Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Heather Jones | | Defense(s): | Mark Garver | | Judge(s): | Jeff Almquist, William Kelsay |
Images for this Case
Puppy mill - some dead, skulls hanging from trees
Boulder Creek, CA (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jul 26, 2008
County: Santa Cruz
Charges: Misdemeanor, Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 4 files available
Alleged: Robert Brunette
Upcoming Court Dates:
» Monday, Oct 6, 2008: preliminary hearing
Case Updates: 6 update(s) available
Animal Service officers confiscated 38 dogs and puppies Saturday afternoon after finding "more dead dogs than we could count" and dog heads hanging from trees.
According to Tricia Geisreiter of Santa Cruz County Animal Services, a neighbor called to report that a resident on the 100 block of Hartman Creek Road was mistreating dogs. When animal control officers responded they found dead dogs and mistreated dogs. The resident was uncooperative so they returned Saturday with a search warrant and seven sheriff's deputies.
Sheriff's Sgt. Fred Plageman said the property owner fled from the back of the property.
"Some of the dogs were not well-behaved," Plageman said.
Inside the residence, officers found dead dogs at the foot of the bed and "feces everywhere."
Geisreiter said most of the dogs were in "pretty bad condition" and were scared and not friendly.
"They were literally living in dog crates, chained to the ground with no food, no water," she said.
Officers found 38 dogs who were alive and an unknown number of dead dogs and decomposing carcasses. Only one full carcass was found, the rest were body parts, including skulls hanging from trees, Geisreiter said.
"There were decapitated dogs heads all over the property, hanging from trees," she said. "We don't know how the dogs died or why their heads were cut off. We are investigating him for crimes against animals."
Officers found 2-day-old puppies as well as 4- and 6-week-old puppies. Apparently the man was advertising puppies for sale in San Jose and San Francisco, Geisreiter said.
Most of the dogs were cane corsos, mastiffs, labradors, rotweillers and other mixed breeds, she said.
One older dog was found inside the cab of a pickup, also without food and water. In a clearing on the property, officers found a large bag of dog food open for any dogs that weren't in cages.
Some of the dogs also had "quite a bit of fight scars on them that had been sutured together." Geisreiter said "we don't know that this gentleman was using them for fighting. Sometimes when animals are in huge packs, they will fight."
While animal services officers are doing their best to save the animals in their control, they don't know if any of the dogs are in particularly good condition.
"While we are caring for them right now, they are legally his until the DA (District Attorney) decides whether or not to prosecute," she said. "Maybe he will want to surrender some of the animals to us. Hypothetically we will be able to put them up for adoption."
District Attorney Bob Lee said he couldn't comment on the possible charges the man may face or the fate of the dogs until Animal Services officers turn over their investigation to the District Attorney's Office.
"The case isn't coming to us and won't be coming to us until at least Wednesday," Lee said.
Case UpdatesThe man accused of abusing dozens of dogs will be released on his own recognizance, Judge William Kelsay decided Monday.
During the preliminary hearing for Robert Burnette, 45, the judge determined there is enough evidence to hold Brunette on two felony and eight misdemeanor charges of mistreating more than 50 dogs and puppies on his rural Boulder Creek property.
Brunette previously declined to agree to the conditions for his release and was being held on $50,000 bail. He could be released as early as this evening.
The terms of his release require him to notify the court of his address every three days, that he not be allowed to possess any dogs and that he allow any searches of his property.
Brunette has been in County Jail since July 31.
Animal Services has removed 51 dogs and puppies from his Santa Cruz Mountains property and believes five to seven more remain.
Complaints had been made to officials about Brunette's dogs as early as 2002, but the early investigation was mismanaged and eventually the case was dropped. Judge Jeff Almquist recuse himself from the case earlier this month because he was the county supervisor for the district where the property is when the complaints were made.
Brunette's attorney Mark Garver said his client agreed to the latest release conditions because they are less restrictive. | Source: Mercury News - Aug 18, 2008
Update posted on Aug 18, 2008 - 10:26PM |
County officials knew as early as 2002 that accused animal abuser Robert Brunette's dogs were aggressive and that living conditions at his rural Boulder Creek property were substandard.
