The SPCA Tampa Bay (SPCATB) was found “not guilty” of animal cruelty on July 29th by Judge Kathleen Hessinger.
Judge Kathleen Hessinger denied entry of 18-20 observers leaving empty space in the courtroom.
After hours of testimony and graphic images, the evidence was clear: Waddles the pig entered the SPCATB healthy and left with significant sunburn, barely able to ambulate.
In delivering her verdict the judge began by telling the courtroom that she was angry and didn’t know where to begin.
She was angry because it was the biggest crowd she’d ever seen in her court room.
She was angry because everyone was there because of sun burned pig
She was angry at the owner who had to surrender her pig
She was angry because pig rescues are full
She was angry that Pinellas Co Animal Services did not accept pigs.
She was angry that social media played a role in the attention given to this cruelty case and
She was angry that the SPCATB was getting the blame
She scolded the court room observers for being there for a pig when they should be showing up for child abuse cases.
She referred to animals as “dumb”
She was angry at everything and everyone except the cruelty that Waddles experienced while at the SPCATB.
This was a show trial in Judge Hessinger’s court on July 29, 2026.
A show trial is a proceeding that looks like a real court trial but is chiefly staged to achieve a political or public-relations goal rather than to fairly determine guilt or innocence. The outcome is typically decided in advance.
SPCATB CEO Martha Boden (former E.D of IndyHumane) sat confidently in the front row. She likely already knew the outcome and believing that attention to the cruelty that occurred at the agency’s campus would go away.
However, Waddles is not going away.
I’m still here. I’m not done. My name is Waddles
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