By MINDY TATE / Review Appeal Executive Editor

Just days before she is to answer animal cruelty charges, a letter from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) asks District Attorney Ron Davis to require psychological evaluation and be “barred from all future personal and professional contact with animals.”

The letter, dated March 19, is from Daniel Paden, cruelty caseworker in the Domestic Animal Issues & Abuse Department of the Norfolk, Va.-based organization.

Siliski, owner of Hollybelle’s Maltese home kennel, is free on $10,000 bond. She is charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty as well as illegal possession of Ketamine, a controlled substance, District Attorney General Ron Davis said. The charges resulted from a Jan. 22 raid at her 2235 Bowman Road residence, where 230 animals were confiscated.

“Mental health professionals and top law enforcement officials consider the blatant disregard for life and desensitization to suffering evidenced by all forms of cruelty to be a red flag,” Paden wrote. “On behalf of our thousands of members in Tennessee, we respectfully ask that — upon conviction and in addition to a period of incarceration — Jennifer Siliski be required to undergo a thorough psychological evaluation followed by mandatory counseling at her expense.”

Paden alleges “repeat crimes are the rule rather than the exception among animal abusers” and asks because of Siliski’s “apparent, prolonged and utter disregard for the lives and suffering of animals in her custody, we implore your office to take every measure necessary to ensure that she is barred from all future personal and professional contact with animals and to immediately find and seize any who remain in her charge.”

Williamson County Animal Control, along with a cadre of volunteers, has been caring for the more than 200 animals, which were recently moved to the old Battle Ground Academy complex on Columbia Avenue. The animals were moved to their new home to give the shelter some much needed space and these animals more room to exercise.

Siliski is to appear in court Monday in the first phase of her legal case.

Executive Editor Mindy Tate can be contacted at mindy@reviewappeal.com.