In a 27-page ruling issued in December 2006, the county administrative hearing officer stated all the evidence collected against Brunette was "fruit of the poisonous tree." It was invalid in court because Brunette's constitutional rights were violated by Animal Services officers and sheriff's deputies when they searched his property in July 2002.
The case was dropped in December 2006.
Brunette, 45, was arrested a week ago and has pleaded not guilty to 10 felony and misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.
Animal Services officers went to his 5-acre property off Deer Creek Road on July 25 after a neighbor reported dogs and puppies were being mistreated. Brunette ran them off, but they returned with sheriff's deputies and a search warrant the next day. He fled and was on the lam for five days.
Officers have removed 46 dogs and puppies, many of them emaciated, flea-ridden and sick with intestinal worms, from Brunette's fenced land. Four adult dogs are still roaming the property, where officers also found a decapitated dog head hanging from a tree, two decomposing dog paw, six dog skulls and a dead dog on the roof of a plywood cabin.
Brunette was granted supervised release from County Jail by Judge Jeff Almquist on Monday. However, Brunette refused to abide by any of the release terms, including that he cooperate with Animal Services officers and not possess animals, according to Pretrial Services supervisor Charles Smith. Therefore he remains in jail.
Wednesday, Brunette appeared in court again.
"This is the standard supervised release agreement. I went over this with the defendant," Smith said in court. "He asked to sleep on it for a night... He doesn't want to be supervised."
Almquist ordered that Brunette's bail be re-set at $100,000, because he is a threat to public safety, which defense attorney Mark Garver objected to.
"Standard bail for something like this is $5,000," said Garver, who requested a bail hearing, which is set for Friday morning.
Outside court, Garver pointed out that Brunette was going to be released on his own recognizance, so he must not be a serious threat to public safety. He also said the public misunderstands what his client is suspected of doing.
"No one is accusing him of intentionally, maliciously harming the animals," Garver said. "That's not what he's charged with."
Prosecutor Heather Jones said Brunette's dogs are being nursed back to health by Animal Services employees.
"The animals are the victims here and they don't have a voice," she said outside of court. "We're passionate about this case. We believe the animals were subjected to needless suffering."
Jones also noted that this is the first time the District Attorney's Office has been involved since allegations of Brunette's mistreatment of his dogs surfaced in 2002. She said they were unaware of the prior law enforcement contact with Brunette that was thrown out by the Code Enforcement hearings board.
"We don't know anything about it," Jones said.
Ken Hart, a principal planner in the county Planning Department who manages the Code Compliance section, said Wednesday that his office received a compliant about Brunette's property through Animal Services in 2005.
According to the decision from the county's administrative hearing officer, the complaint stemmed from an illegal search of Brunette's property conducted by sheriff's deputies and Animal Services officers acting on a tip in 2002. There was a complaint that the dogs were mistreated and the water on the property was poisonous to the animals.
"For all we know, the citizen complaint was rank hearsay and not based on personal knowledge," George Gigarjian, the administrative hearing officer, wrote in his decision.
Brunette's Hartman Creek Road property is two miles up Deer Creek Road, a private drive off Bear Creek Road that even US Postal Service employees don't have the right to enter without owners' permission. The entrance to Deer Creek Road is marked with several "private property" and "no trespassing" signs.
Hart explained that the code compliance case was thrown out because Animal Services officers didn't have legal cause to be on Hartman Creek Road.
"Because that was the source of our complaint we didn't have probable cause either," he said.
Animal Services General Manager Henry Brzezinski did not return phone calls Wednesday and field manager Todd Stosuy said Tuesday night he was instructed to not make any more statements to the media.
Previously, Animal Services officials said they had received complaints about Brunette several years ago, but that they were difficult to investigate because officers have to witness the violations. They also said the office's current employees did not work there when the prior complaints were made.
The 2002 complaint stated Brunette's dogs were "running loose and biting people" but was not the source was not named in Gigarjian ruling.
