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Sam Penrod reporting A judge is under fire for something he said to a defendant charged with having too many dogs.
It brought out an angry reaction, especially since the woman went to jail.
The judge says he sent the woman to jail for failing to comply with a court order, not for having too many dogs.
But it was his comments about the dogs that are being highly criticized, not only by animal lovers but the public at large.
Janet Lane, who never has never been in jail before, is learning what it is like to be behind bars.
It started Monday, as she was to be sentenced on misdemeanor charges of having more than two dogs.
When she came to court, she had seven of what she considers her foster dogs, still at her home, five more than the law allows.
Court Recording, Judge Stephen Henroid: "She pled guilty to a crime and she stands here still absolutely in violation of the same statute."
As Lane's attorney tried to explain, Judge Stephen Henroid's apparent frustration with Lane led to this:
Court Recording, Judge Stephen Henroid: "She should have taken a gun and shot the other five before she came back to court, if she didn't have any other options. This is serious. She's going to jail today."
Hearing the judge's sentence of 180 days in jail, led Lane to ask this question.
Court Recording, Janet Lane: "I have a car outside with a dog in it, what am I suppose to do right now? "
Court Recording, Judge Stephen Henroid: "You should have considered how stupid it would be for that dog to die in the car, while you are going to jail."
Today, the judge brought Lane back to court and suspended the jail sentence. He apologized for his comments, calling them harsh, saying quote: "I wish I hadn't said it that way."
But he also told Lane it wasn't about the dogs, he was trying to make a point about her flagrant, continuing violation of the law.
The five dogs, are now at the Humane Society and its director is planning to petition to have the judge removed from the bench.
Gene Baierschmidt, Humane Society of Utah: "We're trying to get people not to torture animals, and here we have a person in a position of authority saying you should have had your dogs shot before you came in."
We are told, all of the dogs are fine, including the one left in the car.
We can't get an answer why Lane is still here in jail, even though in court, the judge ordered that she be released.
So we'll be following this tomorrow, to find out why she is spending another night in jail.
