By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

Jennifer Siliski speaks to her legal counsel, Rebecca Byrd, in May. (File Photo)

The trial for dog breeder Jennifer Siliski begins today, even as the Franklin woman faces a separate complaint from the attorney general’s office for consumer fraud and the removal of her six house pets.

In the consumer fraud case, the AG’s office contends that Siliski, 47, misrepresented some of the Maltese dogs’ ages and the status of American Kennel Club registration papers, constituting consumer fraud. Because of those and other allegations, the AG’s office is asking that Siliski pay civil penalties of $1,000 per violation.

“By representing that the dogs being sold had been tested for liver shunts, the implication was that the dogs were free of liver shunts, when in fact some of the dogs [Siliski] sold did have liver shunts,” attorneys at the AG’s office wrote in the complaint. “In fact, some of the dogs had systolic cardiac murmurs ... severe bacterial and fungal infections, and show signs of serious neglect.”

Those charges were filed July 4 — some five and a half months after police confiscated more than 200 dogs and 14 cats found in wire cages at the woman’s 2235 Bowman Road home. Siliski’s four children, ages 10-15, were also removed from her custody, although three have since been returned. One of her sons, 14, still lives with his father, but does visit his mother on weekends.

“We do have family support services in the home,” said Carla Aaron, director of communications for the Department of Children’s Services. “We are monitoring her ability to parent and the cleanliness of the living area as well as ensuring all educational needs of the children are met.”

While she may be deemed a fit mother, Siliski’s credibility and honesty are a concern for the district attorney’s office, according to a notice filed Aug. 9 by Assistant District Attorney Braden Boucek that lists specific instances of Siliski’s “untruthfulness.”

“The defendant knowingly concealed from a prior husband that she had remarried so that she could continue to garner alimony,” the assistant DA wrote, referring to the first of four ex-husbands. “As a result, the state intends to put this fact in front of the jury should the defendant elect to testify.”

Siliski, who has 27 known aliases, has taken the stand before, most recently at a hearing regarding a charge for possession of Ketamine, a controlled substance. On that day, Judge R.E. Lee Davies made a comment that he did not deem the woman’s testimony as credible.

According to a court-ordered evaluation from October 1995, Siliski suffers from “perceptual distortion and a narcissistic personality disorder with histrionic elements.” Narcissistic personality disorder is defined in medical dictionaries as the pattern of traits and behaviors which involve infatuation and obsession with one’s self to the exclusion of others.

Despite that disorder, Siliski has spoken little about herself to the press. She did say she was pleased when a ruling allowed six house dogs be returned to her home, although another recent ruling — a civil suit judgment domesticated from New York — will allow the Williamson County Sheriff’s Department to confiscate those six Maltese dogs and any others in the house.

In that case, Siliski was found guilty of selling a sick dog to a New York woman, Maureen McSweeney, in 2002. In May, McSweeney’s attorney, Gerard Stranch of the Branstetter, Kilgore, Stranch and Jennings law firm in Nashville, won a $4,000 judgment in the case and filed an order for the execution of that judgment Monday afternoon. And, as Siliski’s assets are scarce — she sold her house to her fourth ex-husband and has filed for bankruptcy — Stranch was forced to list the dogs as property to be seized.

In the past, similar Maltese dogs have sold for as much as $1,000 each. Once the house pets are confiscated, an auction date will be set, giving animal lovers a chance to purchase one of the coveted Maltese. Meanwhile, the other 200 or more animals continue to remain in the custody of Williamson County Animal Control.

“All the dogs that are listed as evidence in the case are still over at the BGA facility,” Assistant Director Debby Leddy said in reference to the old Battle Ground Academy building where the dogs are being held. “The other ones that have not been fostered out are over there, as well.”

The county has spent well over $110,000 for the care of the animals, and some wonder if Siliski will be ordered to repay that amount if found guilty.

But, after seven months of watching the animal cruelty case unfold against Siliski, it’s clear that money is the last thing on the minds of the hundreds of animal lovers who are watching the first day of the trial.

“I am sure that we will all be glued to the tube waiting to find out what happens,” a Maltese dog owner from San Antonio posted on the discussion board at http://malteseonly.com.

Nearly 80 messages have been posted since late June regarding the Siliski case.

“We would like to know the details,” Sue Wilson of New York wrote yesterday to anyone who might attend the trial. “Facial expressions, body language, tone of voice of everyone involved ... the judge, the jury, Jennifer Siliski, the prosecutor, the audience. Be our eyes and ears.”


Staff Reporter Melissa N. Warren can be contacted at melissa@reviewappeal.com.

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