At sentencing on large animal cruelty case, judge says Makaha man ran a ‘kill shelter’

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A man who ran a no-kill shelter in Makaha where dogs lived in what prosecutors described as filthy conditions has been found guilty on 24 counts of animal cruelty.

Meanwhile, his mother was found guilty of one count of animal cruelty in court Thursday, but not guilty on the other 23 counts.

The two ― David “Lanny” Moore and his mother, June ― face up to a year behind bars for each second-degree count and thousands of dollars in fines.

Their sentencing hearing is set for Friday at 9 a.m.

“When one takes on a duty of care, that comes with responsibility to the animal,” said Judge Ed Kubo, after the two were sentenced Thursday.

He added: “When one says they are a no-kill shelter and then take steps to kill an animal, giving it no chance of survival, that to me is a kill shelter.”

Following the hearing, David Moore was taken into custody for contempt of court. Kubo said that Moore disobeyed an order not to file court motions by himself since he has an attorney.

The hearing for the contempt charge is also Friday, and Moore’s bail was set at $5,000 cash only.

June Moore is 82 and wheelchair-bound. The state did not object to her being released pending her sentencing.

The Hawaiian Humane Society seized more than 300 dogs from the Friends for Life animal shelter in October 2016, and said the animals were living in filthy conditions.

Prosecutors said the Moores didn’t give the animals adequate food, water or medical care.

“They were all skinny. They were all malnourished, some worse than others. They were not receiving adequate food. They were not receiving adequate water,” said deputy Prosecutor Jan Futa.

But defense attorneys for the two said they were simply overwhelmed ― and that some of the dogs came to them in bad shape.

June Moore owns the land that the shelter was on, and also lives on the property.

Copyright 2019 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.