Hart said code compliance investigators have started a new probe into Brunette's property based on information sheriff's deputies and Animal Services officers obtained with a search warrant last month. It's possible Brunette could be cited for having a nonpermitted structure - his 300-square-foot cabin - as well as keeping large numbers of dogs and selling them without a kennel permit.
Hart wasn't sure how many dogs Brunette would be allowed to keep on his property, but said more than 40 is likely not allowed.
"Without a permit, I would very much doubt you could have that many dogs," he said. "It's possible he could be cited under the zoning code."
Each violation carries a $2,500 fine. Brunette also faces up to four years in state prison for the animal abuse crimes he is charged with.
Jones, the prosecutor, also said Wednesday that additional charges are possible but did not elaborate.
Dealing with Robert Brunette- July 2, 2002: Robert Brunette refused to allow two county Animal Services officers and a sheriff's deputy to enter his property to investigate a report of aggressive dogs and a tainted water supply.
- July 9, 2002: The Planning Department received a report from Animal Services about an illegal kennel with 23-26 dogs, a nonpermitted house and an illegally occupied trailer at Brunette's property.
- April 2003: A code compliance investigator tried to find the property but couldn't.
- Aug. 30, 2005: The same investigator located the property and Brunette refused to let him enter. The investigator saw several dogs and posted a kennel operation violation at the property.
- Sept. 22, 2005: Planning Department officials, Animal Services officers and sheriff's deputies were again refused entry to the property.
- Oct. 24, 2005: A judge signed an administrative inspection warrant to investigate an illegal dwelling, keeping more than four dogs without a kennel permit and unauthorized occupation of a travel trailer.
- Oct. 26, 2005: The warrant was served.
- Dec. 20, 2005: A protest meeting was held about the violations.
- Dec. 8, 2006: The county Administrative Hearing Officer ruled the evidence against Brunette was collected during an illegal search and the code-compliance case was thrown out.
- July 2008: A new investigation into Brunette's dogs and living conditions commenced.
- July 31: Brunette was arrested in Los Gatos.
| Source: Mercury News - Aug 6, 2008
Update posted on Aug 6, 2008 - 10:41PM |
Robert Brunette sat stone faced in court as Judge Jeff Almquist read the charges against him; 10 counts of animal cruelty, two of those felony charges.
Brunette, who pleaded not guilty, will remain in custody until his attorney, the prosecuting attorney, and animal services representatives can come to a consensus about the terms of his release, though he is expected to be released Tuesday morning.
Brunette's public defender, Mark Garver, argued that since the 45-year-old has lived on the property for 25 years and has no criminal record, he is not a danger and should be allowed to return to his home, as he has no place else to go.
Prosecutor Heather Jones disagreed.
"I'm concerned that if he returns he will continue in the actions that bring us here today."
She was referring to the more than 40 severely abused dogs and puppies that animal services removed from Brunette's Boulder Creek residence a week ago.
She voiced concern about the 10 dogs still running lose on Brunette's property, and fear that he would continue to harm them if allowed to return home.
Brunette balked at this statement.
"Animal services has injured a lot of my dogs," he said, referring to the manner in which he said animal services removed dogs from his property, which he called "abuse."
Jones shook her head at Brunette's statement, saying that "animal services are very much advocates for animals."
As to allegations that Brunette might again flee, Garver argued that Brunette was only served with a search warrant, not an arrest warrant, which meant it wasn't a crime for him to leave his property.
"He is not a threat and he is not a flight risk," said Garver.
Brunette remains in custody until terms can be agreed upon. Discussions are going on now.
The maximum penalty Brunette faces is 4 years.
Brunette's preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 6. | Source: San Jose Mercury News - Aug 4, 2008
Update posted on Aug 4, 2008 - 4:27PM |
A Santa Cruz-area dog breeder accused of abusing and neglecting dozens of dogs at his kennel denied many of the allegations Friday in a phone interview with CBS 5 from jail.
Robert Brunette, 45, was arrested Thursday and faces at least 10 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and neglect and possibly some felonies.
