Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Justice for Meko as killer dog groomer faces jury

Episode Date: November 1, 2018

When Eric Francis picked up Meko from the dog groomer he soon realized his friend's dog was dying. People who witnessed what happened to Meko came forward to describe horrific abuse at the hands of Georgia groomer Michelle Root. Nancy Grace looks at this animal abuse case and others with g reporter and animal rights advocate Jane Velez Mitchell -- creator of the animal rights website JaneUnchained.com, Atlanta lawyer Claudine Wilkins, Atlanta lawyer Penny Douglas-Furr, and Eric Francis. They are also joined by Tulare County, California, Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, who arrested 2 men who allegedly hanged and tortured dogs. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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investigating Miko's death in October, they received even more complaints against Root. That led to another investigation and in the grand jury's indictment, a second charge. Root allegedly caused physical harm to a dog named Little Boy, which led to his spleen rupturing. Miko was sweet as can be. He would sleep on my pillow every night. Evidence and details now being released in the trial of a well-respected pet groomer. But what happened to the pet? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. The most vulnerable in our society, tortured, mistreated, actually dead. Right now, a jury is hearing evidence in the trial of Michelle Louise Root, a dog groomer, a well-respected dog groomer, who has been charged with two counts of animal cruelty. Straight out to our friend, Jay Melez Mitchell, founder of janeunchained.com. Jane, in a nutshell,

what happened to Miko? Well, Miko was being groomed, and witnesses told police they saw Miko being choked, kicked in the head, bounced off the wall October 7th during this grooming session. And what happened was when the man who was friends of the dog's owner came to pick the dog up, they said allegedly, oh, he must have had a seizure. And another thing that he was told was, oh, he's just really relaxed. Indeed, they were grooming a dead dog on the table. And the woman who runs this facility is now in court because she's the one who allegedly did commit all this violence on this dog. Jane Velez, just hold on just a moment, guys. I've just got to take in what she's saying. Grooming a dead dog.

I've got to tell you guys. First, let me introduce my guests. I've got carried away about me. Jane Velez, Mitchel with me, my longtime colleague, JaneUnchained.com. Alan Duke, of course, joining me from L.A. Longtime colleague, attorney Claudine Wilkins, animal law expert, founder of AnimalLawSource.org, veteran trial lawyer Penny Douglas-Furr of the Atlanta jurisdiction, Eric Francis, a witness in this case and founder of JusticeForMiko.com,

Justice for the number four, Miko.com. To you, Eric Francis, I'm just reeling, and this is so significant. I just wanted to tell you recently, we are a house full of pets here. We've got a rescue dog, Fat Boy. He was billed as a thoroughbred dachshund. He's so not. He's a thoroughbred mutt, but he's got the heart of a lion we have the rescue cat cinnamon and we have now two rescue guineas i mean i didn't even know they existed from oakhurst guinea pig rescue yes abby and chloe who run my life the other day i was with the twins and we were at um i guess pet smart or you know one of the. And I saw a dog getting groomed.

And they had a collar around the dog's neck attached to like a chain or something tethered. So the dog couldn't move while it was being shaved. And all three of us stood there and went, that doesn't look right. But I know that that is an accepted method of grooming so the dog doesn't like bite you or run away, get cut. I don't understand what happened to Miko. Is it Miko or Mika? It's Miko, M-E-K-O. And I just need to let you know that the owner of Miko just stepped out of the courtroom and was whispering in my ear about what's going on. So the trial is actively happening as we speak. Eric Francis, tell me what happened. To make it as concise as I can, the owner asked me to pick up her dog. When I arrived, Miko was laying on the table.

One of Michelle's groomers was grooming the dog, who after I walked over to him, I discovered that he was dead or he was in the midst of dying. We rushed him to the hospital, the emergency vet. He was pronounced dead. We didn't know anything had happened until about 15 minutes later, we got a call from the coming police department saying that they needed us to come to the police department that they had had a witness come forward with a statement saying that they had witnessed the alleged michelle root abusing the dog and actually killing him in the shop i don't get it i just i don't understand too claudine wilkins joining me animal law expert founder of animal law source.org. Claudine, you're a very well-respected lawyer and you've

devoted your life to saving animals. I don't understand why somebody would have a grooming business. This one was called the Posh, P-A-W apostrophe S-H, Posh Paws, incoming, now arrested, now on trial. Why would you even have a business if you don't like animals we see this a lot nancy unfortunately i mean we we see a lot of victims of child molestation in the setting where uh people are teachers and and it's it's beyond understanding but keep in mind this this person has also been charged for the similar event just a year before. So this is a pattern here. And not knowing anything about the defendant, she's obviously taking out her aggressions on her very own voiceless clients. And somebody has to do something about it. I would have liked to have seen someone arrest her back in 2016 when little boy, the dog that was also killed, ruptured spleen and so on.

