Star Tribune
Dog breeders accused of starving German shepherds won’t get them back
A southeast Minnesota couple accused of starving and torturing the dogs they bred won’t get them back after authorities seized 15 German shepherds in February.
Fillmore County District Judge Jeremy Clinefelter on Monday ruled against returning the dogs to Donald Anderson and Elham Alayyoub of LeRoy.
Clinefelter ruled sheriff’s deputies and agents from the Animal Humane Society out of Golden Valley were justified in taking the dogs after discovering the canines appeared underfed and were living in filthy conditions.
“What’s alarming is the seeming disconnect between their love and care for these animals, and what was clearly happening,” Clinefelter said.
Anderson and Alayyoub face nine charges of misdemeanor mistreatment of animals ranging from animal cruelty to torturing and depriving them of food and shelter. Veterinarians at the Animal Humane Society found malnutrition in all 15 surviving dogs.
The dogs — nine adults and six puppies — have slowly gained back weight after they were taken to the Humane Society according to court records. All of them suffered from varying degrees of malnutrition. Some were emaciated, others had abscesses. At least one of the dogs was diagnosed with intestinal parasites.
Court records show Anderson and Alayyoub in early February contacted the Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office, concerned someone was poisoning their dogs. A dog had unexpectedly died on the property; another dog had died under similar circumstances in November.
Anderson and Alayyoub took the dog’s body to University of Minnesota veterinarians. Court records show a U vet found the German shepherd was severely underweight and dehydrated when it died. The dog’s cause of death was due to heart issues and a twisted stomach, according to complaints.
Court documents state a deputy visited Anderson and Alayyoub on Feb. 13 to share the news. The deputy saw an underweight dog and visited the kennels, which he described as filthy. A local vet who visited the farm later that day found another underweight German shepherd.
Several people testified in hearings last month the kennels and dogs were covered in feces and urine when deputies and humane society agents inspected the farm and took the German shepherds on Feb. 22.
Courtroom pictures of several kennels showed floors mostly covered with filth as well as soggy cardboard bedding, which an Animal Humane Society agent previously said was potentially hazardous to dogs.
Steven J. Hovey, the breeders’ attorney, previously pointed out the dogs had actually weighed less in previous veterinary appointments compared to when they were seized in February. He argued on Monday Anderson and Alayyoub took sufficient care of the dogs, at one point showing video of a puppy eating food at the breeders’ farm.
Clinefelter disagreed, pointing out two dogs had died before the Andersons sought help from law enforcement.
Anderson and Alayyoub’s first criminal hearing is scheduled for May 16.
The University of Minnesota has postponed a scheduled Tuesday night lecture from infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci after pro-Palestinian protests that included some protesters barricading Morrill Hall the day before.
On Monday night, several hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the building, which houses the Minneapolis campus’ administrative offices, as Students for a Democratic Society used tied-up patio furniture to form giant barricades blocking the building’s large front windows and its entrances. The protesters demanded the U divest from companies with ties to Israel. At least 11 of the protesters were arrested.
The university decided to postpone Fauci’s lecture set for Tuesday night because of “unexpected and complicated incidents” over the past day, university spokesman Jake Rickersaid in an email.
“Given the importance of this lecture and the unexpected and complicated incidents that occurred on campus in the past 24 hours, University officials determined it best to reschedule to ensure a great experience for attendees and our University community,” Ricker said.
All tickets for the lecture will be voided and information about the rescheduled date will be posted later, the university said in an online post about the postponement. Pre-paid parking will be automatically refunded, the university added.
Additional pro-Palestinian protests took place Tuesday afternoon at the university in front of Coffman Memorial Union. The protests prompted university officials to temporarily close down at least a dozen buildings in a Tuesday alert. Those included: Coffman Union, Weisman Museum, Hasselmo Hall, Ford Hall, Vincent Murphy Hall, Tate Lab, Morrill Hall, Northrop Auditorium, Johnston Hall, Walter Library, Smith Hall, and Kolthoff Hall. All other East Bank campus buildings were switched to keycard access only, according to the alert.
An anti-Fauci rally had also been planned by conservative group Action 4 Liberty to coincide with the lecture at the university, but that was moved after the lecture was canceled.
Star Tribune
Aunt IDs 3-year-old who was fatally shot in Minneapolis home, speaks about what happened
A close relative on Tuesday identified the 3-year-old boy who was fatally shot this week in his family’s northeast Minneapolis apartment a day earlier.
Woods said police have told the family that Jajuan got ahold of the gun and it went off.
“Someone left a loaded gun [in the home,” said Woods, who has started an online fundraiser for her sister, Charlotte Williams. “He got ahold of it thinking it was a toy.”
Woods said her nephew, who went by Junior, “loved trucks and dinosaurs. He was just so silly and goofy. He was a momma’s boy.”
Jajuan suffered a gunshot wound to the top of the head, a source with knowledge of the incident told the Star Tribune. Paramedics rushed the toddler to HCMC, where he died a short time later.
Woods said she did not know who owned the gun.
Police spokesman Trevor Folke said Tuesday evening there have been no arrests and had no update to share in the “active and ongoing investigation.”
Bergman is championing efforts to boost literacy and invest in early childhood programming, and getting there, she said, requires financial sustainability, and that may mean closings and mergers. She attended last week’s finance committee meeting — as she’s done on a regular basis — and described the mention of “opportunity” as another rosy way of avoiding hard truths.
The district is spread too thin, she said. Some schools could take more students. Yet in others, class sizes are huge and caseloads so large that educators can’t build relationships with students and families, she said.
“I just fundamentally believe, and it’s been one of the objectives of my campaign, to be someone out in the community talking about this moment, listening to reactions, and listening for the places where families could get on board with the possibility of their beloved school having to close,” she said.
A way to get there, Bergman said, is by consolidating buildings, and in turn, expanding programming — perhaps not far from the school left behind.
Callahan argues that the mere mention of closings is causing families to leave the district: “This is not something that should be talked about so flippantly,” she said.
She said she would entertain the idea only if there also are plans to stabilize and recruit students, plus answers to three questions: How much money is being saved by closing a building? How many students will be retained if the school closes? And how many new students have to enroll to keep it open?