Animal control officers over the past week seized 40 emaciated and diseased dogs from Brunette's rural Boulder Creek property as well as dog skulls, a dead dog found on the roof of his home and a decomposing dog hanging from a tree.
Brunette maintained during the interview that most of his dogs were healthy and were fed regularly.
He contended the dead dogs on his property were poisoned by either neighbors or animal control officers who had been harassing him.
The rescued dogs were taken to local animal shelters were they are being treated and rehabilitated for possible adoption. | Source: CBS 5 - Aug 1, 2008
Update posted on Aug 1, 2008 - 7:53PM |
A man suspected of abusing or neglecting more than three dozen dogs at his home in Boulder Creek (Santa Cruz County) where dogs' heads were found was arrested Thursday on animal-cruelty charges, authorities said.
Robert Brunette, 45, was arrested as he was walking near Los Gatos High School about 6:25 a.m., authorities said. There was no sign of his car or personal effects nearby, and Brunette has no apparent connection to the school, said Sgt. Randy Rimple of the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police.
"He looked just kind of neutral," Rimple said. "He was just kind of blank."
Brunette made no statements and was picked up by Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies shortly before noon.
Sheriff's officials had called Los Gatos police to report that Brunette was in their town, Rimple said. It was not immediately known how the sheriff's office knew where he was.
Brunette faces numerous felony and misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, said Santa Cruz County animal services coordinator Tricia Geisreiter.
On Saturday, animal control officers found and rescued 38 dogs - including puppies a few days old - from Brunette's property on Hartman Creek Road. His home was littered with crates that contained feces and urine, she said.
A search of the property uncovered a decapitated dog's head, five canine skulls and a dead dog next to a lawn chair on a deck atop the home, Geisreiter said.
When authorities returned to the home Tuesday, they found two dog paws and a sixth dog skull, raising the possibility that Brunette had returned to his property to deposit the items.
Two more live dogs were found Tuesday and are being treated along with the 38 others. An additional eight dogs are believed to be somewhere on the 3-acre property.
Sheriff's deputies and animal control officers raided the home a day after Brunette refused to grant access to authorities investigating reports of animals crying in pain, Geisreiter said.
When officers returned Saturday with a search warrant, Brunette ran away, authorities said.
The dogs that are being treated by the county include cane corsos, also known as Italian mastiffs, rottweilers and Labrador retrievers. Brunette had been selling dogs in the Bay Area, authorities said.
The dogs are not yet adoptable, Geisreiter said. Some are scared of humans and are unsocial, and animal control officers hope to nurse them back to health before deciding whether to put them up for adoption. | Source: San Francisco Chronicle - Aug 1, 2008
Update posted on Aug 1, 2008 - 11:09AM |
Animal Services officers and sheriff's deputies found another dog skull and decomposing dog paws where they removed five dog skulls Saturday. The discovery was made Tuesday when they returned to the property on Hartman Creek Road to search for the man wanted for mistreating dogs and puppies.
Officers say Robert Brunette, 45, of Boulder Creek is wanted for cruelty to animals after they removed 38 emaciated dogs and puppies from his property Saturday finding many locked in small cages without food or water and covered in their own feces and urine.
Brunette, who denied access to the property Friday and fled when authorities returned with a search warrant Saturday, apparently returned to the ramshackled house and left more dog remains. Animal services officers caught two more dogs Tuesday and placed live traps for what they believe are eight more adult dogs roaming the more than 3-acre property in the heavily-wooded remote area near Bear Creek Road.
Brunette was nowhere to be found but they are looking for and believe they have probable cause to arrest him for crimes against animals.
Environmental health officers were also on hand Tuesday surveying the property littered with old vehicles, trash, makeshift pens, feces and dog kennels. Much of the property was also surrounded by an electric fence used to keep the dogs in place.
Saturday, authorities found a dead dog on the roof of the house, a shed-like structure made of plywood, and a decomposing dog head hung from a tree branch. Investigators guessed it had been there less than a month. Deputies reported finding an array of dog skeletons on the property, and in the house five dog skulls were found on top of a hutch where food was stored.
