EAST PALESTINE, Ohio -- A Lawrence County man avoided jail time by complying with the conditions of his sentence in an animal cruelty case involving mistreated emus in Columbiana County.

John D. Whiting, 53, of 320-A N. Market St., Wilmington Township, appeared before Judge Mark A. Frost in Columbiana County Municipal Court Tuesday for a review hearing. Whiting had previously pleaded no contest to two counts of cruelty to animals.

The judge suspended a 90-day jail sentence because Whiting has followed his orders that he pay fines totaling $400, $74 in court costs and $1,600 restitution to the Columbiana County Humane Society for its expenses in the case, as well as giving up ownership of the surviving emus.

Whiting, who owns JW Whiting & Sons Meat Processing Plant in the township, was placed on 1 year of unsupervised probation.

Whiting was charged by the Columbiana County Sheriff's Department after 11 dead emus were found in a trailer at the Rogers Community Auction and Open Air Market on Nov. 30. Seventeen birds in the trailer were still alive but in poor health, and 21 emus in similar condition were found in an auction pen, authorities said.

No food or water was found in the trailer, its floor condition indicated the birds had been there for days, and there appeared to be no food in the birds' crop, indicating they may not have eaten in two or three days, the sheriff's department said.

They were grossly underweight, and they had numerous cuts on their bodies, consistent with being trampled by other emus while in transport, authorities said. Most of the feathers were missing from the live birds, and they were bleeding from all over their bodies.