By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

The second day of testimony in the Jennifer Siliski animal cruelty case left phrases like “cup of pus” and “caked feces” resonating in the ears of jurors.

However, the defense repeatedly attacked the credibility of state witnesses, as well as the credibility of Williamson County Animal Control (WCAC) — the facility that has cared for the 241 animals since they were confiscated Jan. 22 from Siliski’s 2235 Bowman Road home.

“Your honor, I object,” Assistant District Attorney Braden Boucek said as Siliski’s attorney, Rebecca Byrd, questioned Debby Leddy, the assistant director at WCAC. “This is an attempt to put Animal Control on trial.”

Byrd denied that accusation and said her objective was to show that WCAC had treated the animals in the same fashion as her client by housing them in stacked cages. Byrd also pointed out that all animals were alive at the time of their removal from Siliski’s home, whereas several of the dogs died in the care of WCAC.

It was not the first time yesterday that the heated tone of the room caused Judge R.E. Lee Davies to close his eyes and rub his hand over his face.

“Everybody needs to keep calm,” the judge said earlier in the day as Deputy District Attorney Derek Smith accused Byrd of preaching to criminal investigator John Brown.

During that line of questioning, Byrd read Brown’s testimony from previous hearings and listed discrepancies in the detailing of that January night.

While the questions put Brown on the defensive, Byrd’s point was that neither the inventory of the animals, the video nor the pictures taken during the raid reflect proof of the allegations against her client.

“Do you see any blood dripping?” Byrd asked Brown as his video of the interior of the home kennel was shown to jurors. “Show me where the feces ran over the pan. ... Isn’t that water and food in that bowl? ... Aren’t those bags of dog food? ... Perhaps there are some feces, but they aren’t all over the floor.”

The same defense tactic was evident when Byrd hinted Leddy had overstated the truth while under oath.

“In your testimony, you said thousands of eyes looked back at you that night,” the defense said. “You have a tendency to overexaggerate, don’t you?”

Leddy said she is not aware she has that trait. In the rest of her testimony, the assistant director at WCAC explained how Animal Control dealt with the influx of animals after the raid and outlined the number of volunteers who worked in shifts to stabilize the situation. She also said she could not identify the specific problems alleged in the animals by looking at the photographs.

“You are familiar with dogs and you do know the location of a dog’s penis?” Byrd asked, alluding to the charge that Siliski had given male dogs Viagra, although none of that drug was found in the home. According to the veterinarian’s report, the male dogs had a constant erection and the shaft of their penises were cracked and bleeding. Leddy could not identify that organ in the photo because of the angle, she said.

“I’m not a vet,” she reminded the court numerous times. “I don’t really feel qualified to answer about the health of these animals.”

The state did call veterinarian Dr. Paula Schuerer, one of the two vets who worked on the animals found in Siliski’s home. Yesterday, the judge deemed Schuerer to be an expert witness.

“Dog V2 holds the record for the highest white blood cell count I’ve ever seen in a patient,” Schuerer said of one dog evacuated that night for immediate care. “A normal white blood count is 17,000 cells. The white blood count on this dog was 830,900 because of the pyometra (a potentially life-threatening infection of the uterus).”

The vet also listed evidence of numerous ear infections, parasites, mange, malnutrition, genetic disorders, heart murmurs, dehydration, anemia and severe dental problems discovered in the animals, as well as an odd social behavior she called “cage crazy.” Schuerer testified that the conditions she treated had to have begun at least several weeks before the raid.

That opinion would suggest the conditions also began well before Siliski’s two kennel workers, Karen and Julie Burnham, quit — a point Byrd has claimed was partly to blame for the animals’ alleged ill health.

Those two witnesses, as well as a garbage collector who claims to have found a still-living puppy thrown into the trash can, are scheduled to testify today. Court will reconvene at 8:30 a.m. and last an extra hour, but the trial is nonetheless expected to go into next week.

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

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