result in that person's removal. Watters said she was aware that the case had garnered widespread public attention, but judicial ethics prohibit her from being swayed by "public clamor," she said.

Kapsa took the witness stand at about 11 a.m., following the testimony of Billings attorney Liz Honaker. Kapsa remained on the stand as the noon hour approached, explaining during cross-examination how her breeding program worked.

"If I wanted to go commercial, I could have easily done so," she told Chief Deputy County Attorney Mark Murphy.

She estimated she sold between 100 and 200 puppies a year.

Testimony began this morning with two county officials, Sheriff's Lt. Mike Schieno and Finance Director Scott Turner, who described the expense of caring for the dogs seized from Kapsa. Turner said he estimated the cost at close to $200,000, with about $43,000 received in cash donations.

Schieno said the county would have paid about $300,000 to cover the cost at minimum wage if it had to pay for the work done by volunteers caring for Kapsa's seized dogs.

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