Dog breeder receives
30-day term for theftLucy Kagan had stopped
payment on $351 worth of goods
A Hawaii Kai dog breeder whose dogs were seized by the Hawaiian Humane Society last year amid allegations of mistreatment was sentenced yesterday to 30 days in jail on an unrelated theft charge.
Lucy Kagan pleaded no contest in December to second-degree theft for keeping $351 worth of merchandise she bought from Kaimuki Dry Goods in January 2002 after stopping payment on a check.
Circuit Judge Karen Ahn placed Kagan on five years' probation yesterday and ordered the jail term "based on credibility," Ahn said. "I believe there has been some game-playing."
Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Ikeda had argued that Kagan has been "playing games," making excuses for what happened to suit her purposes and twice misrepresenting that she had repaid Kaimuki Dry Goods when she had not done so.
Kaimuki Dry Goods denies she ever contacted them, saying they made repeated attempts to reach her to no avail before filing a police report, Ikeda said. "She just blew them off."
Kagan contends she washed the merchandise when she got home, decided it was not suitable and tried to return it. She said she called the store, was told she could not return it and later forgot about it.
Defense attorney Noah Fiddler argued against jail time, saying Kagan is unorganized but is not a bad person who has committed a violent or large-scale crime.
"She didn't outright steal the stuff," Fiddler said yesterday. "I don't believe stopping payment is so egregious that warrants imposition of jail."
Kagan denied playing games and apologized to Kaimuki Dry Goods, saying she would never do it again. She said her life was in shambles as she tried to cope with mental stress and attention deficit disorder that she had not sought treatment for until recently, the stress of caring for a disabled son on her own and ongoing legal troubles.
Ahn banned Kagan from Kaimuki Dry Goods during the period of her probation and ordered her to pay back the $351.
Last May, the Hawaiian Humane Society removed 27 dogs and two cats after firefighters responded to a fire at Kagan's Hawaii Kai townhouse and found the animals living in squalid conditions. Fourteen of the dogs were returned to Kagan. Some of the animals were retrieved by their owners, and one dog died while at the humane society.