I mean, these reports go back to 2000 when she worked at PetSmart as a groomer there. So we see a lot of this happening because the victim can't speak. And they know if they get away away with it they keep continuing to do it it's repetitive behavior there's something going wrong well frankly claudine i really think there's something wrong with them in the mind if these allegations are true guys this has gone to a full-on jury trial five women nine men in the jury were sworn in by Superior Court Judge David Dickinson to take a listen to the evidence. And I was listening as the district attorney, the ADA, Michael Mahoney, in his opening statements was talking about trust. That that is what allows us to take our pets to a groomer.

We trust the dog will be cared for. That they will be treated safely, respectfully. We trust it won't be beaten kicked brutalized choked and that's what people expected from this woman but according to the prosecutor two employees these are not just bystanders these are employees come forward and state that this woman root dragged a dog named Miko through the halls of the store slamming it into walls kicking and choking it until it died she got the dog out front then put it on the table hung it up too high for

its paws I guess in that manner I was describing that I saw at one of the chains and the dog choked it ch choked to death. To Eric Francis, a witness in this case, he is telling us today about justiceformico.com. Eric, what's your understanding of how Mico died exactly? My understanding from the NERCROPSY report is that he had bruises around his neck. He had multiple hematomas or ruptures of blood vessels through his body. I actually had to step out while the UGA professor that was giving the report on the necropsy to take the phone call and actually speak with you. So I'm not exactly, I read the necropsy report, but it's very hard to get through because

from what I read as a novice medical person, and I look at the evidence from the description of what happens, it pretty much matches up. But the reason that little boy was, the case for little boy was brought was because of the evidence that we brought forward and made public with through Justice for MECO and then people started connecting the dots. One of the biggest challenges is that the punishment for animal abuse is so little. We need to make it stronger. We need to make the punishment strong oh stop right there stop right there please eric eric francis with me you said the name little boy who's little boy i'm sorry uh the the the dog prior a year prior that had been killed uh that she's charged with two

felony counts okay i need to hear I need to hear the whole thing. Start at the beginning. I got the story of Miko from Jane Velez Mitchell, but could you explain to me how the whole thing started, Eric Francis? So there's not just one dead dog? How many are there? Well, there's two felony animal abuse charges against her. One is for Miko, and the other one is for a dog that had happened one year earlier called Little Boy.

Is a well-respected dog groomer, a female dog groomer who ran the business, Paj Paj, now on trial for two felony counts? How many dogs are dead? We first heard about it here at Crime Stories when we found out about justiceformico.com. But now we're learning there are more dead dogs? Right now, back to Eric Francis, a witness in the case that is happening right now in a felony courtroom. Eric, how many dogs allegedly died at the hands of this dog? I don't even want to say groomer because if this is true, she's diabolical.

How many dogs are dead, Eric? Well, the Forsyth County Police Department charged her with two counts of felony animal abuse, one for our dog, Miko, and another for a dog approximately a year earlier named Little Boy. Okay, who is Little Boy and how did that happen? Same way grooming? Little Boy, from the testimony that I heard in the courtroom, Little Boy was dropped off to be groomed and in perfectly healthy condition. At some point, the owner of Posh Paws called the owner of Little Boy and said, this dog has bruises all over him and he's lethargic. They rushed over to get him. They rushed him to two different hospitals in which they found out that he had bruises all over his body. I believe it was a broken rib, a ruptured spleen, and he was euthanized because of the rupture in his spleen. The owner didn't want him to go through any more suffering.

