PUTNEY
-- The state wants to take the animals away from the owners of Santa's Land, and
two employees of the embattled theme park are facing charges of violating their
conditions of release after an inspection found unsafe conditions among the
animals living on the grounds.
Lillian
Billewicz, 56, the owner of Santa's Land, and her employee, Brian Deistler, 25,
were in Windham County Criminal Court Thursday. They pleaded not guilty to five
violations of their conditions of release for not following a written care plan
provided for the animals by Dr. Tammy McNamara of the Vermont-New Hampshire
Veterinary Clinic.
Billewicz
and Deistler are facing six months in prison, and a $1,000 fine for each
charge.
Windham
County Deputy State's Attorney Susan Cay requested that the Windham County
Humane Society take possession of the animals.
The
judge said he was receptive to the request, but wanted to schedule a one-hour
hearing before deciding if Billewicz would have to relinquish possession and
control of the animals at Santa's Land.
That
hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Billewicz
and Deistler were both arraigned on the charges of animal cruelty on April 29
following a March 1 visit by Windham County Sheriff Cpl. Melissa Martin.
Martin,
during her visit found 18 dead animals at Santa's Land.
At
the April 29 arraignment, as a condition of their release, Billewicz and
Deistler were ordered to follow a care plan for the animals, which included
providing clean water and adequate food, clean stalls and improvements to the
living stalls.
But
during a series of unannounced visits over the past few months Martin discovered
a number of violations to the written plan.
According
to Martin's affidavit, on July 12 the water tub for three donkeys had a green
tint to it and "the water was laced with mosquito larvae, pine needles and
algae."
Martin
returned on July 25 at around 10 a.m. Billewicz and Deistler had not yet arrived
and Martin stated in the affidavit that none of the animals had food.
When
Billewicz and Deistler arrived later that day they said they had fed the animals
"doubly" the day before.
Martin
counted the hay bales before she left, making a note that there were 22 bales of
hay in the loft.
When
she returned on July 29 the water tub in the deer enclosure was dirty, and she
noted that the hay in the loft had not dwindled.
Billewicz
told Martin that she had 39 bales of hay delivered by Seth Holton on July 24,
but when Martin contacted Holton, he said he only delivered 25 bales, and he
said when he made the delivery Billewicz was completely out of hay.
Holton
called Martin on July 30 and said two checks Billewicz sent to him were returned
for insufficient funds.
In
her affidavit Martin claims that the thinner goats were supposed to be separated
during feeding, which she said did not occur.
Martin
received several text messages from Deistler on Aug. 1 stating that "The same
hay has been there for over a month and (Billewicz) keeps flipping it. It's junk
and needs to be changed."
Martin
became concerned in early August when she noticed a change in behavior among the
animals.
Martin
writes that in July the goats would only acknowledge her when she was petting
them, but by early August the goats followed her making "goat noises," until she
left.
The
deer, as well, changed their behavior.
The
deer, Martin said, used to stay away when she visited, but through late July and
August they would flock to her as she entered their pen.
"It
was evident that Billewicz had started to portion the hay again and has been for
at least a few weeks," Martin wrote.
Santa's
Land was also visited by U.S. Department of Agriculture Veterinary Medical
Officer Steven Nussbaum on July 9.
Nussbaum
found a number of violations that threatened Santa's Land's USDA license.
Nussbaum
found several of the deer in poor body condition, dangerous fencing that could
cause injury to the animals, poor sanitary conditions and an inadequate
veterinary plan.
Nussbaum
wrote that Santa's Land had 90 days to come into compliance.
Following
Nussbaum's inspection, and the deteriorating conditions she found, Martin
ordered the arrest of Billewicz and Deistler for violating their conditions of
release.
They
are scheduled back in court on Sept.16 to answer to the charges of violating
their conditions for release.
Howard
Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 279. Follow him
on Twitter @HowardReformer.
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