A South Range woman and her ex-husband have pleaded no contest to charges that they neglected a 9-month-old colt nicknamed Windchill whose poor condition and eventual death last year roused the sympathies of animal lovers across the country.
Pamela Kaye Javenkoski, 48, and Shane E. Javenkoski, 34, both reached plea agreements Thursday in Douglas County Court, five days before they were to go to trial on the charges. The agreements could allow Shane Javenkoski to purge the charge from his record, while Pamela Javenkoski, who had a boarding contract with Windchill's owner, still could spend some time in jail.
Shane Javenkoski pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of failing to provide food to confined animals and received a deferred-judgment-of-conviction agreement. That means the charge will be dismissed if he follows conditions including paying a $200 fine,
allowing quarterly inspections of his property and any animals he owns until 2012 and, if necessary, testifying at the trial of his ex-wife.
Pamela Javenkoski pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of providing improper animal shelter for the colt, while a second misdemeanor count of failing to supply food to animals was dismissed. A sentencing hearing was set for Feb. 18.
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Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Lovejoy said she plans to request up to 120 days in jail for Pamela Javenkoski. Lovejoy also requested that Javenkoski pay restitution to Jeff Tucker and Kathi Davis, who took Windchill on Feb. 9, 2008, after the colt was found covered in ice and snow, unable to stand, in the pasture at the Javenkoskis' farm. The temperature, with wind chill, that day was about 55 degrees below zero. The horse died about three weeks later.
"For 20 days we put our lives on hold to try to save this colt," Davis wrote in a victim impact statement. The couple had high out-of-pocket expenses and sleepless nights caring for Windchill, she wrote, as well as dealing with media and "hundreds of e-mails and phone calls. Not to mention the heartbreak when the colt's heart gave out due to being so damaged from starvation."
The outpouring of concern for the horse spawned a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting equine abuse and neglect.
"I guess it's better than nothing," said Gary Niemi, the treasurer of Windchill Legacy. "It would have been nice to have them face the facts that they starved this poor horse to death."
