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Case #12277 Rating: 2.4 out of 5
Puppy left without food or water, ears mutilated
Solvang, CA (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 1, 2007
County: Santa Barbara
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendants/Suspects:
» Francisco Gutierrez
» Roselene Monroy - Dismissed (Conditional)
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Francisco Gutierrez and Roselene Monroy, both of Solvang, are charged with failure to provide adequate care for an animal - a pit bull puppy - but the issue that has most inflamed public opinion is the mutilation of the dog's ears.
Gutierrez and Monroy are not being charged with cutting off the dog's ears, officials said. The two defendants insist that they were given the dog, with its ears already cut, by a stranger they met while shopping in Santa Maria.
Santa Barbara County Animal Control took the 3-month-old dog from Gutierrez's back yard in Solvang after a neighbor reported that the puppy had been crying continuously. It had allegedly been left in the yard for several days, without food or water. The dog also had recently had its ears cut off, presumably with a pair of scissors or a knife.
"We were appalled when we learned about this situation and we responded immediately when the report came in," said Jan Glick, Animal Services director. "We are waiting to see in what direction the case is going to go."
The case is being reviewed by Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Mag Nicola.
Gutierrez couldn't be reached for comment, but Julia Di Sieno of Animal Rescue Team (ART), which ended up caring for the dog, said Gutierrez has claimed that he didn't cut off its ears.
He said he got the dog from a man in Santa Maria and that this man had another dog with him, possibly Rocky's litter-mate.
With recent donations that ART has received, Di Sieno has posted a reward of $2,000 for information leading to the discovery of Rocky's litter-mate, or other puppies who are in a similar situation in the Solvang and Santa Maria areas, or information on anyone who might be engaged in the practice of cutting off dogs' ears.
People making those donations apparently feel strongly about it.
"When my daughter and I read about Rocky in the paper, we just had to do something," said Jan Perez.
Perez's daughter, Gloria Shaw, and her co-workers at Mid-State Bank sprang into action, collecting money for Rocky. Perez and her friends and co-workers are also raising money.
"I hope this brings awareness of animal abuse and that the animals need human help and support and protection," Perez said.
Jerry Mitchell, 87, walked around in his mobile home park neighborhood in Buellton, collecting funds for Rocky and dropping it off at George Bertram's veterinary office in Solvang.
"If I had of been a few years younger I would have gone over there and cut that guy's ears off," Mitchell said. "It's not the breed of dog. It's the idiots who mistreat them and train them to fight that should be punished.
"All the animal lovers around should rise up together and do something about these dog fights and the cruelty to these animals," he said.
According to Di Sieno, Rocky is doing well and living on a private ranch with three other dogs on 20 acres.
A local plastic surgeon, Kit Williams, and Bertram plan to donate their services to do reconstructive surgery sometime in the near future to prevent inner-ear infections, which could be a lifelong problem for Rocky.
However, other money is needed for Rocky's care, so ART will be holding a fundraiser from 3 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 23, at the Maverick Saloon in Santa Ynez.
The group is looking for donations of auction items as well as volunteers to help coordinate the event. The money collected will go toward medical expenses from the surgery, such as the operating room, medical supplies, medication and food.
Anyone wishing to help Rocky and other animals who have been mistreated can donate money to ART at Business First Bank, 1035 State St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, or drop off contributions at Bertram's Solvang Veterinary Hospital, 630 Alamo Pintado Road in Solvang.
For more information, call Di Sieno at 896-1859.
Case UpdatesA Solvang man accused of animal cruelty for allegedly failing to provide a pit bull puppy with food, water and protection from extreme heat for two days is not denying guilt in the charge.
Francisco Gutierrez pleaded no contest on Thursday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court to the single misdemeanor count of animal cruelty he faced, said Deputy District Attorney Heather Sutton.
In exchange for his plea, a misdemeanor animal cruelty charge was dismissed against Gutierrez's wife, Rosalina Monroy.
Prior to the plea, the case was set to begin trial Monday.
Gutierrez was sentenced to court probation, ordered to complete 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay restitution, Sutton said. The court also recommended that Gutierrez complete a course in animal care/sensitivity, and deferred a $1,000 fine.
In addition to being deprived of necessities, the 8- to 10-week-old puppy did not receive immediate and necessary veterinary care for his infected, cut-off ear flaps or flea infestation, Sutton said in an e-mail.
The dog, Rocky, has since been adopted.
The attorney for Gutierrez, Senior Deputy Public Defender Kevin Carey, and the attorney for Monroy, Michael Scott, could not be reached for comment Friday.
According to a Santa Barbara County Animal Services report, Officer Don Barkas was sent to the pair's residence in the 1600 block of Maple Avenue in Solvang the afternoon of July 23 after Animal Services received a phone call from someone who said a dog had been crying in the backyard of the home since the previous morning.
The officer said in the report that Rocky was tied to a tree by a badly tangled cord. A flower pot base containing what appeared to be partially eaten cheese tortellini was out of his reach due to his shortened tether, Barkas said.
He said he could not find any water bowl. In addition, two rabbits in a nearby cage only had a small amount of brown water, according to the report.
Rocky's ears had been crudely cropped, Barkas said.
Stacy Crump, a spokeswoman for Animal Services, has said in the past that dogs' ears are typically cut off to eliminate the potential for injury to the animal during illegal dog fighting.
Barkas took Rocky after leaving a notice of seizure for the residents.
Several hours later, the officer returned to the home and spoke to Monroy, who he reported said that an unknown man asked her and Gutierrez in Santa Maria the previous day if they wanted the dog.
Monroy was unable to explain why the pair did not seek medical attention for the dog, Barkas said, but claimed she took care of him and fed him water and tortillas that morning.
Monroy said the rabbits in the backyard belonged to a woman who was renting a room from them, and informed the renter of the rabbits' need for food, according to Barkas.
Sutton warned that a puppy cannot tolerate extreme temperatures like an adult dog, and encouraged anyone caring for a pet suffering from obvious signs of infection, or riddled with fleas, to seek immediate veterinary care.
"Any person having the charge or custody of any animal, either as owner or otherwise, who subjects any animal to needless suffering or fails to provide the animal with proper food, drink or shelter or protection from the weather, could be prosecuted for cruelty to animals," Sutton said in the e-mail. | Source: Santa Maria Times - March 16, 2008
Update posted on Mar 16, 2008 - 7:18PM |
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