I will try something different. I cannot tolerate abuse.
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Former kennel owner headed to jail for probation violation
By Cortney Casey
C & G Staff Writer
ST. CLAIR SHORES — Spared jail time after a guilty plea on animal cruelty charges in 2008, Lorri Nichiow-Brubaker wasn’t so lucky the second time around.
Macomb County Circuit Court Judge David Viviano sentenced Nichiow-Brubaker, 50, to 90 days in Macomb County Jail after she pleaded guilty Feb. 18 to violating the terms of her probation.
Nichiow-Brubaker was given five years’ probation in July 2008 after pleading guilty to three counts of animal cruelty-second offense, a two-year felony, in connection with an April 2008 raid on her Sterling Heights facility, Lornich Kennels.
Police returning four escaped horses to Lornich, located on Mound, discovered dozens of animals living in appalling conditions. They reported finding dirty and inaccessible drinking water and food mixed with feces.
Officers returned with a warrant a few days later and seized about 70 animals, mostly dogs, which were taken in by local veterinary offices and rescue agencies.
At the time of her 2008 sentencing, Nichiow-Brubaker agreed to relinquish rights to Lornich’s animals and surrender her kennel license. Viviano allowed her to retain a few personal pets, but forbade her from reapplying for a kennel license and purchasing or selling any animals during her probationary period.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Servitto said the probation violation charges materialized after a sheriff’s deputy and a probation officer learned that Nichiow-Brubaker had a handgun in her Sanilac County home and had taken a trip to Florida.
Possession of a firearm and leaving the state without permission are against the terms of her probation.
“She was not supposed to have any weapons,” said Servitto. “She indicated on the record that her son had used this handgun, this pistol, and had left it at her house. But, again, it was in her bedroom closet, and she acknowledged that she had purchased the handgun.”
Nichiow-Brubaker also had several pets in her possession, which appeared to be contrary to Viviano’s orders, as some were animals she’d acquired since the July 2008 sentencing, said Servitto.
During the July 2008 hearing, Nichiow-Brubaker told Viviano that she’d brought relatives in and hired staffers to assist after an aneurysm, heart attack and stroke left her bedridden.
She said she thought the animals seemed OK. “They were fine; they looked healthy,” she said. “As far as the eye could see, everything was being done properly.”
But, she added, “I should have looked after the animals better.”
Amber Sitko, president of All About Animals, one of the local organizations that helped care for and find homes for the creatures seized from Lornich, was present for the Feb. 18 hearing.
“We were pleased that she’s actually going to jail,” she said. “Hopefully, she finally learns a lesson.”
Sitko has been an outspoken advocate of stiff penalties for Nichiow-Brubaker, organizing letter-writing campaigns and speaking at the kennel owner’s 2008 sentencing.
“She’s gotten off very lightly, in our estimation,” she told Viviano in 2008. “I think she should go to jail and suffer. I think she’ll be more comfortable in jail than those animals were at her house.”
Sitko said Nichiow-Brubaker and her family “mocked” her after Sitko became choked up as she spoke of the animals’ plights during the 2008 hearing. She requested a sheriff’s deputy to escort her from the courthouse Feb. 18 after Nichiow-Brubaker reportedly confronted her once more.
“I was walking out of the courtroom, and she did it again,” said Sitko. “She stuck her finger in my face and said, ‘Now I mock you,’ and had a big smile on her face. I have no idea what this woman’s going to do.”
The animals taken from Lornich continue to have ongoing issues. Several remain with foster families because social and/or physical problems have made them difficult to adopt out, said Sitko, who herself has become de facto owner of a malady-ridden bulldog rescued from the kennel.
Stuart Pinsky, Nichiow-Brubaker’s attorney on the latest charges, did not return phone calls for comment by press time.
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There also was another case in Johnson City, Tennessee, where the owners claimed to be
robbed and Dobes were taken, all a hoax, they found dogs in ditches in the crates starved to
death. This stuff just gets me going, I just can't stand it and how cruel people are.
They need to be punished to the max in my book.