State v. McDonald

OPINION

THORNE, Judge:

¶ 1 Sydney McDonald appeals her conviction of fifty-eight counts of cruelty to animals, each of them a class C misdemeanor. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-9-301 (2003). We affirm in part and reverse in part.

BACKGROUND

¶2 McDonald was convicted of multiple counts of animal cruelty following the discovery of fifty-eight diseased cats, and one dead cat, in a trailer on a farm in Cache County. McDonald brought the trailer to the farm in January 2001, with the apparent purpose of creating a “sanctuary” for stray cats that she trapped in and around Salt Lake City. McDonald brought cats…