Aixa Rodriquez and Wilmer Fernandez can afford fancy cars, but not dog food.

[DogMom]

Aixa Rodriquez



Wilmer Fernandez

Prosecutors want jail time for accused dog abusers

TAMPA, FL -- A Carrollwood couple who drove nice cars and appeared to live well while five dogs inside their home were found nearly starved to death have been offered a plea bargain that includes years in jail.

Aixa Rodriquez and Wilmer Fernandez face felony animal cruelty charges after Hillsborough County Animal Services officers removed five dogs from their home, including a boxer that officers said was near death from starvation.

Dozens of animal activists were in court today for a hearing prior to the couple's trial which is scheduled to start on Monday.

Rebecca Dameron, the animal control officer who was called to the scene by the first responding sheriff's deputy, said she thought jail time was appropriate in this case.

Rodriquez and Fernandez have both pleaded not guilty. As they stood before the judge this morning in Hillsborough Circuit Court, an assistant state attorney repeated her offer to settle criminal charges in a plea agreement.

"It was extended on arraignment for three years in prison, followed by two years probabtion for both defendants," the prosecutor told the judge.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/lo...dwQqIRRHA.cspx



Casper


You can read more on this case and an update on Casper at this site:

http://www.pet-abuse.com/cases/14934/FL/US/

[El Supremo]

Oh god, those poor animals.

Why did they have 5 dogs in the first place? What the fuck? Why have ANY pets if you're not going to even make an effort to care for them?

People like this should be starved to death as punishment. Also, they should be forced to donate their fancy cars to the Humane Society.

Assholes.

[CountJackula]

People like this make me sick. If you didnt want to feed them at least give them away instead of keeping them in your house to watch them deteriorate.

This reminds me of a couple that lived at the place my BF works. They dress in really nice clothes, drive brand new cars, and yet one of their bedrooms in their house is for the dogs to piss and shit all over the carpet and they keep them locked in that room 24/7. WTF people!! If you can't take care of a pet, don't get one!!!

[Marv]

OMG, those heartless bastards! How can ANYONE sit in their nice, comfy home, eating WELL (by the look of them both!) while their dogs are slowly dying, wasting away in their back yard?

And just how the fuck can they plead 'not guilty', ffs??? The change in poor Casper is amazing, he looks fantastic now after a bit of proper care. So they cant claim it was down to medical reasons!!

They deserve jail time, and 3yrs is not long enough. But I suppose its better than none at all.

[DogMom]

Trial starts for Casper's former owners

TAMPA - The animal cruelty trial of a couple accused of nearly starving their dog to death is underway in a Hillsborough County courtroom.

Wilmer Fernandez and Aixa Rodriguez both face up to five years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors offered them a plea deal three years in prison and two years probation, but they rejected that.

Deputies arrested the pair in November when they say an investigator with Hillsborough County Animal Services went to their house and saw the 3-year-old Boxer mix was emaciated and couldn't walk. Prosecutors say the dog had been tied up outside for days without food.

Jury selection began this morning and prosecutors are expected to call at least five witnesses to the stand, and it's possible Fernandez and Rodriquez will testify on their own behalf.

In a sworn affidavit they said they didn't have the money to properly care for Casper and that's why he was in such bad shape.

The couple is banned from ever owning a dog again. Casper now has new owners and is doing well.

The trial is expected to last two days.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...s_trial_081209

[moonlilly1981]

Jeepers thats messed up! It makes me so angry when people starve animals and children. There is no excuse what so ever. I understand that times are tough for people. But damn if you cant afford pet food cook em up some human food. Thats what I do when I run out. My boys got steak and mash taters the other night cause I wasnt able to get to the store till the next day to get dog food.

[Chaindrive]

Poor dogs.

[Rockin Ma]

Jeepers thats messed up! It makes me so angry when people starve animals and children. There is no excuse what so ever. I understand that times are tough for people. But damn if you cant afford pet food cook em up some human food. Thats what I do when I run out. My boys got steak and mash taters the other night cause I wasnt able to get to the store till the next day to get dog food.

I have some boil in bag rice because sometimes I run out of canned food and my dog won't eat dry by itself.

[Chaindrive]

I have some boil in bag rice because sometimes I run out of canned food and my dog won't eat dry by itself.

I was just about to post that rice is inexpensive.

[biteme]

They say, they didn't have the money to care for the dog
or the brain cells? Or are they just self centered scum?

[DogMom]

They say, they didn't have the money to care for the dog
or the brain cells? Or are they just self centered scum?

Self centered scum.

[ImmortalOne]

Guess their "Good credit" was more important to keep up the payments on than to pay for the dogs...


And thanks for the rice tip. With me being unemployed and the pair of us looking for work that may have to be an emergency situation should we ever come down to it... though our dog seems to think its a living vacuum cleaner.

