Former Director of GA Shelter Found Guilty by Jury

Lowanda “Peanut” Kilby, the former director of the now defunct Boggs Mountain Humane Shelter in Rabun Co, GA has been found guilty on 60 felony counts by a jury.  Prosecutors say Kilby used the no kill brand to bilk donors into giving money to her “Lucky Dog” program which she then funneled into her personal Paypal account – to the tune of $10 grand.

Regular readers will recall that Kilby ran a pay-to-play scam where she would guarantee dogs at the fake no kill shelter would be allowed to live if they received a sponsorship of $100.  Kilby would pocket the cash, kill the “Lucky Dog”, then send the sponsor a yay-your-sponsored-dog-got-adopted letter.  Kilby was fired in July 2012 after a tenacious Atlanta news reporter received a tip and exposed the scam on the evening news.

After being charged in September 2013 with 60 felony counts including theft and racketeering, Kilby spent 2 hours in jail then went on a cruise.  Her trial this month lasted less than 2 weeks and it took the jury less than 4 hours to return the guilty verdict on all 60 counts.  Kilby has yet to be sentenced but presumably won’t be going on another cruise anytime soon.

Since the killing of healthy shelter pets is tragically legal, Kilby was not charged with animal cruelty.  Instead she has been relegated to the Michael Vick Hall of Shame for those who needlessly and cruelly kill pets and never pay for their crimes.  Like Vick, Kilby will at least pay for her racketeering crimes.  There ought to be a law.

Note:  Since the verdict is a recent development in the story, updates are likely to be posted throughout the day at various news outlets.  Please share links to any updates you come across in the comments.

(Thanks Clarice for the link.)