How do you drop your dog off just to get groomed and it ends up with broken ribs and ruptured spleen? My fellow dog lover joining me right now, longtime and veteran trial lawyer, Penny Douglas-Furr, who the first time I was ever in Penny's house, let me just say I was greeted at the front door by about five Rottweilers running, let me just say wild, through her house. She doesn't think so. They sleep in the bed. They get treats of peanut butter bombs. I mean, they get treated better than most people get treated. That's when I found out her deep love for animals. Then I found out she has pro bono for free handled so many animal cases she's turned into an expert penny you know i i'm so worried about fat boy and cinnamon do you know we wash them and bathe

them and take care of them ourselves i mean if i have to go on a vacation with the twins i used to board them now i i have somebody come in and feed them and take care of them because I'm so worried. Well, my husband says we spend more money having the animals taken care of than we spend on our vacation. He said the main cost of our vacation is taking care of the animals. But this is not the first time. We were called a few years ago on another case where a dog was killed by a groomer and I don't think it was intentional they just had that dog with the thing around his neck the leash around his neck they walked off and left him he tried to jump off the table and it strangled

him to death wait a minute Penny I can only compare this to when I would change the twins' diapese or put them on a changing table. I mean, there's a little fence, a fence, a wall, a barrier, so they can't roll off for Pete's sake. Well, they don't have that that I know of with dog groomers. And I remember these people wanted to file a civil suit. The problem is, Nancy, that in Georgia at at least, and in some other states also, animals are considered property. So if it's a mixed breed or a rescue, they don't consider it worth more than, say, $40 or $50. Oh, my stars. Oh, my stars. For a civil suit, they get $50. So we've got to do something to change the value.

We've had a case already go to the Supreme Court of Georgia, and they found that, yes, you can get your vet bills back, but if your dog's dead, there's no vet bills. And we have to treat dogs other than just as property. Well, I want to also go to Jane Velez Mitchell, founder of JaneUnchained.com, who champions animals' rights. I mean, Jane, if this were a person with broken ribs and a ruptured spleen and they die that way, then we find out that this was not the first time. Incident reports have been filed with the local police department in Cumming alleging that during the incident, she, Michelle Root, caused the death of Miko by kicking him and choking the dog with a lead. And then we find out there was another incident where the dog's spleen was ruptured. What I

wonder is how many other dogs have died at her hands. Nancy, people are coming out of the woodwork calling law enforcement. They said, hey, if anybody has had a similar experience and people are just calling and calling, this could go back decades. They are reportedly protesting outside the store where all of this allegedly happened. And this is a very common, common, tragic story. And your other guest is absolutely right. It will continue as long as animals are considered mere property. That's why there's a whole move, an actual organization called the Non-Human Rights Project that is fighting in court to have animals considered non-human persons. Once they get personhood they have more right joining me Eric Francis a witness in the case Eric ever since justice for Miko was started you can log on I'm looking at it right now justice for the number four in e ko dot-com ever since that came out and proponents including you of Miko's, asking to change the law happened,

people are coming out of the woodwork, just like Jane Velez said, multiple calls coming in from other potential victims that go all the way back to the early 2000s. Are all of these allegations against the same person, Michelle Louise Root? Well, from what I saw yesterday from the two police officers when they walked in, they each had about a four-inch file that they were going through. So eight inches of testimony that they had to go through. A lot of this, like I said, is once you start connecting the dots, people really started wondering, you know, why was it that I had to take my dog to the vet right after I picked him up from her? Or there were other instances of not necessarily death, but cuts, bruises, things that they really couldn't figure out how it happened.

And I understand from talking to groomers that, you know, nicking a dog or a cat or an animal while you're grooming them can happen. But it's all in what you do after the fact. It's the follow-up. How do you handle it? You can look at situations that are going with some of the big box retailers now that have had 48 deaths across the nation from one of the pet places. That's a big box grooming facility. When you're saying big box grooming, what are you talking about exactly? The pet smart places like that. Yeah.

Oh, like the chains. Yeah. The chains. And what about the chains? Well, it just, it's troubling that they, you know, that they allow, that they allow this stuff to go on. The trial is happening right now. Claudine Wilkins, who worked with me in the Fulton County District Attorney's Office, that's how I first met her, now the proponent with an animal law expert with AnimalLawSource.org.

Here's the thing. Remember when we would put together felony trials, Claudine, and I would go and speak with each witness and assess their credibility on the stand. If you look at this woman, Claudine, this is going to be a problem for the state. She looks like a soccer mom. She's got the long, frosted hair. I mean, she's all preppied out. She looks like who you would see in some private school drop-off line, dropping off her soccer kids.

