Animal Cruelty Sentence Draws Criticism From Former Prosecutor, Tulsa Human Society

A former Tulsa County prosecutor says justice was not served in an animal cruelty case she filed charges on before leaving the DA’s office.

A Tulsa County judge gave deferred sentences, instead of jail time, to a Collinsville couple who had more than 100 animals in tiny cages.

"We should be seeking justice and we're not seeking justice for animals when we allow these kinds of cases to fall by the wayside," said Shelby Limburg

Related Story: Collinsville Man Charged With Animal Cruelty Forfeits Legal Rights To Those Animals

Limburg is a former prosecutor with the Tulsa County District Attorney's office and now a board member on the Tulsa Humane Society.

While working as a prosecutor last December, she was assigned the case of Samual Smith and Michelle Garrett. At that time, deputies discovered more than 100 farm animals living in tiny cages without food or water on their property near Collinsville.

 They also found several dead animals.

"There was feces everywhere, there were flies everywhere,” said Limburg. “It was shocking."

In February, Limburg left the DA's office and the case was handed off to someone else.

Last week, Smith and Garrett pled guilty and were given deferred sentences of 3 years and 18 months, meaning no jail time if they meet certain guidelines.

Erik Grayless is the First Assistant DA for Tulsa County and says several factors came into play in the sentence.

"Poverty, there was a divorce involved, lack of criminal history, we thought probation was the best solution in this particular case to both hold them accountable for what they did but also show some level of mercy," said Grayless.

Limburg says the humane society hopes future cases involving animals have more accountability.

"We understand their job is difficult and they have a lot of cases, but traditionally speaking animal cases tend to be put on the back burner," said Limburg.

The Humane Society is now caring for those animals.