Story Published:
Jul 19, 2009 at 10:59 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jul 20, 2009 at 6:45 PM CDT
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark -- A fugitive on the run from Baxter County authorities has been arrested in Vermont. The Baxter County sheriff says Tammy Hanson was a fugitive since 2006, when she and her husband left Arkansas after being convicted in one of the largest animal abuse cases in U.S. history.
Tammy, and her husband, William Hanson, were both convicted of multiple counts of animal cruelty, and tampering with evidence in Baxter County District Court in February 2006.
The Caledonia County Sheriff's Department was working a tip when its sheriff saw Hanson's mugshot on the Baxter County sheriff's department's web site. Hanson was arrested on Saturday under an alias at her home in Sutton, Vermont.
Hanson appeared in the District Court of Caldonia County in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, on Monday. Judge VanBenthuysen ordered Hanson be held in lieu of $25,000 cash bond on the Lawrence County felony warrant. Hanson will also be held without bond on the Baxter County misdemeanor warrant. Hanson will remain in Vermont until a Governor's Warrant is issued from either Missouri or Arkansas to bring her back to the Ozarks.
In September 2006, Baxter County executed a search warrant on the Hansons' property, operating under the name of EDNAH, Every Dog Needs a Home. Deputies found nearly 600 abused and neglected dogs, several of which had been rescued from the Hurricane Katrina destruction zone.
Tammy Hanson was also wanted in Lawrence County, Mo., for failing to appear in Circuit Court. She's charged there for multiple counts of theft of animals that were previously rescued from Baxter County and the Hurricane Katrina zone.
