8 dogs neglected El Cajon, CA (US) Incident Date: Thursday, Feb 16, 2006 County: San Diego Local Map: available Disposition: Convicted Abuser/Suspect: Todd D. Gaerin Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 8652 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in CA (US) Login to Watch this Case

An El Cajon man who told authorities he liked to keep his eight dogs "lean" was convicted of underfeeding seven of them and not cleaning their ears to the point where they seemed deaf.

After a half-day of deliberations, a jury found Todd Gaerin guilty of seven misdemeanor counts of animal abuse and not guilty on one count. Gaerin, 41, was also convicted of misdemeanor charges of failure to properly license the dogs, having an unlawful number of dogs in a kennel, failure to immunize and failure to care for an animal. A neighbor called Animal Control officers Feb. 16 to report several "skinny dogs" wandering around Gaerin's property. When questioned about the scrawny dogs, Gaerin said "I like `em lean," Deputy District Attorney Michael McCann said during the trial.

Gaerin's attorney, Lissa Balotro, told the jury all of the dogs were alert and that weight was not the sole indicator as to how they were cared for. "Mr. Gaerin loves dogs. He cares for dogs," Balotro said. El Cajon Animal Control Officer Wade Stalker testified that when he went to Gaerin's home, "the dogs were just a rack of bones."

He said his partner took an empty can of dog food outside and the dogs all got excited and went after it. Stalker said Gaerin had two full, unopened 50-pound bags of dog food in the home, and said he had fed the animals the night before. "He knew the dogs were a little thin," the witness said. A hose dripping into a bucket in the back yard provided the only drinking water for the dogs, Stalker said.

Gaerin told the animal control officer that he was at one time slow to feed the animals because he was injured in a car accident, had an abscessed tooth and was on pain medication. The defendant was upset when officers told him they were going to seize the dogs, Stalker testified.
Gaerin said there was a time when the animals were in worse condition and accused animal control of just trying to get money out of him, the officer testified.

"They were so emaciated, that had we let them go, there's a good chance some of them would have died," Stalker said. Stalker said the dogs are now in good health and have all had significant weight gains. The dogs' hearing improved as soon as their ears were cleaned, Stalker testified.

Sentencing was scheduled for June 8 before Superior Court Judge Larrie Brainard.

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References

	North County Times
	SignOnSanDiego.com - May 20, 2006

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