[DogMom]

Casper's former owners take the stand

TAMPA - The two owners of a malnourished dog took the stand in their animal cruelty trial today.

Wilmer Fernandez and Aixa Rodriguez said they were given Casper for free in August 2008.

Fernandez told jurors then his work hours were cut and he still had $900 in child support to pay his ex-wife for his four children monthly, and the rent on their home was $1,200.

Rodriguez testified despite receiving $700 a month in child support from her ex-husband and a part-time job, it was not enough to pay the bills.

Defense attorneys said the couple believed Casper was sick, but they didn't have the money to take him to the vet. They said they did give him medication for a skin condition.

The veterinarian who testified yesterday said she found no signs of disease and believed the Boxer lost so much weight because he was underfed or starved.

Rodriguez broke down on the stand when she told jurors Casper was part of the family, and they had no intention for this to happen.

"And I couldn't find, you know I tried, to just help him," Rodriguez said in Spanish. "But everything that I was able to, whatever we could do, we never want to leave Casper behind."

Rodriguez testified about a previous dog she owned with her ex-husband that they couldn't afford to care for either. She said they took it to animal services for adoption, but the dog was never adopted and was put to sleep.

Rodriguez added because of the past experience she was afraid if they took Casper to animal services, he too would also be put to sleep.

Rodriguez is the defense's last witness. Then the jury will begin deliberations.

If convicted, both face up to five years in prison.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...s_trial_081409

Rodriguez testified about a previous dog she owned with her ex-husband that they couldn't afford to care for either.

And so they freely accepted Casper as a *family member* even though they knew they could not take care of him. These people are idiots.

[DogMom]

Carrollwood couple found guilty in dog abuse trial

TAMPA, FL -- A Carrollwood couple was found guilty of felony animal cruelty charges in court Friday.

Wilmer Fernandez lowered his head. Aixa Rodriquez wept after the verdict was delivered, but prosecutors suggested in court it was Casper who really suffered.

Two veterinarians testified Casper was in pain. His legs looked so weak he could barely stand. Virtually every bone was visible under what was left of his emaciated body weighing in at 32 pounds when, according to testimony, he should have weighed between 45 and 60.

But owner Aixa Rodriguez swore his weight drastically dropped on its own.

"Casper was like a son to us. I know it looks difficult and he was ill ,but we tried everything that we could," said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez told the jury the family could not afford to take the dog to a veterinarian, yet they lived in a upper middle class home and with a Cadillac and a Lexus parked in the driveway of the home shared with several children.

Animal Services officers say the home was filled with fine furnishings.

Casper has doubled in weight and his new owner testified in the trial. The couple could face up to five years in prison

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/lo...jYj4Nafjg.cspx

[Abroad]

Rodriguez told the jury the family could not afford to take the dog to a veterinarian, yet they lived in a upper middle class home and with a Cadillac and a Lexus parked in the driveway of the home shared with several children.

Animal Services officers say the home was filled with fine furnishings.

Bullshit on the "too poor" defence. If you can afford to keep a Cadillac and a Lexus to keep up with the Jones'es, you sure as hell can also afford to take your dog to the vets and feed him.

[Chaindrive]

I hope these people are forever banned from owning another animal.

[DogMom]

Couple sentenced in Casper case

TAMPA - It has become the flagship of animal abuse cases in the Bay Area, and a Carrollwood man now faces 15 months in prison.

Casper became the poster-dog against Bay Area animal cruelty in November of 2008, when a deputy, called to a neighbor's house on an unrelated case, spotted the white boxer chained and starving.

A year and a half later, convicted of felony animal cruelty, Aixa Rodriquez and boyfriend Wilmer Fernandez were facing five years in prison, and a roomful of animal activists wearing Casper t-shirts

Their lawyer asked for mercy.

"I ask the court to sentence both of these individuals to probation," he said, calling them victims of the recession.

"Unfortately, they had to make some very tough decisions: do we put food in our children's mouths, do we have shelter for our children, or do we take this dog to the vet, spend whatever money we do have left and become homeless?" Rick Escobar said.

Fernandez got a 15-month prison sentence, followed by nearly four years of probation and psychological evaluation. His girlfriend, with three kids to care for, stayed out of prison, sentenced instead to five year's probation.


Fernandez may not stay behind bars very long. He could get out of jail as soon as Monday while his lawyer files an appeal to get the conviction overturned.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...in-casper-case

[Valasca]

Unbelievable. 15 months. That's it?
And the girlfriend is free to starve her children now...

[Twisted]

I've always said, I'd sooner skip some meals than force my cat not to get food. The day he can't get food is the day I'm going near a week without, and then I'd find him a good home.

Keeping an animal and making it suffer is both disgusting and selfish.