Las Vegas Pet Shop Owner Who Was Caught on Surveillance Video Torching Her Business Before 27 Puppies and Dogs Were Rescued: Gets 14 Years in Prison ...Despite Revealing That She's Pregnant

A Las Vegas pet shop owner who was caught on surveillance video torching her business before 27 puppies and dogs were rescued last year failed to sway her sentencing judge with a courtroom announcement Wednesday that she was three months pregnant.

Clark County District Court Judge David Barker said he thought Gloria Eun Hye Lee, 36, was using her pregnancy to try to get him to hand down a lesser sentence.

He sentenced Lee to five to 14 years in state prison, nearly the maximum that prosecutor Shanon Clowers sought.

Clowers accused Lee of using her pregnancy in a manipulative bid for a "get-out-of-jail-free card."

Lee's attorney, Tom Pitaro, didn't immediately respond later to messages.

Clowers noted that Lee told the court the father of her child was her husband, from whom Lee was estranged at the time of the January 2014 fire at the Prince and Princess pet shop in southwest Las Vegas, and who she once tried to blame for the crime.

Store security video showed Lee removing files in an office while co-defendant Kirk Bills poured liquid on the floor around locked kennel cages and ignited it.

Lee pleaded guilty in October to arson, insurance fraud and attempted animal cruelty charges in a plea deal that had 28 other charges against her dismissed.

Bills pleaded guilty to arson and attempted animal cruelty. He'll be sentenced Monday. His lawyer, Roger Bailey, said he hopes for leniency and a two-to-five year sentence that, with time already served, could get Bills out of prison as early as next year.

Ceiling fire sprinklers quickly doused the flames, and none of the 27 animals was fatally injured before firefighters arrived.

But the incident sparked intense passions among animal rights advocates who picketed the courthouse for nearly every court appearance. Lee was arrested in Las Vegas shortly after the fire. Bills was arrested days later in Crown Point, Indiana.

It also touched off a weekslong ownership battle that ended when 25 rescued puppies were raffled in March 2014 for $250 apiece to benefit a foundation that runs the local Lied Animal Shelter. Two adult dogs were placed by a rescue group called A Home 4 Spot.

Parents Encourage Toddler To Kiss Pit Bull - What Are Your Thoughts?

Listen as these parents encourage their toddler to kiss the family pet pit bull. Pit Bulls do not have the best reputation, but most of this breed do not live up to the vicious creature they are often made out to be. What Are Your Thoughts?

Amur Leopard—World's Rarest Cat—Doubles in Population

Amur leopard populations have more than doubled in just seven years. New census data reveals Amur leopards in Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park now number at least 57 cats (up from just 30 cats in 2007). And an additional 8-12 leopards were counted in adjacent areas of China.

For the census, camera traps were spread out over more than 900,000 acres of leopard habitat. Scientists then reviewed 10,000 images and identified nearly 60 individual animals, judging by the distinctive pattern of spots on the leopards’ fur. The census was carried out by the Land of the Leopard National Park jointly with the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the support of The Amur Leopard Center and WWF-Russia.

Land of the Leopard National Park, established in 2012,  includes all of the Amur leopard’s known breeding areas and about 60 percent of the critically endangered cat’s remaining habitat. 

Saving the world’s rarest cat
Conservationists are also working towards monitoring leopard populations across the border in neighboring Chinese nature reserves. One of the highly anticipated next steps would be the establishment of a Sino-Russian transboundary nature reserve.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done in order to secure a safe future for the Amur leopard, but these numbers demonstrate that things are moving in the right direction,” said Dr. Barney Long, Director of Species Conservation for WWF-US.

The dramatic good news for Amur leopards comes on the heels of WWF’s release of the first footage of a family of Amur tigers inside China. Both animals share the same habitat.

 

Karelian Bear Dogs Play Major Role the Nevada Department of Wildlife Bear Program

Reno, NV - Rooster, a 10-year-old Karelian Bear Dog, and his daughter 10-month-old daughter, Dazzle play and integral part of the team when it comes to releasing bears captured in populated areas.

There travel with their owner, Carl Lackey, a Bear Biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

This includes trucks, ATVs, helicopters, ski lifts, classrooms and everywhere else!

Their main job…to harass the bear by chasing it, barking in its face, and making it run away or climb a tree.

Combined with a shotgun firing rubber bullets, the idea is to make the bears not want to return. NDOW has had more success with this procedure than by relocating the bears, many of which return to the capture site within days or weeks if no aversion techniques are used.

"They're extremely important to what we do," Lackey said of the dogs. "They're our main tool in non-lethal bear management. Our No. 1 goal is to release bears."

Karelians are a specialized breed, originally from Russia and Finland where they were used by grizzly bear and moose hunters. They have a body type similar to a husky and facial features similar to a border collie. Lackey said they also have tremendous instincts and physical attributes.

"They're fearless and they're really, really quick," he said, comparing them to a mongoose that is able to keep away from a cobra strike.

Lackey bought his first Karelian, Stryker, in 2001 from the Wind River Bear Institute in Florence, Mont., a facility that raises and trains the dogs. Stryker helped with more than 400 bear. Rooster, a son of Stryker, joined the team in 2004, and has helped with more than 300, Lackey said. Now Dazzle is working alongside Rooster. Some of his other offspring is working as bear dogs with wildlife departments in Montana, Alaska and Washington State.

Along with chasing the bears during release operations, the dogs can also be used to search under houses when its suspected bears might be trying to hibernate there, tracking, patrolling, finding food attractants and a variety of other duties.

Lackey also uses his dogs in schools when he gives presentations.

"They're great ambassadors," Lackey said. "The kids love them. They're great family dogs, too."

Lackey owns his dogs and provides for their care. He would like to see the bear dog program expanded in Nevada.

"We'd like to get one or two more dogs and be able to place them with a warden or two," he said.