Authorities were alerted to the distressing scene Friday when a neighbor said he could hear "animals crying in pain" from a residence on the 100 block of Hartman Creek Road. He said the owner there had a large number of mangy, mistreated dogs.
It's not the first time neighbors have reported problems with the man and the way he treats his dogs.
"It's my understanding that there had been similar complaints years ago but this is the first complaint we've had recently," Todd Stosuy, county Animal Services field manager, said Monday.
"There were a number of dogs running around loose," Stosuy said. "Several dogs were locked up in small dog crates that you would use to transport, covered in their own feces and urine."
He said it appeared one old dog had been living inside the cab of a truck for "probably over a year or two," the cushions ripped apart and soaked in urine. No food or water was in sight.
Inside the house, a quarter inch of dust covered everything and animal feces littered the floor.
Outside, some dogs were allowed to roam free on the property, which was surrounded by an electric fence. A few dogs jumped the fence and ran off before officers were able to round them up. Officers intend to go back to the house, which also has an address on the 18000 block of Bear Creek Road, to look for them.
Tricia Geisreiter, animal services coordinator, said most of the dogs were in "pretty bad condition" and were scared and not friendly.
"It's horrible. This literally makes me want to cry," she said.
Geisreiter said in her 11 years of working for animal shelters, this was one of the worst cases she has ever seen.
A number of puppies were removed, some as young as 2 days old, some 6 weeks old. Most of the dogs are at an area veterinarian's office being treated for severe worm infestations, severe flea problems, mange and skin issues.
The rest of the rescued cane corsos, also called Italian mastiffs, as well as Rottweilers, Labrador retrievers and other mixed breeds are recuperating at the Scotts Valley Animal Shelter.
Most of the dogs are so skinny their ribs are showing through; some have "quite a bit of fight scars on them that had been sutured together," Geisreiter said.
"We don't know that this gentleman was using them for fighting," she said. "Sometimes when animals are in huge packs, they will fight."
Authorities think the man may have been illegally breeding and selling the dogs as purebreds to buyers in San Jose and San Francisco, even though he didn't have permits to keep unaltered dogs or operate a kennel.
"He had ads in newspapers over there. I don't know if he currently has ads," Stosuy said, adding it's possible the man was actually passing off mixed-breed dogs as purebred. "The majority of the animals that we pulled out of there were not purebred."
Animal services officers are doing their best to care for the animals, Geisreiter said. However, since animals are considered property under the law, they remain under the resident's ownership until he either surrenders them or they are confiscated through the court system, Stosuy said. Until then, the dogs are not available for adoption.
"We have no intention of giving any dogs back to this gentleman," Stosuy added.
He said Animal Services officers removed at least three boxes of evidence, including sales records, from the man's house.
District Attorney Bob Lee said he couldn't comment on any charges the man might face or the fate of the dogs until Animal Services officers turn over their investigation to the District Attorney's Office. "The case ... won't be coming to us until at least Wednesday," Lee said.
Neighbors said they have had ongoing issues with the suspect.
"A lot of his dogs were very aggressive," said neighbor Gordon Stewart, who lives on Deer Creek Road. "He uses a pellet gun to shoot trespassers."
Stosuy said deputies delayed the search a day when they were alerted to arrive with backup because of concerns the suspect might be armed. They were on the property for about six hours Saturday.
"I'm sure the animals will be a lot better off somewhere else," said neighbor Janet Laidlow. "It's just a sad situation."
Contact Jennifer Squires at 429-2449 or jsquires@santacruzsentinel.com.
Animal services is in need of blankets, sheets and towels, dog food and monetary donations, all of which are tax deductible. They can be brought to Santa Cruz County Animal Services, 27 Janis Way, Scotts Valley, CA 95066 or mailed there. Or to volunteer, call 454-7303 or go online at scanimalservices.us and fill out a volunteer application.
| Source: Mercury News - July 29, 2008
Update posted on Jul 29, 2008 - 10:10PM |
References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
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