Supporters Flood Court For Greyhound Rescuer Arraigned On Animal Cruelty Charges

HOPKINTON, MA — Many showed up at court on Wednesday to share their support for a founder and director of a well-known dog rescue.

Louise Coleman, the longtime owner of Greyhound Friends in Hopkinton, was in court on Wednesday to face animal cruelty charges that were filed by the Animal Rescue League of Boston earlier this month. Coleman pleaded not guilty, reports the Boston Globe.

Dozens of supporters headed to Coleman's arraignment, arguing that she is "anything but cruel" and has rescued nearly 9,000 dogs, reports WCVB-TV. One supporter told WCVB, “From my point of view and what I know of her, she only does well and gives of herself and cares and saves animals from horrible existences."

Updates and posts of support also have flooded the Greyhound Friends Facebook group page, particularly during the court appearance.

Greyhound Friends places retired race dogs and mixed breed hounds in homes, and has been operating since 1983. The facility has 30 units and a six-unit isolation unit.

Coleman was charged earlier in March with a felony county of animal cruelty in Framingham District Court on Tuesday, reports Milford Daily News.

Local police worked in conjunction with several other departments, including the Animal Rescue League of Boston, to investigate mistreatment of dogs at the shelter. The kennel license was suspended by the town last month, and a cease and desist order has been issued to the facility, reports CBS Local.

Following the suspension and closure last month, Coleman told FOX25 Investigates that she was looking forward to bringing the kennel back up to code in order to re-open, and denied any mistreatment of the animals.

Coleman posted soon after the cease and desist order on the Greyhound Friends' Facebook page urging support for the shelter, and asking those supporters to write letters to the editor to local media.

After the charges were filed, Coleman said that they hadn't done anything "intentionally wrong" but there are always ways to "have things better."A member of the governing board shared with WCVB that it had spent more than $50,000 to comply with orders from the inspectors, and that they had gone beyond those repairs and updated the entire kennel.

In a statement issued on Feb. 28, Coleman said, "Greyhound Friends Inc. has come under criticism recently from another shelter in Massachusetts for the practice of keeping long term/hard to place dogs. The concern of extended stay is important to our organization with our best efforts made to find suitable situations for these hard to place dogs. The care of these dogs is of the highest standard."

On or around March 19, Coleman stepped down from the Greyhound Friends board and took a leave of absence from her position as executive director.

According to The Boston Globe,inspectors who visited the kennel had reported that conditions were unsafe, and concerns about dogs left undiagnosed for diseases or infections.

The public hearing on the Greyhound Friends kennel license was scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, but was postponed per the Greyhound Friends request. In a letter sent to the Hopkinton Board of Selectmen, Greyhounds Friends indicated that a hearing this soon would be "premature," and postponing it would give the organization time to provide "fuller, more substantive information about future operations of the kennel."

According to WCVB, Coleman was told to stay away from the kennel and will return to court on May 12.

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