Jail for dog cruelty, not meth
A 22-year-old former Columbia Falls man’s sentence for felony possession of methamphetamine was deferred, but he was ordered to serve jail time for animal cruelty.
Darrin Farrell, 22, initially was charged with one misdemeanor count and three felony counts of cruelty to animals, along with a felony count of possession of dangerous drugs and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
The charges stemmed from his abandonment of four dogs and nine puppies at a trailer home in Evergreen in August 2011. The animals had no access to food or water for days. Farrell had faced up two years and a $2,500 fine for the animal cruelty charges and up to five years and a $50,000 fine for the drug possession charge.
According to court records, a woman who lived near the trailer home rescued the nine puppies before noticing the malnourished condition of four other dogs inside the trailer — a chocolate lab mix, a hound mix, a large shepherd mix and a female black lab. She then contacted the sheriff’s office.
The manager of the Meadow Manor trailer court said the couple who lived in the trailer had moved out, and the woman had moved back in with her parents in Whitefish. A woman who lived next door told the county animal warden she had no idea there were dogs inside the trailer because they never came outside.
The animal warden eventually tracked down Farrell and talked to him over the phone. Farrell initially said he had fed and watered the dogs every day but then changed his story to every other day. He later told authorities he had left a bag of food on the trailer’s front steps, and that there was urine and feces in the trailer because plans were in the works to replace the trailer’s flooring.
Following up on an anonymous tip, Kalispell police officers located Farrell on Dec. 29. When informed that he was under arrest, Farrell said he was embarrassed to tell them what they might find on him. A search revealed he was carrying a syringe, a small plastic baggie containing meth and other drug paraphernalia.
Farrell pleaded guilty on June 20 to felony drug possession and misdemeanor animal cruelty. In exchange, the three felony counts of cruelty to animals and the misdemeanor drug paraphernalia count were dismissed.
On Aug. 23, Flathead County District Court Judge David Ortley gave Farrell a four-year deferred sentence for the felony meth possession charge and ordered him to do six months in the county jail for the misdemeanor animal cruelty charge. All but 58 days of the jail sentence was suspended, and Farrell was given credit for time served. He was also ordered to pay a $500 fine.