A 59-year-old North Whidbey woman admitted that her actions led to the death of two horses and the suffering of dogs and cats in her care.
Kristi Finch will serve six months in jail — and possibly longer if she doesn’t comply with the terms of her sentence. In addition, she will have to pay more than $100,000 in restitution to animal welfare groups, obtain a mental health evaluation, undergo recommended treatment and refrain from owning any animals for two years.
Yet while both the prosecution and defense offered the judge an agreed-upon sentence recommendation, the hearing in Island County Superior Court wasn’t without drama. The deputy prosecutor accused Finch of “manufacturing her own poverty” by giving her assets to her children in an effort to avoid paying restitution.
Under the terms of a plea bargain, Finch pleaded guilty to two counts of animal cruelty in the first degree and two counts of animal cruelty in the second degree.
Specifically, the two first-degree animal cruelty charges are in regard to two horses that starved to death on Finch’s farm. Passersby saw the dead horses at the Hastie Lake farm Dec. 24, 2022 and alerted deputies with the sheriff’s office, who then discovered and seized a large number of mistreated animals on her property.
One of the second-degree animal cruelty charges is in regard to neglected dogs and the other is for cruelty to cats.
Both the prosecution and the defense recommended a six-month sentence. In addition, the plea bargain included a two-year suspended sentence for the two counts of animal cruelty in the second degree. Finch will not have to serve the suspended sentence unless she violates the terms of the resolution.
In court, Deputy Prosecutor Michael Safstrom said Finch’s actions were not passive, but amounted to active abuse. She confined animals and then failing to provide them with adequate food and other essentials for life. He said 16 horses, 24 dogs, more than 30 cats and various other animals were seized from her property.
“Kristi Finch neglected and starved numerous animals over a protracted period of time,” he said.
Still, Safstrom expressed compassion for Finch. Pointing out that she faced similar charges in a Skagit County case years ago, he said Finch clearly has an untreated mental health issue that precipitated the crimes. Both he and Finch’s attorney pointed to the sheer number of animals that Finch owned and suggested that she may suffer from animal hoarding disorder.
As a result, the plea bargain included the mental health treatment element. In addition, she is not allowed to own animals for two years.
Finch’s attorney, Eric Lewis, said his client has matured in her understanding of her crimes. He said she initially felt victimized by the law-and-justice system and didn’t understand the harm her actions caused. He said she wasn’t realistic about her ability to care for a large number of animals.
“She didn’t hate the animals,” he said. “She wasn’t intentionally being cruel towards them.”
Lewis said the defense hired defense experts who provided information that helped Finch understand the gravity of her actions.
“She does, in fact, understand now,” he said. “She’s not in the same place.”
When asked by the judge if she had any comment, Finch tearfully said she didn’t know what she could say.
Finch’s refusal to relinquish ownership of her dozens of dogs and cats meant that Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation, or WAIF, had to care for the animals for many months while they were in limbo at the animal shelter. The prosecutor ultimately filed a motion for forfeiture, which a judge granted last summer after court battle.
As a result, the cost of caring for Finch’s dogs, cats and chinchillas, most of which required medical care, amounted to a total of $77,000. Finch was ordered to pay that amount to WAIF, as well as over $6,000 to Pasado’s Safe Haven and $19,000 to a veterinarian, although not all at once; she will have to make payments for many years.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Christon Skinner noted that the case garnered a great deal of concern among Whidbey Island residents because of the compassion people feel for “helpless members of the community.” He said he was particularly outraged that Finch — who was running a puppy and kitten mill — was making money from the suffering of animals. He said he gave serious thought to sentencing Finch to the maximum amount of time, which would have been a year in jail.
But in the end, Skinner agreed with the joint recommendation and sentenced Finch to six months in jail, plus he agreed to suspend the two-year sentence for two years. He gave her 14 days to report to jail.
Skinner ordered her to obtain a mental health evaluation and comply with treatment recommendations. He said she isn’t allowed to own animals during the suspended sentence period.
In order to gauge how much she can pay a month in restitution, Skinner asked Finch about her income and her assets. Finch claimed that she had no assets.
Safstrom, however, questioned Finch about the farm she sold earlier in the year for $370,000. She said she didn’t know how much she made, saying that she had taxes to pay.
Skinner pressed Finch, who admitted that she earned more than $50,000 from the sale. He asked her where the money went, and she claimed she gave it to her children.
Safstrom argued that Finch sold her house and “gave” the money to a family member she lives with because she knew she would be ordered to pay a large amount of restitution. He argued she should be ordered to pay $800 a month and that the interest should not be waived.
“Ms. Finch is playing a game to retain money she should not have access to,” he said.
Skinner agreed that Finch had not been forthright about her assets and had made “a concerted effort to dispose of her property.” He ordered her to pay $500 a month in restitution and he waived the interest, saying that the debt shouldn’t be permanent. He suggested that she could borrow money from her children.
Skinner warned Finch that the court would be closely scrutinizing her compliance with the conditions of the sentence.
