The Hartford couple accused of having dogs in their home in poor living conditions before their arrests last month will face more animal cruelty charges as their court proceedings get underway.
Rhonda Staggs, 56, had her first appearance in Lyon County District Court on Monday and is now set for a pretrial hearing at 8:30 am Aug. 2. Staggs was originally charged with 14 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty, reflecting the conditions of the 14 wolfdogs taken from 303 East Grand on May 26. However, prosecutors added three more counts to reflect the conditions of three other non-wolfdogs at the house.
Prosecutors will use the same approach with Thomas Staggs, 58, when he has his first appearance Thursday. Thomas Staggs originally faced 14 misdemeanor animal cruelty counts and will face 17 by the time his first appearance takes place.
The dogs were removed by Lyon County deputies, Lyon County Animal Control and the private organization Guardians of the Wolves after Hartford city leadership reached out for assistance. All of them were taken to undisclosed locations. Guardians of the Wolves says there were confirmed cases of heartworm and parvovirus with at least some of the dogs, although all survived at last word.
