Deal reached in pup deaths

Heine pleads no contest to felony charge

A retired Kalispell doctor has been convicted of abandoning 12 puppies, including 10 that had been drowned, at the green-box site in Somers last summer.

During a change-of-plea hearing last week in Flathead County District Court, John Lawrence Heine, 75, pleaded no contest to felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

Heine, who breeds and trains bird dogs as a hobby, has said he tried to kill the puppies because he feared they would contract parvovirus.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped two counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals against Heine and will recommend he receive a probationary sentence.

"I don't doubt for a minute that he regrets what he did and regrets the embarrassment and anguish it probably has caused him and his family," Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan said.

Heine, who testified briefly during the hearing, did not return calls Wednesday seeking comment.

The puppies were found the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2008, along with common household trash, in a gray plastic trash bag.

A regular salvager heard faint squeaks coming from inside one of the trash containers at the green-box site on Montana 82, opened the garbage bag and discovered the sodden bodies of 10 puppies. They had been drowned in a five-gallon bucket, according to court papers filed by Heine's attorney.

Investigators were able to identify Heine as a suspect from mail in the garbage bag.

The two surviving puppies, male and female German wirehaired pointers, were taken to the Flathead County Animal Shelter where they were put up for adoption. The black-and-white pups were less than a day old when they were abandoned.

Dumping animals where they can suffer injury, hunger, exposure or become charges of the public is illegal in Montana, as is putting down animals in an inhumane way.

One of the issues expected to have been addressed at trial was whether drowning constitutes an inhumane method of euthanasia. Heine grew up on an Iowa farm where veterinary work was done by family members and euthanasia by drowning was an accepted practice.

According to court papers, Heine kept the 12 puppies underwater for more than 20 minutes and twice checked to make sure they were dead before dumping them.

Heine has said he killed or attempted to kill the puppies because of the possibility they would catch parvovirus, a viral disorder often fatal to puppies. In June 2008 he imported two puppies from Texas that had the disease, contaminating his kennel and infecting a third animal. The puppies from Texas later died.

The abandoned puppies were an unwanted litter, fathered by a stray and born into the contaminated kennel.

Flathead County Animal Shelter Director Kirsten Holland said she "accepts' and "understands' the recommended sentence in the context of the criminal process. Heine has no criminal record.

"I know there's people who would like to see harsher punishment," Holland said. "Personally I would be satisfied knowing he would never be around a dog again… It's kind of a bitter pill, but one that I've accepted."

A retired obstetrician from Kalispell, Heine has trained dogs for more than 40 years and his kennel earned a solid reputation among his clients and colleagues.

Heine moved to the Flathead Valley in 1968 and retired from medicine in 2003. He delivered thousands of babies over the course of a spotless career that included volunteer medical work with charitable organizations, according to court papers filed by the defense.

A no-contest plea allows Heine, who initially pleaded not guilty to the allegations in September 2008, to take advantage of the prosecution's sentence recommendation without admitting guilt. Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler rejected Heine's motion to dismiss the charges on grounds that the animal cruelty statutes are unconstitutionally vague.

A conviction for aggravated animal cruelty comes with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $2,500 fine. Heine is scheduled to be sentenced July 2.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com