Johnson County v. Kriz, 96-619

• Decision Date: 22 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-619,96-619
• Parties: JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa, Appellee, v. Sue KRIZ, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 759

582 N.W.2d 759

JOHNSON COUNTY, Iowa, Appellee, v. Sue KRIZ, Appellant.

No. 96-619.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

April 22, 1998.

Rehearing Denied June 15, 1998.

Robert J. Hearity of Hearity Law Firm, Waterloo, for appellant.

Anne Lahey, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by LARSON, P.J., and CARTER, SNELL, ANDREASEN, and TERNUS, JJ.

LARSON, Justice.

The Johnson County District Court found approximately fifty monkeys owned by Sue Kriz to be neglected because they were deprived of food, water, sanitation, and medical care. See Iowa Code § 717B.3 (1995). The court ordered the monkeys to be sold or placed in approved sanctuaries or zoos. Kriz appealed, claiming that the court lacked statutory authority to make that disposition. We affirm.

I. The Facts.

Kriz confined these monkeys in a combination residence and monkey facility. In December 1995 the Johnson County Sheriff's Office received a report of a possible prowler on the Kriz premises. When officers arrived, they found no prowler, but they found such deplorable living conditions for the monkeys that they made a return trip, this time with a veterinarian. See Iowa Code § 717B.5 (law enforcement officer may, after consulting with veterinarian, enter premises to rescue neglected animals).

At about the time the sheriff's department became interested in what was going on at the Kriz residence, Kriz took four monkeys, two alive and two dead, to area veterinary clinics. The veterinarians found that the monkeys were suffering from serious lack of care, and necropsies performed on the dead monkeys confirmed that. Meanwhile, sheriff's deputies continued to investigate the condition of the residence and the monkeys. The officers' testimony and numerous photographs taken on the premises revealed inhumane living conditions. According to one veterinarian, "[t]he facility was totally unacceptable; ventilation, the trash, feces all over the floor. It was just the most awful thing I've ever seen."

The facility had been designed to separate the monkey area from Kriz's residence, but several monkeys were living in the residence, along with a rabbit, birds, and even a prairie dog. Rats, both dead and alive, were found in the monkey area. The whole building was permeated with a stifling odor of ammonia and animal waste. Animal feces covered the floors. The facility was infested with flies. All of the monkeys appeared to be malnourished. A lack of fresh monkey feces showed that they had not been recently fed or watered.

Kriz, apparently realizing that their health was in danger, had been attempting to arrange placement of the monkeys with a half-sister, Peggy Parker, who was renovating her pet shop in Guthrie Center to house them temporarily. After the sheriff's inspection and before the Guthrie Center placement materialized, Kriz agreed to allow the animal facility at the University of Iowa to house them on a temporary basis.

On December 16, 1995, all of the monkeys were transported to the University of Iowa, where veterinarians confirmed them to be malnourished. Three were given immediate critical care, but one died. The dead monkey was found to be emaciated and anorexic and had shigella flexneri, which is a disease communicable to humans. Two monkeys died soon thereafter, one from a blockage to its colon that was determined to be a blanket or towel that the monkey had attempted to eat. Veterinarians tested all of the monkeys and found one more with shigella flexneri and four with salmonella. One or two had hypoglycemia.

After the monkeys were transported to the university, efforts were made to allow Kriz to make arrangements for a more permanent placement because the placement with the university was to be temporary. However, Kriz was unable or unwilling to cooperate in another placement, resulting in the filing of these proceedings for rescue of neglected animals under Iowa Code chapter 717B.

On January 3, 1996, the Johnson County attorney filed a petition against Kriz, alleging that she had neglected the monkeys and requesting an order for their disposition. See Iowa Code § 717B.4. Peggy Parker, Kriz's half-sister, petitioned to intervene and requested that the court release the monkeys to her until conditions at the Kriz facility improved.

The district court heard the matter in equity and ruled that the half-sister had no standing to intervene; it dismissed her petition of intervention. It ordered that "the Johnson County Attorney's Office, with the advice and recommendations of [two veterinarians], shall sell or place the primates in approved, certified sanctuaries and/or licensed or approved zoos." Kriz moved under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 179(b) to modify the ruling by ordering that the monkeys be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. She also asked that she be relieved from payment of any additional costs. (She had previously posted a $2160 bond, which the court forfeited.) The court denied the request to auction the monkeys, but it granted Kriz's request to be relieved of any additional costs.

Veterinarians at the university, together with the county attorney, developed a plan for placing the monkeys to comply with the court's order. However, Kriz filed this appeal before the plan could be implemented. We assume that the monkeys are still in the care of the university, pursuant to the parties' initial agreement for their temporary care.

II. The Neglect Statute.

The statutory definitions of animal neglect, procedures for seizing the animals, and provisions for their disposition are found in Iowa Code chapter 717B. Iowa Code section 717B.3 defines the offense of neglect and provides for criminal punishment:

1. A person who impounds or confines, in any place, an animal is guilty of animal neglect, if the person does any of the following: fails to supply the animal during confinement with a sufficient quantity of food or water ... or tortures, deprives of necessary sustenance, mutilates, beats, or kills an animal by any means which causes unjustified pain, distress, or suffering.

Section 717B.3 provides for criminal penalties, but no criminal charges are involved in this appeal. Further, Kriz does not challenge the court's finding of neglect, so the only issue is whether the court's order that the monkeys be sold or placed in "approved, certified sanctuaries and/or licensed or approved zoos" was authorized by statute. Kriz says that this disposition was not authorized and that only a public auction or destruction of the animals is allowed.

III. The Court's Disposition Order.

Iowa Code section 717B.4 discusses the disposition of neglected animals. Subsection 1 provides for "the immediate disposition ... [presumably destruction as provided by section 717B.4...