Zoo president's wife cited by animal control

[Michael C. Weimar | Times]

TAMPA -- The wife of Lowry Park Zoo president Lex Salisbury was cited for animal cruelty after leaving two small dogs unattended in a car, according to Hillsborough County Animal Control. It all happened during a board meeting today regarding Salisbury's questionable actions while head of the zoo.

The window of the gold Nissan Pathfinder was cracked for the two dogs -- a Welsh terrier and another terrier mix, but according to Marti Ryan, Animal Services spokeswoman, that's not good enough. When an Animal Services officer took the temperature inside the vehicle, it was 90 degrees. The car was likely hotter than that, as a door had been open for about 10 minutes before the reading.

"You're not wearing a fur coat. You try being kept in that car," Ryan said. "We're talking about the midday in Florida. Holy cow."

Ryan said the officer reported that the dogs were heavily panting, but had not yet gone into distress. She said an anonymous witness called in the complaint outside the Mainsail Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 5108 Eisenhower Blvd.

Salisbury's wife, Mary Louise Sheppa, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She was fined $270 for the cruelty citation and another $390 because neither dog was vaccinated or wore a tag.

Ryan said Sheppa told the officer that she'd brought the dogs along and left them in the car because she was on her way to a doctor's appointment. "That just doesn't jibe," Ryan said.

"The good news for Mr. Salisbury's investigation today was that perhaps all that attention that he brought to himself ... could have saved these dogs lives," Ryan said.

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Kim Wilmath, Times staff writer

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