Racine---A Caledonia woman says she treated her large collection of animals as if they were family.
Police, however, saw something much different when they raided two of Susan Schmidtke’s farms last fall. Filth, inadequate amounts of food and water, animal carcasses and animals that appeared to be sick were what they noted. The 70 year-old woman was eventually charged with ten counts of failing to provide proper care.
Schmidtke blamed the problems on a tenant that she’d hired to care for the animals while she was recovering from knee surgery.
In court Monday, a much brighter picture was painted: In recent months, Schmidtke's pastor and a friend of Schmidtke’s stepped forward to help the retired lab technician care for the animals.
All but one of the criminal counts was dismissed as the result of a plea agreement.
Judge Michael Piontek sentenced Schmidtke to a year of probation. Conditions included submitting to a mental exam if one was deemed necessary by probation and parole. "In talking with you now, you're clear as a bell," Piontek said. "No one wants you in jail. No one wants to punish you because it's an act of love," he said in reference to her passionate desire to help animals.
"All we want and others want is to make sure that these animals are treated decently," he continued.
The plea agreement does not preclude Schmidtke from owning animals.
Schmidtke’s attorney said his client has no plans to re-start a retirement business that consisted of a mobile petting zoo that she’d take to nursing homes and kids’ birthday parties.
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