Former Maine man pleads guilty to animal cruelty

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BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) -- A West Yellowstone man accused of abandoning33 sled dogs without food, water or shelter pleaded guilty Mondayto two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty as part of a pleaagreement.
John T. Hessert, 24, wore a vest embroidered with an Iditarod logoas he made his plea before District Judge Holly Brown. His lawyer,Chuck Watson, told the judge that Hessert was remorseful and thathis client's aspirations of becoming a professional musher havealready been compromised.
"The long shot of this is Mr. Hessert got overextended and the dogssuffered as a consequence," Watson said. "He has to live with that.He has a conscience."
Hessert initially pleaded not guilty to one felony count ofaggravated animal cruelty and 33 misdemeanor counts of animalcruelty. The felony charge was dropped as part of the pleaagreement.
According to court records, a man called animal control Jan. 30 toreport that the dogs were being kept in an unsafe environmentoutside West Yellowstone near Targhee Pass.
A veterinarian examined the dogs and determined that they were all"well below normal health and had not been being fed enough food,"according to court records. One of the dogs had a collar embeddedin its neck and other dogs had frostbite.
Most of the dogs were transported to Hessert's father's 96-acreproperty in Maine while the criminal case was pending.
Hessert's plea agreement also requires him to pay $27,855 inrestitution to volunteers who cared for the dogs while the case wasbeing investigated. He must serve 100 hours of community service,two days in the Gallatin County Detention Center and two years ofprobation.
Hessert will not be allowed to own or be in control of a dog fortwo years.
Hessert's father, Stephen Hessert, is an attorney and anaccomplished dogsledder who made the news in 2003 when he wasstruck from behind by a snowmobiler in northern New Hampshire whiletraining for a 250-mile dogsled race. The snowmobiler didn't stopand another snowmobiler found Hessert unconscious and got him outof the woods on the dogsled.
Hessert was hospitalized and underwent multiple surgeries, and hadtitanium rods inserted in both legs.
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Information from: Bozeman Daily Chronicle, http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com
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