Woman pleads guilty to animal cruelty for neglecting horses on Key Peninsula property

TACOMA – A 39-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to animal-cruelty charges for the neglect of prize-winning horses on a Key Peninsula property will not be allowed to keep or live with animals for two years and will have to take an online class.

Kassandra Llyn Hand pleaded guilty Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court to three counts of second-degree animal cruelty, a gross misdemeanor. At the recommendation of prosecutors, Judge Philip Thornton gave Hand a suspended sentence of a year in jail.

Hand served 21 days in Pierce County Jail after she was arrested on a bench warrant in July. The punishment she received Thursday is suspended by two years, meaning that if she violates the law or other provisions of her sentence, she could be required to serve the remainder of her sentence in jail. That includes the requirement that she complete a one-time class on preventing animal cruelty.

“The state takes animal-cruelty cases very seriously,” deputy prosecuting attorney Stephanie Roberts said in court. “The primary concern here was that Ms. Hand would not be caring for animals for at least a period of time.”

The case surrounded five Tennessee Walker horses, two dogs and four puppies at a property on 158th Avenue Southwest in Lakebay. Criminal charges were brought against Hand following years of complaints from neighbors, visits from Animal Control and the euthanization of a white horse named Flash, who was at least 228 pounds underweight when he was seized in July last year, according to charging documents.

The horses formerly belonged to Hand’s father. A relative previously told the Gateway that the family had a long history of showing them in competitions, and the horses had won multiple awards. After Hand’s father died in 2020, she took over care for the animals, according to court records.

Roberts said one of the horses did not get the medical care it needed, and that made it difficult for the animal to eat. She said two dogs were also “terribly” malnourished. The attorney said photos of them were difficult to look at.

“It was neglect, and she was aware of the situation. And so those issues didn’t get taken care of, and animals suffered because of that,” Roberts said.

Hand previously told the Gateway she was told the animals were assets of her father’s estate and that she couldn’t move them. She said she tried the best she could, but she was “shut down” when she tried to get help for them.

An Animal Control report that documented the complaints showed that concerns began in May 2013 when someone called to report that the horses were starting to appear thin and looked like they hadn’t recently been seen by a veterinarian. Animal Control officers followed up and confirmed that a vet examined the horses a few months later and the animals appeared to have gained weight.

Complaints from neighbors persisted in 2022, with reports alleging that multiple horses on the property appeared very thin. Animal Control went to the property in April 2022. Hand reportedly told officers that she had fallen on hard times and was having issues providing feed for the animals.

Officers went back several times between May 2022 and February 2023 to try to speak with Hand and see the horses, according to the case report, but each time no one was home, and the horses weren’t visible from the street.

On July 14, 2023, Animal Control returned, and Hand was there to show the officers the horses. Four appeared to have gained weight, an officer reported, but Flash was still in bad shape. Hand was told if she didn’t get a veterinarian immediately, Flash would be seized. According to the case report, Hand said she didn’t have the money to pay for a vet visit.

Later that month, Animal Control came back with a search warrant. Flash was seized along with a dog and a litter of puppies, which reportedly had no access to food or water and were in an enclosure with excessive feces and urine. Flash, who was 35 years old, was euthanized weeks later, and the dogs were adopted.

Sheriff’s Department deputies evicted Hand from the property March 14, 2024, the day after charges were filed. The eviction arose out of court proceedings related to her father’s estate. The four horses that remained on the property were taken by Animal Control that day and brought to a rescue facility.

At sentencing Thursday, Hand’s attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Shelby Winters, said her client loved the animals and felt caught without good options. The attorney said Hand’s brother was the executor of their father’s estate, and Hand tried to ask for money from the estate to care for the animals, but she was refused.

Winters said Hand also was misled about what would happen if she called Animal Control for help.

“Ms. Hand was falsely led to believe by the estate that her trying to call Animal Control for any concerns over the estate’s failures to enable her to help care for these animals would result in some kind of theft or legal charges on her behalf,” Winters said.

Winters said Hand regrets the situation and didn’t want this to happen to any animals in the future.

Reached by phone Thursday, Hand’s brother, Christopher Hand, disputed the attorney’s account. He said he and his wife reached out to his sister several times to re-home the animals, and they were met with “vicious hostility.”

“She never once asked for a dime of the estate money,” Christopher Hand said. “She submitted a forged will, claiming that everything was hers in order to take everything. Several nonprofit organizations reached out to provide food for the animals, and she refused the food stating she wanted the cash only.”

The brother said he hoped that his sister had learned something from the court process and could grow from it.

A spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Adam Faber, said Thursday that the four horses that were seized were all healthy and doing well.

Before Judge Thornton imposed Kassandra Hand’s sentence Thursday, he asked her if she wanted to tell her anything. She didn’t make a statement. After court adjourned, she walked out of the courtroom. She declined to say anything to the News Tribune.