Holiday Ann Christie, a 56-year-old Fort Collins, Colo. woman, was arrested last week and charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty for transporting 22 different animals in the back of a rental truck. Authorities are saying now that Christie has jumped bail Wednesday after she was not able to retrieve her animals and did not make her court appearance, according to the Coloradoan.
UPDATE:
The Coloradoan reports that the animal cruelty charges have been dropped against Holiday Christie, despite the district attorney saying that all 22 animals packed in the back of Christie's U-Haul truck would most likely have died had the police not intervened.
Instead Christie was sentenced to two years probation which will include mental health evaluations, The Denver Post reports. Doctors diagnosed Christie with a tumor in a part of her brain that controls reasoning. Additionally, she will not have any contact with her animals unless approved by the court.
EARLIER:
7News reports that Christie called the court this week to let the judge know that she was a thousand miles away and would not make her court appearance. The judge issued a bench warrant for Christie’s arrest for leaving the state, a violation of her bond.
When Christie was first arrested on July 19 in Fort Collins, she had stopped for gas and was on her way to Texas from Idaho. One of her dogs escaped from the back of her moving truck and was running around the Fort Collins streets. Officers arrived, responding to a dog-at-large call, the Denver Post reports. Then, just before the officers arrived, the dog was hit by a car and died, but the police then discovered 15 other dogs, two cats and four pygmy goats in the back of her rental truck where the temperature had reached 106 degrees.
According to 9News, Christie tried to get her animals back earlier in the week, but at that time she was not allowed to see them. If Christie does not contact the Humane Society by today, Friday, the animals could be put up for adoption early next week.