Craig Co. family says caring for abused animals left them in financial ruin

VINTA, Okla - Three years after a Craig County family agreed to care for hundreds of animals as part of an abuse investigation, the couple says the ordeal has financially devastated them.

2NEWS first introduced it's viewers to the Kelley family in 2007, as they were working to nurse 1600 sheep and cattle back to health after the animals were removed from a ranch near Bluejacket that belongs to Bradley and Tanya Bell.

Johnna and Lonnie Kelley of Vinta agreed to care for the animals with understanding that the Craig County Sheriffs Office would reimburse them for their expenses. The couple says they spent around $100,000 to nurse the animals back to health . But they were never repaid.

In a bizarre twist, 71 days after the were confiscated, a judge returned the animals to Bradley Bell. He later pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty and received 2 years probation.

The Kelley's attorney says while life has returned to normal for the other parties involved, the time and money the Kelley's spent caring for the abused animals ruined their finances.

Attorney Jeff Nix says, "They lost their land. They lost their house. They lost their business. And now they are trying to make a go of it in Arkansas. So it really destroyed them financially."

2NEWS spoke with Johnna Kelley by phone from her home in Arkansas. She says, "In the beginning, we were just trying to help take care of animals in need. But to put it bluntly we lost everything. We couldn't pay our regular monthly bills. We had a thriving business at one point. And we had to completely shut the business down the entire time in order to take care of the animals."

In May of this year, a judge ordered the Craig County Sheriffs Office and county officials to pay the Kelley's more than $38,000. But so far no payments have been made.

Nix says, "That is what you would hope your elected officials would do is step up and say we said we are going to do this. And by god we are going to do it. But has been just the opposite."

Johnna Kelley says the money would allow her to pay the bill collectors that constantly call her. She says, "It's not going to get us back to where we were before we took in the sheep and cattle. But it's going to take a load off our minds and hopefully stop the phone calls."

Jeff Nix will meet with the Craig County Commission on Monday to ask them to pay the judgment. If he's not successful it will take yet another judge's order to force the county to pay.

2NEWS tried to reach Craig County Sheriff Jimmie Sooter for comment. But our calls were not returned as of 10 pm on Tuesday.