And when people see someone like that, Claudine, it's hard for them to merge what they're seeing with the cold, hard facts from the stand about kicking and beating and choking a helpless dog on purpose that's a problem for the state claudine it is it is a problem now her mugshot i would say doesn't reflect too much of that but i would say this she obviously has something disturbing going on and these poor voiceless animals were her whipping post and i think miko's justice comes from the fact that witnesses got to see it. Imagine if there's more and no one got to see it.

We'll never hear about those cases. But she's been a groomer, according to the report, since 2000. I believe there's probably more out there, but, you know, we'll see. And I can tell you that finally in Georgia our laws changed to include felony. And we were one of the last states to get felonies. And we revamped our laws just recently because you could literally torture an animal for as long as you had the animal. But if you did not maim it, disfigure it, or kill it, you would never be charged as a felon. But that's changed since 2014. And she's looking at some serious time here. can't disfigure it or kill it, you would never be charged as a felon.

But that's changed since 2014. And she's looking at some serious time here. And I, you know, this case has gotten some notoriety, which is great. But we, I get cases every day. Just yesterday, a horse was stabbed with a stick. And they're wondering if they should charge it as a felony. And the answer is absolutely. Well, of course yes I was reading the other about two or three days ago actually where a man had sex assaulted a dog over and over and over until the dog became so hostile they

euthanized the dog they could not rehabilitate the dog anymore if that guy does not go to jail for at least 20 years i i'm just gonna i'm gonna lead a protest and now in this case investigators searching michelle louise roots business and residents after police receive reports of other possible pet victims going all the way back to the early 2000s. The first set of charges and claims began when Root allegedly brutally kicks, drags, and chokes a customer's dog that later died in an animal hospital. And I'm getting that from a police report. Justiceformico.com. The trial is happening now.

To you, Claudine, if she's found guilty and the judge sentences her consecutively, in other words, one sentence following the next, not running concurrently at the same time, how much time can Root do behind bars? For a first offense felony, she's looking at up to five years for the second offense, up to 10 years. And those could be consecutive, so 15. The trial goes on as more claims pour in to the sheriff's office. Window treatments is one of those terms for something necessary but boring your blinds you don't even think about them unless you move or they break well when they're right everything in

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blinds.com. And now for a limited time, get 20% off everything at blinds.com when you use promo code Nancy. Repeat, 20% off everything at blinds.com if code nancy for 20 off everything faux wood blinds cellular shades roller shades everything blinds.com promo code nancy rules and restrictions do apply crime stories with nancy grace Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The Tulare County Sheriff's Office says these two men, Angel Valencia and his nephew, 18-year-old Carlos Rivera, killed their own dogs at a property near Orosi. The reason? Authorities say they believe the dogs, a German Shepherd mix and a a husky killed their baby pigs. When deputies showed up, they found the two dead dogs and the two suspects, their clothes stained with blood. As we wait for a verdict in the trial of a female pet groomer now charged with two counts, including dead pets she was grooming, we now go across the country and alleged dog killers, more dog killers charged with animal cruelty.

Two men have been arrested for hanging dogs. Hanging dogs. Who would want to even do that? Hanging dogs and beating them to death with sticks. According to the Tulare County Sheriff, and joining me right now is the Tulare County Sheriff, Sheriff Michael Boudreaux. What an honor to have you on in a cause that is very dear to my heart. You know, I've been telling pet stories the whole time we've been on the air, but I've got to tell you one more, and this is about a cat.

And Claudine Wilkins is with me, Penny Douglas-Furr with me, Alan Duke with me, and Jane Velez-Mitchell. Most of you know of Coco and Penny. You actually helped me search for Coco, and it almost caused me a split with my now husband when Coco went missing on his watch, and I was out of town in D.C. doing Larry King. Penny Douglas-Furr, and I still have the posters, Penny, that we put up all over the neighborhood. I told David if he didn't, that cat was not found, we were splitting up. That was it because he had Coco. Coco went missing on his watch. It was his fault. Penny, it's not funny. I mean, I could hardly, I could hardly get on the air that night. I was filling in for Larry King and all I could think about was, and the cat,

