High court upholds decision on couple's pet ban

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By The Associated Press

Story Published: Aug 21, 2008 at 10:39 AM MST

Story Updated: Aug 21, 2008 at 10:39 AM MST

GREAT FALLS - The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's decision to prohibit a former Cascade County couple from owning animals at their former home until 2011.

Pam Polejewski and her husband, Michael Hanson, were sued in October 2005 by 17 of their neighbors. The plaintiffs said the couple's hundreds of pets were a public nuisance.

The couple were convicted of animal cruelty and other misdemeanors after authorities found more than 200 animals, including 130 unlicensed and unvaccinated dogs, at their residence west of Great Falls. The two ran a no-kill animal refuge, but prosecutors said they took in more animals than they could care for.

In June 2007, a district judge in Cascade County ruled in favor of the neighbors, but Polejewski and Hanson appealed to the high court. They argued that the district judge was biased and that evidence presented in court should not have been allowed. Justices ruled against the couple Tuesday.

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