Northeast Ohio dog rescuers are accused of abusing animals

The three women were sentenced to 20 days in jail.
CANTON (AP) -- The founder of a local animal rescue group is one of three women who have been convicted of animal cruelty for keeping more than 40 dogs in a barn, some of which suffered from a deadly disease.
The women, including the founder and vice president of Companion Animal Rescue Effort, say they're innocent and will appeal.
"My clients are just devastated that anyone would think that they would hurt animals," said Ronald Gatts, attorney for Candy Martin of Canton, Joan Fisher of North Canton and Belinda Rife of Akron.
Each was convicted of two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and sentenced to 20 days in jail.
Gatts said the jail time shocked him because none of the women have criminal records.
Dogs confiscated
In August, the Stark County Humane Society raided the group's barn in Canton Township and confiscated 42 dogs. Since then, 12 dogs died and the others remain at the Humane Society.
More than half of the dead dogs had parvoinfluenza or parvo, a highly contagious and deadly dog disease, said Jackie Godbey, assistant director of the Humane Society.
"People hear 'rescue' and picture green grass and happiness and that's the whole picture in their mind, and that's just not the case," Godbey said.
Assistant Prosecutor Derek McClowry said the case was disturbing because the women believed they were helping.
"They're overwhelmed with the amount of dogs they took on, and unfortunately, the dogs suffered and they just failed to take any responsibility for their actions," he said.