David's nephew, and I'll let him be named, slammed the cat's tail in the door at a Christmas party one time, in the screen door. The tail had to be amputated, and I still have the poster that says, solid black cat, green eyes, no tail, $500 reward. Well, we found the cat, the cat, my beloved Coco, and I was not a cat person at all. In fact, I was highly allergic, but he kept coming to David's door in Midtown Atlanta begging for milk, and I would feed the cat. Finally, I fell in love, and I just took him, and he became my love, and he stayed with me for 18 years and throughout my pregnancy he would keep me going and right after the twins were born he went to heaven. And let me just say I obviously became a cat person. You know pets mean so much to

people and to think, uh oh sheriff sorry, to think that somebody could do this to a pet, it just hurts me so badly. Sheriff, I'm going to have to let you tell the facts of this case as you know them because they're just horrible. You bet. It's just really shocking to the senses here. We're in central California. We're right in the middle of California. We produce a great deal of agriculture for the nation. We love our animals here. In this case, it was truly shocking to the senses. Even when it hit our local media, there was people

just outraged and rightfully so. What happened is, is we had two neighbors. They were in dispute with each other. There was some allegations of, you know, some harmed animals and such. So these two suspects in this case, Angel Perez Valencia and Carlos Rivera, they decide to take the neighbor's dogs and they hang them by the necks one by one up in a tree like an old Western movie. Truly disgusting. The animals were flailing about, gasping for air as they hung by the neck. And that, just to make it even worse, what they began to do is both of the men began beating the dogs with sticks like a piñata until they were dead. It was gruesome to say the least, and they did it one by one.

All of this being on video as neighbors began videoing from cell phones and such in modern day as we do things as you could imagine one of the ladies describes that she could no longer even video from her kitchen window she had to close the drapes because she was becoming nauseous just from the actions that was taking place wait did anybody call 9-1-1 share did anybody call? Did anybody call 911 while this was happening? Initially, no. The woman who pulled the drapes closed, she was just so disgusted and she felt sick. But fortunately, another neighbor filming, they did in fact call and we respond. By the time we get there, both dogs had already been killed, but we had to search for the dogs. But it was

almost like a homicide scene because there was a tremendous amount of blood everywhere. We did find one suspect right away. It was blood all over his clothing. It was pretty gruesome. In one of the cases, the dog, it just was not dying as it was hanging from its noose. And what took place next is almost unbearable to even speak of. But they took pruning shears to the neck, trying to completely decapitate the animal. We came in.

We had animal control come in. We made two felony arrests. Here in California, it's a felony. They're facing very serious jail time in reference to this, and right now they sit in my county jail. With me right now is a very special guest who is joining us on these horrific animal cruelty cases, Sheriff Michael Boudreau in Tulare County. Sheriff, from my understanding, it was about 8 p.m. when your deputies were called to an address off on in Rossi regarding animal cruelty they found two dead dogs a beautiful German Shepherd and an

Alaskan Husky I slowed down on Alaskan Husky because my dog is as I've said a mix we were told he was a pure breed dachshund. I don't know what fat boy he is. I think he's part Dachshund, part Doberman. I'm not sure really what he is, but my daughter, when she first dreamed of a dog, wanted an Alaskan Husky, and she even has t-shirts with Huskies on them. They're so beautiful with the beautiful blue eyes and i i've never seen animals quite like a husky and um we grew up with our neighbors and relatives having german shepherd dogs that were so loyal and so loving to think of these dogs being hung up and beaten like a pinata I mean Sheriff Boudreaux who are these guys are they why would they do this well you know

that that truly was a difficult question for all of us to ask you know here in California we're actually not able to ask, you know, where you're from or immigration status or any of that nature. So we're not even able to dove into that. But they did make comments

that from where they're from, this is how things are done. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. Now, listen, to me, crime is apolitical. I never take a position on crime. I'm a republican i'm not a democrat and frankly i don't like either party i think all politicians lie and i've always shied away from anything close to politics because i'd rather try

a serial killer than deal with politics that's how i feel about it. But I hear what you're saying. See, I don't have those restrictions. I can just tell the truth as I know it. What I think I'm hearing is that these two are illegal immigrants. That is neither here nor there. But I wonder if what they're saying is, hey, this is okay where we come from. What, are they trying to say they didn't know this was wrong to hang a pet and beat it like a pinata seriously that's their defense oh penny douglas fur okay you're the animal

expert lawyer but you're also a defense attorney fat chance that working on it with a jury i didn't know it was wrong well that won't go anywhere nancy forget it you know we we don't we don't get into that at all either you know we don't get into the politics of it all we want fair justice for everyone no matter where you're from but the point being is back to your original uh statement is you know i think that was their defense they knew it was wrong um you know when one guy is hiding behind cars from us, you know, his defense does not hold water at all. They knew what they were doing was wrong. The entire neighborhood knew what they were doing was wrong. And, you know, they just tried to give a good defense. But that's not going to

