Group Outraged at Plea Agreement in Animal Abuse Case

Members of the Animals Matter rescue group and others from the community protested prior to sentencing hearings for Ricky and Nichole Daisher who were involved in the shooting of a dog that was left for dead. “Duke”, shown here, suffered for 21 hours until he was found and taken to a veterinary hospital. Originally, they were charged with felony conspiracy/aggravated cruelty to animals but these charges were not included in plea agreements that gave both of them only two years probation. (Photo by Julie Rae Rickard)

By Julie Rae Rickard

CLEARFIELD – A local animal rescue group is upset with the outcome of an animal cruelty case that resulted in the perpetrators only receiving probation sentences.

In Nov. 2023, a dog was found lying helpless in the grass in Greenwood Township, with his mouth tied shut. It took a while to discover he had been shot in the head with the bullet bouncing off his skull before striking his jaw and ear. He suffered for 21 hours before he was found and rushed to an emergency veterinarian hospital, according to previous articles.

For two days “Duke” was in an out of consciousness, according to Heather Hoover of Animals Matter. Eventually the medical team at Metzger Animal Hospital in State College had to make a decision on whether to put him down or transfer him to a facility in Pittsburgh.

The group decided “he deserved a chance” and took him to Pittsburgh where he began to recover. $12,000 was raised by the community who followed his saga on Facebook.

In the criminal complaint, it details how the owner Nichole Daisher claimed Duke had jumped on top of another one of her dogs and later had lunged at her child.

After this, she contacted her father, Ricky Daisher, saying she did not know what to do. She, her father and a juvenile relative took the dog to Steep Hill Road in Greenwood Township where he was shot.

When he spoke with investigators, Ricky admitted to taking the dog to the woods and seeing the juvenile shoot him once. After the dog fell over and quivered, he stated that he believed the dog was “done.”

They fled when they heard a car coming near them, leaving the dog to suffer.

When the rescue group heard Ricky had signed a plea agreement for a period of probation, they protested outside the Clearfield County Courthouse in Nov. with signs saying “Justice for Duke” to show their displeasure that a felony charge had been dropped and Ricky would serve no jail time.

During the sentencing hearing, Hoover addressed President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman explaining their frustration in this case.

The new owners have seen no signs of aggression from Duke, now known as Goldie, she said.

She pointed out that if there are minimal consequences for such animal cruelty, it only “shows that it is okay to abuse an animal.”

Ammerman listened to her concerns and continued Ricky’s sentencing until Dec. But the eventual outcome was the same. Ricky received two years probation for two misdemeanor counts of neglect of animals.

Because Nichole was the actual owner of the dog, there was some hope that justice could be served to her, especially since Duke was so emaciated.

Unfortunately, she was sentenced March 10 to the same period of probation for misdemeanor counts of conspiracy/cruelty to animals and neglect of animals, as well as a summary charge of cruelty to animals.

Prior to sentencing, Hoover also spoke at Nichole’s hearing stating that when Nichole was contacted about the dog, she claimed she was out of town and the dog had run away.

Hoover told the judge again, she did not agree with the probationary plea agreement, adding that she wanted to see some sort of punishment.

“If this is not taken seriously, this will happen more in this county,” she warned.

She pointed out that Duke was left alone with his mouth tied shut so he couldn’t even defend himself. Not only did the dog suffer during that time, he suffered for months in rehabilitation, she said.

In a Facebook live post after the sentencing, Hoover expressed her frustration with the plea agreements and District Attorney Ryan Sayers.

“This county does not take animal cruelty seriously.”

She did give credit to Deputy District Attorney Tami Fees who at the preliminary hearing, fought to keep felony charges of conspiracy/aggravated cruelty to animals on both cases.

Hoover also defended the juvenile involved in this case because he is a child and stated she is 99.9% sure he was not the one who shot the dog but was used as a scapegoat.

She pointed out that he “did more time than they did” as he spent six months in a juvenile facility.

Hoover stated she is going to make sure their photos are on the “Do Not Adopt” lists given to animal shelters and rescue groups.

Keri Coble, of One Dog at a Time, who spoke at the sentencing hearing also took to Facebook to express her disappointment.

“If the DA is not interested in these cases, they will go nowhere,” she commented.