Animals abandoned in home, three found dead Muskegon Heights, MI (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Feb 28, 2007 County: Muskegon Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA Abuser/Suspect: Nancy Rose Bertoia Case Updates: 4 update(s) available

Case ID: 11080 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull), captive exotic View more cases in MI (US) Login to Watch this Case

The former renter of a Muskegon Heights home has been charged with animal abuse after police and animal control officers found starving, "horribly emaciated" dogs and a monkey inside the feces-filled residence last week.

They also found two dead dogs and a dead cat at 2933 Sixth after being called there March 8 by the property manager.

Nancy Rose Bertoia, whose address on court records is now listed as 1424 Kingston, was arraigned March 9 before visiting 60th District Judge Richard J. Pasarela on a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge.

She pleaded not guilty and posted a $300 cash bond. A condition of the bond was that she not acquire or care for any animal.

"I think it's bull crap that you guys are putting this in the paper," Bertoia said when contacted by The Chronicle Monday afternoon.

She has yet to be assigned a public defender, but called The Chronicle back to say she was advised by an attorney's office not to say anything.

Muskegon Heights Patrol Officer Royce Rodgers said he went to the home Thursday afternoon, and "the first thing I saw was this horribly emaciated Doberman," he said. The adult male Doberman pinscher was on a locked, enclosed porch.

"The windows were broken and there was no food or water," Rodgers said. "It was freezing cold in there."

The dog had chewed a 1-foot-diameter hole in the wooden door trying to get into the home, the police report said. There also was blood on the doorknob that appeared to be from the dog's mouth.

The dog's bones showed on its back, ribs and hindquarters and the animal had pus in its eyes. It had been sleeping on a pile of toys in a plastic tote box, Rodgers said. Everything else was covered with feces.

But an even worse sight greeted police and animal control officers as they entered the home, where the stench was overwhelming.

"Immediately, we saw the dogs on the couch," Rodgers said.

He was referring to a dead male Doberman on the couch, and a "very frail" adult female Doberman lying next to it. The female "had a hard time just getting off the low couch," he wrote.

Nearby was a brown puppy, also very skinny, and in a bedroom, they found a black puppy on a bed that was unable to even hold its head up.

While Rodgers was there, the female Doberman "came into the bedroom and crawled up next to the (black) puppy. The puppy tried to feed off the female, but she was too dehydrated," his report said.

An animal rescue official said Monday that the black puppy has since died.

Rodgers said he then saw a monkey sitting in a cage on the floor. "It was in bad shape," he said. The animal was shaking, sitting in its own feces. "It was a horrible scene," he said.

In fact, feces and trash covered the basement, the main floor and the second floor, the police report said. There was no sign of food or water anywhere, Rodgers said.

A dead puppy was found under a bed and a dead cat was found in a cardboard box on the front porch covered by a bag of trash, he said.

Rodgers interviewed Bertoia on Thursday after finding the animals. She was subsequently taken to the Muskegon County Jail. Rodgers reported that she told him she had not stayed at the home since Feb. 26 and that she left because a water pipe burst.

Bertoia "stated that she has been going to the house every day to feed and give water to the animals since she moved out," the police report said, and that she had seen the male Doberman (who died) the day before and that he had been "running around and looked fine."

"I said 'no it wasn't. It was decomposing,' " Rodgers said.

The surviving animals were taken to a local veterinarian and are in the custody of Pound Buddies Rescue. The police report said the veterinarian reported that both surviving adult dogs weighed only about half what they should.

Connie Karry, director of Pound Buddies Rescue, said the surviving puppy is in foster care and the organization is trying to find foster homes for the adult male and female Dobermans. The monkey also has a foster home.

"All of the dogs have internal parasites, and the female Doberman is being treated with antibiotics for an infection," Karry said.

When the animals were brought first to the county animal shelter, "they were trying to grab every morsel of food off the floor that they could get to," Karry said. "When we gave them water, they inhaled it."

The adult dogs "were skittish, but they let us put a leash on and take pictures. After awhile they came up to be petted," she said. "I think they're nice dogs."

"This is one of the more disturbing cases we've seen," said Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague. "It appears she left the animals without adequate provisions for several weeks."

But based on the way state law is written, the prosecutor's office only could charge Bertoia with a misdemeanor.

Bertoia is charged with a first offense, which is a 93-day misdemeanor. A second animal-abuse conviction has a one-year penalty, while a third conviction is a two-year felony.

Brett Gardner, chief assistant prosecutor, said that if the killing of an animal is intentional -- meaning "willful and malicious" -- then prosecutors could charge a person with animal killing or torturing, which is a four-year felony.

Tague said his office would be seeking "a significant penalty, including incarceration" if Bertoia is convicted.

The case has been set for pretrial on April 26.

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Muskegon Chronicle - March 13, 2007

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