work. No. And this is not about where they're from or who they are or their nationality. You know what? Lady Justice is blind. And I feel the same way as Lady Justice. I don't care who they are or their nationality. You know what? Lady Justice is blind, and I feel the same way as Lady Justice. I don't care who you are or where you're from. You do something like this, you're going to jail. Now they're trying to claim that these two dogs had attacked some baby pigs. Is that true? I don't know. Yeah, that's some of the argument they're trying to put out there,

but there's no proof of that. There's no evidence to support what they're saying. We did find some pigs that were dead along a canal bank several hundred yards away from the crime scene. But again, I think back to the two points, they're trying to develop their defense in this case. And, you know, if you saw the pictures, Nancy, they're so gruesome, there's nothing that would justify the actions of these people. Well, also, we are learning through forensics that they apparently dragged the dogs by the ropes before they hung them, then beat them dead like they were piñatas. I'm trying to get my mind wrapped around this too.

Jane Velez Mitchell, founder of JaneUnchained.com that champions animals' rights around the world. Jane, weigh in. Well, I will say that often people become callous. I don't know what these men did for a living. It's possible they might have worked in the farm industry there because in farming there are routine cruelties that are not even illegal. They castrate animals without anesthesia.

They cut off their tails. It's called tail docking. So there's all sorts of tortures that are happening every day to billions of animals right here in the United States that are extraordinarily gruesome. And the people right here in the United States that are extraordinarily gruesome. And the people who work in that industry often become callous to it. It's sort of the way, it's just the way business is done. And that's something we all have to wake up to. And so when we talk about cultural attitudes toward animals. Americans are decent people, but what happens where they can't

see is unbelievably horrific. And we only catch these cases because they involve dogs and cats. But most animals in America are not dogs and cats. They're cows and pigs and chickens and turkeys and goats and lambs. And what's done to them institutionally is torture. One at a time, Sheriff Mike Boudreau says Valencia and Rivera used a rope to hang the dogs from a tree and then beat them with sticks. At one point, the men noticed one of the dogs was still alive. What the sheriff says they did next is even more disturbing. It appears that they took some type of cutting instrument to begin cutting the dog's head off. They took some type of cutting instrument to begin cutting the dog's head off.

They took some type of cutting instrument to begin cutting the dog's head off. Shocking to say the least. Their demeanor was not as if they felt they should be in trouble. They didn't feel as if they had done really anything wrong. It was really alarming to the officers on scene, as you can imagine. Right now, two Tulare County men are charged with animal cruelty. Do you think, to Sheriff Michael Boudreau joining us, do you think this will actually go to trial? And if so, and they're found guilty, what could they possibly

face behind bars? Well, they're looking at some serious time. It's difficult. You know, in the court system, as you know, there's a lot of plea bargaining that takes place, a lot of effort to try to keep it going to trial. I think there's so much evidence against these two men, I would argue that it likely will never go to trial. There's not much defense in this. And so the plea would probably come in. So that makes it difficult to judge. But I know that we've had cases in the past where men have faced eight and ten, twelve years. And so in these two cases, our district attorney here is really aggressive when it comes to cruelty to animals, and they're seeking a very aggressive prosecution in this case, and I would argue that it would likely be pled. But they're minimally, they're looking at anywhere between eight and ten years. Let me ask you this, Sheriff.

How did your sheriffs react? What did they say about the scene? What did they find when they got there? Well, when they did get there, as I had mentioned before, it appeared to be a very serious crime scene, much like a homicide. There was blood everywhere. There was evidence with the sticks. There was blood on the sticks that were used. When I say sticks, they weren't tree limbs. These were like large boards that was used against them. There were pruning shears with blood all over them. It was quite the massacre. And so to hear them describe it and then see it on video,

it was, man, horrific to say the least. And the deputies described it as such. You know, when I was researching these stories, I saw photos of animals of dogs with their mouths duct-taped shut and their feet duct taped together and when you pull up one story like this and research it it pulls up so many more you know I just don't understand the thinking of someone to you Claudine Wilkins with AnimalLawSource.org. How humans can treat animals this way?

