David “Lanny” Moore was sentenced to one year in jail Thursday after being found guilty by a jury of
24 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty involving a no-kill shelter he operated in Makaha called Friends for Life. He was also ordered to pay $39,450 in restitution to the Hawaiian Humane Society.
His mother, June Moore, was sentenced to one year of probation, four days in jail and ordered to pay $1,225.
Friends for Life was raided in 2016, and more than 300 dogs were confiscated by officials with the Hawaiian Humane Society who said the animals were living in deplorable conditions. Prosecutors said dogs lacked sufficient food and water, were found covered in feces and urine and were living in overcrowded conditions.
“What I saw and what the jury saw was animals that were being treated worse than animals,” said Circuit Judge Edward Kubo Jr. in announcing the sentencing. He described the lack of care for the dogs as amounting to torture.
David Moore will remain out on bail until an expected appeal is resolved. Before his sentencing he told the judge he had tried his best to care for an overwhelming number of dogs and never meant to harm them.
June Moore, who is
83 and appeared in court
in a wheelchair, is also expected to appeal her conviction. Her attorney said during sentencing that she wasn’t involved with the operation of the shelter and that in recent years she had been dealing with health problems and taking care of her husband, who died earlier this year.
Deputy Prosecutor Janice Futa had pushed for a much harsher sentence for David Moore, asking the judge to sentence him to five years’ incarceration and 19 years of probation. Futa argued he hadn’t shown remorse during the trial.
Martha Armstrong, CEO of the Hawaiian Humane
Society, told the judge prior to sentencing that the dogs confiscated from the Friends for Life shelter
had continued to suffer physical and emotional problems.
“In many instances it took months to learn how to play again and trust humans,” she said of the dogs.
Armstrong said the downside of no-kill shelters like Friends for Life is that they are often pushed beyond capacity, become overcrowded and that the animals are neglected. She said owners who give up their pets to no-kill shelters are often given a false sense of hope that their pets will be well cared for.
By contrast, the Hawaiian Humane Society does euthanize animals, killing close to 11,000 dogs and cats last year.
David Moore declined to comment after his sentencing. His attorney Joe Mottl said he was pleased with the judge’s decision given what his client was potentially facing.
“It’s a sad situation. These are good people but I understand the judge’s position,” Mottl said.
Mottl argued during the hearing that his client suffered from an affliction called “animal hoarding” and requested a psychiatric evaluation prior to sentencing, but Kubo denied the request.