Tiffany Bourdeau appeared in court on April 10 for what was scheduled as her sentencing in an animal cruelty case.

In November, she pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement.

She was charged in late August with a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty after a complaint led the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office to seize 37 dogs and other animals from her residence in Sun Prairie, according to court documents.

During the April 10 hearing, the prosecution and Bourdeau’s defense attorney disagreed about restitution.

John Brothers, the deputy county attorney prosecuting the case, said the animal cruelty statute allowed the court to require payment of the animals’ care costs.

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Claire Lettow, Bourdeau’s attorney, objected and said the prosecution needed to show a connection between the defendant’s actions and reasonable costs.

She said the prosecution’s argument for costs was overly broad and included overhead costs for the 44 animals that Maclean-Cameron Animal Adoption Center took in during the case.

Brothers said Maclean staff had broken out costs per dog for the roughly 45 days from when the county seized the animals to when Bourdeau surrendered them.

He said they weren’t arguing Maclean was a victim due restitution, but a business that provided services in sheltering and caring for the animals.

Brothers said the costs were directly related to Bourdeau’s neglect, which caused the county to seize and care for the animals.

Lettow said she contacted Maclean staff to get more detail pertaining to the costs and still questioned what was included in the overhead costs.

She said that Maclean staff told her only one other animal in the facility wasn’t Bourdeau’s during that time and questioned if they would have turned off utilities otherwise.

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Lettow said she had no way to know whether overhead costs would have been incurred without housing Bourdeau’s animals.

She filed her opposition to the restitution on April 7 and the prosecution hadn’t yet responded before the sentencing hearing.

Lettow said Bourdeau didn’t contest $3,909.44 for vaccines, food, supplies and veterinary costs.

Brothers said Maclean billed the county $12,975 for care of the animals, and the county had already paid $8,679.

He said the offer of $3,909 was “pretty insulting.”

Judge John Parker said that if the county paid an unreasonable bill, the court wouldn’t just rubber-stamp it.

The total didn’t “seem crazy or unreasonable to me,” in caring for that many animals over 45 days, Brothers said.

Parker reviewed some case law from the bench and, considering the restitution argument, said the court couldn’t speculate on what was reasonable costs, so he continued sentencing to a later date and said he would require testimony related to the costs of animal care.

Bourdeau previously forfeited ownership of all of the animals but one, a chihuahua named Chewy, under an Oct. 1 stipulation.

In January, the court transferred ownership of Chewy to the county, according to court records, and he has since been adopted out, according to the county attorney’s office.

Under state law, the charge applies to a person who “purposely or knowingly inflicted cruelty to animals on a collection, kennel or herd of 10 or more animals.

A person convicted of aggravated animal cruelty faces a fine up to $2,500, a prison sentence of up to two years, or both.

In a felony case with restitution, the court has the option to impose a six-year deferred sentence, which is what the prosecution recommended in the case to ensure Bourdeau doesn’t have ownership or possession of animals for at least six years, Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki told The Electric last fall. That’s more than the maximum allowable two years for a suspended sentence on this offense.

During the November change of plea hearing, she said that she had more than 10 animals the day law enforcement entered her house, some kenneled with two per crate, and there was significant feces and urine in the house.

Bourdeau told Judge Parker that she hadn’t cleaned yet when law enforcement arrived in August, and she wasn’t of clear mind that day since one of her dogs had recently died.

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She said in November that she’d been getting threats and was trying to move out of town.

Bourdeau posted a $1,000 bond and made an initial court appearance on Aug. 29, during which Parker imposed a bond condition that she not possess any animals and if she was found in possession of animals, an arrest warrant would be issued.

During the hearing, she asked the judge to allow her to have her therapy chihuahua, which she said she needed for her seizures, PTSD and anxiety and it was recommended by her neurologist.

Lettow, her defense attorney, said that she didn’t want to see Bourdeau’s health decline without her service animal.

She said she didn’t have documentation, but that Bourdeau had shared that information shortly before hearing.

Parker said he’d take that under advisement, but wanted to see documentation before making a decision.

On Oct. 1, Bourdeau, her attorney and the County Attorney’s Office signed a joint stipulation in which Bourdeau forfeits the rights to all animals other than her therapy chihuahua named Chewy.

That meant the county, through Maclean, which housed the seized animals was free to adopt out those animals.

In the document, she admits to keeping the animals in what is considered “cruel” under Montana law.

CCSO seizes 37 dogs, other animals, in cruelty investigation

Deputies were dispatched in August to 1323 Eisenhower Ave. in Sun Prairie for a report of animal cruelty for a welfare check.

There had been several other calls to the property since July 7, but according to Sheriff Jesse Slaughter those didn’t rise to a level that deputies could take action.

County Attorney Josh Racki said the Aug. 27 call was the first that had risen to his office.

When deputies arrived at the property on Aug. 27, they spoke with Bourdeau, who agreed to let them look at the property and take photos.

She granted permission for deputies to enter the residence and inside, deputies found nearly 30 dogs, some in kennels and some loose. Kennels were stacked and had feces and urine in them, according to charging documents.

The floor was covered in fecal matter and Bourdeau pointed out a deceased dog on the living room floor, covered by a blanket, and told deputies it had recently passed, according to charging documents.

Based on the poor living conditions of the animals and the dead dog on the living room floor, deputies applied for a search warrant, which was executed around 6 p.m. Aug. 27.

During the search, 37 living dogs in various states of health were seized and nearly all of them were covered in feces, according to court documents. Two lizards and a hedgehog were also seized.

Deputies learned that three dead dogs were buried on the property and sought an amended search warrant, which was executed on around 10:30 a.m. Aug. 28 and those three dogs were found and seized, as were eight cats, three lizards and a snake, according to court documents.

A veterinarian was called to the property to assess the living conditions and the animals.

The vet stated, “it is absolutely cruel to have these animals in these small kennels, covered in feces,” according to court documents, further stating the living conditions were “disgusting,” “uninhabitable” and “inhumane.”