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Woman pleads no contest to puppy selling charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A New Castle, Pa., woman entered a no-contest plea Wednesday in municipal court to charges she sold puppies without a vendor’s license at an East Side flea market in September.
Goldie L. Savage, 31, of Morovia Street, was found guilty on two counts of selling animals without a license by Judge Elizabeth Kobly and fined $200 plus court costs.
Assistant Prosecutor Shelli Freeze said Savage also originally was charged with animal cruelty because the puppies were estimated to be 6 weeks old. It is illegal to sell puppies unless they are at least 8 weeks old because they need to be with their mother, Freeze said.
A report from a Mahoning County Dog Warden employee said he was called to the Four Seasons Flea Market, 3000 McCartney Road, on Sept. 14 to investigate a complaint that Savage was selling the pups. Savage told the deputy the dogs were 13 weeks old, but reports said some of the dogs had no teeth, which proved they were under 8 weeks. A veterinarian later put their age at 6 weeks, the report said.
Judge Kobly admonished Savage for selling puppies so young.
“Common sense tells you puppies need to be with their mom,” Judge Kobly said.
“The mom started pushing them away, and I started feeding them,” Savage said. “I messed up.”
Savage also told the judge no one at the flea market told her she needed a license to sell the dogs.
The deputy’s report said that Savage had five puppies when she arrived and had sold three, but there is no documentation to show to whom they were sold.
The puppies were in good health and were being fed regularly, so a charge of animal cruelty was dropped, Freeze said.
Savage has no prior animal convictions, but she was the subject of a complaint in Ashtabula County for having too many animals in her home. Savage told Judge Kobly she had a lot of stray cats. No charges were filed in that case.