Mid-Michigan animal shelter owner facing animal cruelty charges

By Zain Omair and Hannah Mose

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    GENESEE CO., Michigan (WNEM) — The owner of a mid-Michigan animal rescue is facing charges of animal cruelty.

According to the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, this isn’t the first time the shelter owner has been in trouble with the law

According to a felony complaint from the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office, Melissa Borden, the owner of the Devoted Barn, is facing charges of abandoning and cruelty to 25 or more animals.

TV5′s Zain Omair spoke with Tom Mullen, a volunteer, who said he was one of the first to alert authorities.

“It wasn’t fair. They don’t have a voice. Those dogs don’t have a voice, and somebody needed to be a voice,” Mullen said.

Borden is facing charges after concerning conditions were brought to the attention of the sheriff’s office in January by the Humane Society.

“There’s a number of conditions that are not adequate enough for a dog, even like temperature. There’s a certain mean temperature that needs to be maintained for dogs in outside storage. But the conditions were not provided for in a way to care for them properly,” said Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Mullen was a volunteer for three years at two of the locations where Borden operated the Devoted Barn: first in Rose Township and then to a rented space in Grand Blanc, where the Genesee County investigation stems from.

“That building they’re in is, it’s very depressing to see 39 dogs that I came to know over two years end up there in four-by-four, I don’t even like to call them kennels,” Mullen said.

This isn’t the first time Borden has had a run in with the law; Swanson said she’s facing similar allegations in other counties.

“Melissa Borden had left a trail of destruction in two other counties before they came to Genesee County, being Monroe and Livingston County,” Swanson said. “People like this that have no business being in the animal care industry can go from one county to the next to the next, and almost shop their geography, and that’s what happened here.”

A post on the Devoted Barn’s Facebook said in part, “Everything about our program is structured around being predictable and stress free for our dogs.”

But Swanson said there’s a line that’s crossed in this case.

“If you have multiple animals and you can’t afford food, or you’re not out there because you’re scheduled to give them clean water, especially in the wintertime, or if you have no shelter, have some guts, and some responsibility to go find help,” he said.

Both he and Mullen hope there can be justice for the animals.

“She attempts to have a good heart for these animals, but not enough to care for them properly,” Swanson said.

“I love each and every one of those dogs and I couldn’t stand to see them living like that anymore,” Mullen said.

Swanson said Borden is not in custody as of now, but the sheriff’s office is working with her attorney.

As for the animals, animal control is working to get them cared for now that criminal charges have been filed.

According to the complaint filed by the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office, if found guilty, Borden could face up to seven years in prison and may be ordered to not own or possess an animal in the future.

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