Cherilyn M. Wilson makes her first appearance in Lewis County Superior Court Friday, Dec. 14, 2018.
A Winlock woman who, along with her husband, was accused of keeping a number of dogs and a pony in squalid conditions, was sentenced to six months of community custody and was prohibited from owning animals, other than a couple that were already in her care.
Cherilyn Wilson, 68, pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree animal cruelty and two misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals. Three additional misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals were dismissed, court records indicate.
Additionally, during the sentencing hearing on Feb. 7 in Lewis County Superior Court with Judge Joely O’Rourke presiding, Wilson was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation with 60 days.
Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said he couldn’t talk much about Cherilyn Wilson’s case, because her husband, Roy Wilson, 91, is still facing an identical set of charges. Roy Wilson is set to go to a bench trial in front of a judge on March 11.
Meagher, when asked about an order that allows Cherilyn Wilson to still own one dog and one cat, said that seemed to be the limit of animals she could take care of at once, saying she didn’t seem like she could handle the number of animals she had been keeping in the house previously.
The Wilsons were accused of keeping numerous dogs inside their house on Dorning Road in Winlock, when a contingent consisting of deputies and veterinarians searched the property on Sept. 14, 2018. However, more central to the investigation were a number of dogs kept outside in filthy runs with limited access to clean water — resulting in the misdemeanor charges.
The lone felony stems from a pony that was allegedly showing the signs of a hoof disease that made it painful to walk. The pony showed signs of having the disease for several years, an equestrian veterinarian wrote in a report. The pony was put down on the spot.