It's hard to swallow, Nancy. It's indicative of the behavior in the deprived mind. We have in Georgia, for example, our law changed. Our felony law came into existence because of a dog named Honey. And the dog was burned over 80% of his body on purpose for fun. And three years later, the same young man that did that to this dog committed murder. So there is a direct correlation to this. And you said something earlier about a man abusing a dog in a sexual act. What people don't know is human trafficking and child porn is a very serious

issue we're all dealing with. And I'm astounded that the folks in law enforcement don't give enough attention to this particular crime because it's completely correlated to abusing children. I mean, I can tell you this. We had a gentleman who spoke at one of my symposiums. 100% of the cases he investigated on crimes against animals involving sexual acts, 100% of the cases he investigated led to a child porn ring because of the videotaping and the selling of those videotapes. There's a serious depravity going on here. And we all know that if we took our own pet and stuck his paw on the oven, we know the animals feel pain. We know that they can't speak. We know that they look to us to protect them. And we have to protect them. With me is Claudine Wilkins, our friend Jane Velez Mitchell, Penny Douglas Furr, and our special guest Sheriff Michael Boudreaux. I can't thank you enough. As we go to air right now, we are learning there is a verdict in the case of the Forsyth County dog groomer

charged in multiple counts of killing dogs she was grooming. A verdict has been handed down. multiple counts of killing dogs she was grooming. A verdict has been handed down. The dog groomer has been found guilty. Guilty. And joining me right now, animal activist Penny Douglas-Furr and Eric Francis. Eric, what is your reaction to the fact that she has been found guilty on one of the counts? Great. I can't express my feelings enough to let you know that the truth did prevail and the jury did hear the truth from the witnesses. As we go to air, victim impact statements are being introduced into court. This verdict has just happened. We are talking about Michelle Louise Root,

who, according to this jury, has attacked, mistreated, killed pets under the guise of grooming them. To Penny Douglas-Furr, attorney and animal activist joining us out of Atlanta. Penny, what happened in court? Well, Nancy, the jury came back with a guilty on Miko and not guilty on little boy. And I believe that the reason for that is that little boy was not reported for almost a year.

And I think that tells people that if you believe that your dog has been abused, you need to report it immediately do not wait because the evidence goes away as we know Miko's death was reported immediately but little boys didn't come out until a year later so I just want to encourage people to make sure and come forward if they believe their animals are being abused. at justice4mico.com, and that's justice4mico.com. Tell me about Mico, Eric Francis, and what is your understanding of what Michelle Louise Root did to that sweet little dog? Mico was a great dog.

Let me start off there. You know, when you find an animal that you really connect with, it's almost like they're a part of your heart. They become a part of your family. They become the children that you never had or the child that you see every day. The best thing is they don't usually talk back like a teenager. But what I found when we discovered the dog was deceased and then we heard just a few minutes later that Lisa one of the dog washers had gone to the local police department and was giving a statement that what Michelle had done

was the dog had apparently jumped off the grooming table and ran to the back and was completely petrified she then went to the back and proceeded to stomp on his head, choke him, drag him around the back of the shop, bang his head against the wall, and then literally put him up on the table and put the lead so tight that it actually choked him to death. And the necropsy report mirrored exactly what we had in the witness statement, and I think that's what the jury heard, and that's why they came down with a guilty verdict. You know, I call it a medical examiner's statement.

The autopsy of the dog, Miko, found not only had he been strangled severely. He had horrible bruises on his legs, his abdomen, his head, his shoulder and neck. There was damage to his brain and his lungs and other body parts. This little dog is so precious. These big brown eyes looking up at you. It's horrible, and they're all detailed in the report where UGA did an autopsy on the dog. Everything in the groomer, Michelle Louise Root, took the stand, Penny Douglas, and I don't think that helped her at all. Well, Nancy, what blew me away was the evidence that the doctor gave that this dog had to have hung off that table between 5 and 12 minutes.

How could a dog in your business hang by his neck off the table for five to 12 minutes and nobody rushes over to get him back up on the table. How did that happen? You know, and in court, we learned that the testimony on the stand in front of this jury became very tearful. People actually breaking down and crying as they described what happened to little Miko. And former employees of this Forsyth County Pet Salon claim they looked on as the shop's owner kicked and choked Miko the dog until Miko was dead. Alan, that's the latest from that Forsyth County courtroom. Nancy, getting this now from the courtroom, the judge announcing the sentence for this dog groomer for killing Miko, five years in prison, three of them to serve, two years on probation after that, 120 hours of

community service, and this groomer can no longer ever own, groom, or deal with any animals. It seems to me that Lady Justice prevailed. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.