By MELISSA N. WARREN / Review Appeal Staff Reporter

Hundreds of Maltese dog care givers continue to await news about their furry friends’ fate as jury members begin the fourth day of the Jennifer Siliski trial this morning.

On the Maltese Only Forum, a Web site message board where members can discuss the animal cruelty case, more than 167 messages have been viewed 61,317 times — and that’s just in the last two months.

“If people were to sue her now, could that money, if it can be found, be attached to pay liability claims?” asks a woman in New York named Sue Wilson to other Maltese lovers. “Would people be able to initiate lawsuits now that these charges have been brought? If cases are filed and Jennifer Siliski is in prison and cannot appear to defend herself, what happens?”

The responses that pour in every day are from other pet owners, attorneys, veterinarians and breeders. And while they vary in profession, location and knowledge of the case, one thing remains constant — all have had contact, both positive and negative, with Jennifer Siliski.

The Franklin dog breeder faces 30 counts of animal cruelty, neglect and torture for the treatment of 241 animals discovered in a Jan. 22 raid on her home kennel. Those charges, though, are attributed to just 12 dogs and two cats that the District Attorney’s Office lists as evidence of the kennel’s “deplorable conditions.”

While the case has been dealt with rather speedily in terms of the court system’s time schedule, the trial has lasted much longer than originally expected. When it began last Wednesday, Judge Lee Davies mentioned to jurors the possibility of extending into Saturday, although court did finish around 5:30 p.m. Friday for a long weekend.

This morning, starting at 8:30 a.m., the jury will hear more cross-examination of Dr. Mary Fooshee, a veterinarian who treated Siliski’s animals until two months ago at Williamson County Animal Control. Fooshee’s testimony Friday revealed that she is no longer employed at that facility because of disagreements with bosses, as well as a post on the Maltese Only Web Site.

Still scheduled to take the stand as state witnesses are the two kennel workers who quit working for Siliski just one week before the raid, the woman who took care of Siliski’s handicapped daughter, a state pathologist and the garbage man who discovered a “whimpering puppy among the coffee grinds and orange peels” in the breeder’s garbage can. According to the D.A.’s Office, Siliski discarded the puppy because it was so deformed that it could not be sold.

Following those testimonies, the defense attorneys will call as many as 44 of their subpoenaed witnesses in an effort to redirect the cruelty allegations towards Animal Control. Most notable of those subpoenaed are Siliski’s two teenage sons, her fourth ex-husband and the vet who admitted to performing one C-section a week on the Maltese dogs for eight years. Two other defense witnesses — a Jennifer Saluki and a Candy Broadway — closely resemble the defendant’s current name and one of her other 27 known aliases, “Cindy Broadway.” Siliski’s birth name was originally Melissa Henyan.

It is not known if the dog breeder will testify, although she did take the stand in a recent motion hearing regarding a separate charge of possession of Ketamine, a controlled substance. If Siliski does speak on her own behalf in this case, there will certainly be plenty of perked ears.

“As I looked around the room, many of us were choking back our own tears,” a Nashville woman posted to other Maltese Only members on Aug. 22 after watching the trial. “I have come home each night with much more respect for my three fostered darlings for their ability to survive hell ... Pray harder please.”

The woman is just one of some 20 spectators who continue to sit attentively in the court room and scribble notes to each other.

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

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