Rescue neglect, 200 animals found neglected
Rosamond, CA (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 6, 2012
County: Kern
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Duain Preitz
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Kern County Animal Control officials and private rescue groups struggled Monday to care for scores of animals brought in over the weekend from a self-styled rescue center in the Mojave west of Rosamond.
The caretaker - Duain Preitz - was arrested on suspicion of felony animal cruelty after officials found more than 200 animals, most of them dogs, suffering from neglect, dehydration, malnutrition, illness and injury.
Most of the dogs were taken to the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield where a frantic effort was underway to treat them.
Officials said Preitz, 61, had been facing an eviction order and called authorities last week for help with what he described as 125 animals.
What animal control officers and staff of the Bakersfield Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found when they got to Preitz's remote rescue property west of Rosamond was a haphazard compound full of 215 animals as well as an undisclosed number of deceased animals
Interim Kern County Animal Control Division Manager Ron Brewster said the mission to evaluate the animals immediately turned into a criminal investigation when officers saw their conditions.
He said a total of 15 animals needed immediate medical attention and were taken Friday to a veterinary office for critical care.
"We could not wait to get the animals off the premises," said Julie Johnson of the Bakersfield SPCA.
But officials struggled with what to do with the rest of Preitz's collection, including horses, cats, ducks, chickens and a pig.
"We thought we could contain them on site," Brewster said.
By noon Saturday, after several animals were injured in fights and some escaped the property, Brewster said it was clear that another solution was needed.
So a massive relocation effort was organized and around 165 dogs were captured, loaded into cages and trucked from Rosamond to a hastily-erected shelter at the Kern County Fairgrounds in Bakersfield.
"We had about four hours to prepare a temporary shelter for 165 dogs," said Kern County Animal Control officer Nick Cullen.
Over the weekend Kern County Animal Control workers put in overtime hours, after their regular jobs at the county shelter on South Mount Vernon Avenue, caring for the animals at the fairgrounds. The fowl, horses and cats are being kept at the shelter.
Johnson said the ASPCA and Humane Society of the United States were contacted and are mobilizing assistance to deal with the situation and find solutions for caring for the animals.
Superior Court records show that an eviction order had been issued against Preitz because he owed $22,250 in back rent at his Best of Buddies animal rescue operation near Rosamond.
Animal Control officers said he was due to be evicted Wednesday and called them for help.
On Monday afternoon, the barking of 165 dogs filled the vaulted chamber of the makeshift kennel building as volunteers from the Bakersfield SPCA pulled dogs out of small black wire cages lined up in long tight rows and took them outside for walks.
Visitors were greeted with a frenzy of jumping, barking and yapping canines. But other dogs huddled in the backs of their cages, their heads down and ears drooping.
Towers of pizza boxes and chocolates piled on picnic tables near tubs of iced sodas stood testament to late-night marathons of animal care.
The shelter isn't an ideal situation for the dogs, Brewster said, but it's much better than the conditions the dogs were found in Friday.
Prietz joins other high-profile animal owners who operated rescue operations that ran afoul of state law or county ordinances in recent years, giving the rural areas of Kern County a reputation as a haven for shady animal organizations.
Kern has stepped up enforcement of animal abuse and successfully prosecuted individuals, including Cynthia Gudger, who was discovered living in filth with her pets in a warehouse in Tehachapi, and Cindy Bemis, who ran a troubled animal shelter in the desert near Mojave for years.
Prietz has been in trouble with the county since early 2006 because he did not have proper approval to have a kennel on the property and was not caring for the animals properly, county records show.
Preitz chose, in 2006, to get rid of the 100 dogs he had on the property at the time.
But a year later he re-established his kennel operation and started adding more animals. County officials allowed him to keep the shelter open while he worked to get a permit to operate on the land.
In fall 2010, after inspections revealed continued land use violations and inadequate shelters for the animals, Preitz was denied a permit by the Kern County Planning Commission.
Since then, county code compliance officers have been working with the property owner to resolve the situation and clear up the continued land use violations on the site.
How to help
Animals seized from Duain Preitz are not adoptable and will require weeks of care and evaluation before any will have a chance to be released to new homes, animal control officials said.
And individuals without training are not prepared to care for the animals taken from Preitz's property, said Kern County Public Health Department spokeswoman Kim Rodriguez.
But Rodriguez said those who wish to help should contact Kern County Animal Control at 321-3000 and begin the process of becoming a shelter volunteer.
"The more people we have, when these things happen, we can call them in," she said.
Case UpdatesOver 200 dogs seized from owner Duaine Preitz in Rosamond are getting better.
The animals are currently being housed at the Kern County Fairgrounds. With the help of agencies such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Humane Society of the United States and the Kern County Animal Shelter, more and more are getting homes in rescue shelters. The animals can't be adopted out.
"They have some medical issues, and they will need a little more care before they can be spayed or neutered and ready for adoption,"Kern County Animal Shelter care specialist Sally Breyer said.
The dogs are making progress thanks to the help of volunteers.
"(The dogs) have gained weight, their skin conditions are cleaning up, they are getting the human contact they were craving so greatly. You just see it in their personalities. The personalities of each and every dog are coming out," Humane Society of the United States animal rescue specialist Michele Lago said.
The dogs get walked twice a day and volunteers are trying to make their temporary stay a little more comfortable, but that can't be done without the proper equipment. The shelter is going through food and blankets constantly, even taking some of those items from the local shelter.
"We certainly don't want to expose out shelter animals to anything these animals have so at this time the blankets have been isolated to just this location," Breyer said.
Because the shelter is running out of items quickly, they need extra food, blankets and anything else that can be used as bedding for the animals. If you would like to donate, call the shelter at (661) 868-7104. | Source: bakersfieldnow.com - Jan 19, 2012
Update posted on Jan 20, 2012 - 12:24PM |
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