iminor@dailypress.net
Daily Press file photo
A dog taken from an alleged puppy mill is cared for at the Delta Animal Shelter last year. The rights to the animals seized was forfeited during a hearing Monday in Delta County District Court.
ESCANABA In what would have been a packed courtroom, Rebecca Sue Johnson of Maple Ridge Township voluntarily forfeited the animals she is accused of abusing and neglecting in an alleged puppy mill during a brief hearing Monday.
Two hundred people logged into the civil forfeiture hearing, which was held over Zoom early Monday morning, including Johnson and her attorney Derek Swajanen. A handful of court staff and Delta County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Lauren Wickman filled the 94th District courtroom, wearing masks and separated by plexiglass dividers.