MCCRACKEN COUNTY, Ky. — The McCracken County Animal Shelter is home to dozens of cats.

"He was found in a plastic bag by the side of the road," Christie Bell said of a small white and gray kitten she was holding against her chest.

Helping to open the shelter, Bell remembers, was a good day.  So was August 3rd.  Christie Bell was in the courtroom as Dalena Hall was found guilty of improperly euthanizing cats at the Humane Society.

"I was satisfied. I think it spoke to the people we're not going to allow this," she said.

On Friday, Hall's lawyer Jeremy Ian Smith filed an appeal in hopes of overturning her conviction.

Because Hall was not a vet or a euthanasia specialist, Smith says the charges should not have held up.  If they did, he says, they should have been tried in front of the State Board of Veterinary Examiners.

He maintains what Hall did was not a crime, but an act of kindness. 

Smith says the 23-year employee of the Humane Society put down sick cats in order to save the healthy ones, "She was the only one out there, she had no choice."

But Christie Bell says, "What she did was illegal." 

"She needs to be accountable for what she did," she continued.

For now, the appeal will keep Hall out of jail.  She had been sentenced to 60 days behind bars.  Dalena Hall is continuing to work at the Humane Society.  Board members have chosen to reduce her hours and responsibilities but she will remain on for the time being.

Beau Anderson is no longer employed at the Humane Society.  He will face animal cruelty charges in September.