Juan Toledo, 52, of the 300 block of Parish Drive, allegedly claimed that "he had intended to bury them at some point and he hadn't gotten around to it," according to Col. John Doran of the Sheriff's Office.
"It appears that these dogs died of neglect," Doran said. "He didn't really have a good explanation for it. He wasn't really rational about it."
There were no knife or gunshot wounds and no other obvious signs of trauma to the dogs' bodies, according to the Sheriff's Office. Toledo allegedly offered no explanation for the animals' deaths, except to speculate that the smallest ones might have been "accidentally suffocated" by their mother.
Some of the puppies were only several inches long and possibly only a week old, Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann said. The three older dogs were possibly of a mixed German-Shepherd breed, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Many of the dogs were wrapped, some in paper, some in clothing, "and some of them were just thrown in there just like that," Doran said.
No living animals were found at the house, according to Doran. Pohlmann described the home as dirty -- with a heavy concentration of dog hair, dead fleas, and live and dead roaches in the sparsely decorated residence.
Toledo currently is out of jail on a $50,000 bond for allegedly beating up his girlfriend, who subsequently broke up with him, according to the Sheriff's Office. He was booked with aggravated battery on July 1 in that alleged incident.
That woman found the dead dogs in the refrigerator and attached freezer when she went to his residence on Tuesday evening to get possessions she had left there, according to the Sheriff's Office. She reported her grisly find to the Sheriff's Office.
In 1983, Toledo was arrested in New Orleans on a charge of murdering his wife, but he was never convicted, according to Doran. Toledo also served time in prison in the late 1980s and early 1990s for an aggravated burglary in New Orleans that allegedly involved a kidnapping, Doran said.
Doran said that, about a year ago, Toledo had been reported missing, and Doran had gone over to his home to check on him. "I remember him having a lot of dogs, live dogs," Doran said. "We called animal control at that time since he wasn't there and the dogs were on their own."
The remains of the dogs were turned over to St. Bernard Parish government's animal control division, and its staff members are examining the bodies for any signs of trauma, according to the Sheriff's Office.
(The Times-Picayune - Aug 14, 2013)
