Jason Gentry, 35, is due in Salem Superior Court today for arraignment on a dozen counts of animal cruelty and a charge of running a kennel without a license.
But during the arraignment of his co-defendant, New York dog breeder Dominick Donovan, yesterday, prosecutors included Gentry on a list of witnesses Donovan is barred from contacting in any way.
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| Dominick Donovan, right, is arraigned in Salem Superior Court on animal cruelty charges. His lawyer, Jake Atwood, is with him. KEN YUSZKUS/Staff photo |
Donovan, 51, of Long Beach, New York, is believed to be behind a social media post that included a photo of a rat, targeting Gentry, said a prosecutor.
Donovan, who breeds and sells so-called “designer” dogs he calls Donovan Pinschers, pleaded not guilty to six counts of animal cruelty during his arraignment yesterday in Salem Superior Court.
He remains free after posting an additional $2,500 bail, bringing his total bail to $5,000. Despite the request of prosecutors, Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley did not bar Donovan from owning or working with animals.
Feeley said that without the consent of Donovan to such a condition, he does not have the authority to strip him of contact with dogs or other animals.
Puppies killed
Prosecutors say it was Donovan who, in November 2014, hanged two puppies — Gotti and Livid — by their collars until they died.
Gotti had some sort of hip issue, prosecutor Lynsey Legier told a judge, and Livid, a female puppy, appeared to have a nervous temperament. Legier said Donovan had originally agreed to take two puppies back home to Long Island after deciding the dogs did not meet his “quality standard.”
Instead, the prosecutor said, Donovan hanged the puppies, then asked Gentry to get a trash bag and hold it open. The puppies were found inside that trash bag at a gas station in Revere. That touched off an investigation that led officials to Gentry’s squalid kennel, which he called Alpha Canine Performance Center, in Lynn, where the dogs were killed.
Donovan had a reputation for “culling” puppies that were of no financial benefit to him, the prosecutor said.
In another incident, she said, Donovan used a pair of household scissors to “crop” the ears of four puppies, one of which later died.
Legier told the judge that Donovan bound the puppies’ muzzles and paws with duct tape and had Gentry hold them still as he cut off parts of their ears. No anesthesia was used, and Legier said witnesses have described the puppies as being in obvious pain, their eyes bulging.
A witness told investigators, said Legier, that Donovan claims he routinely crops dogs’ ears in that manner and that he is legally allowed to do so. He is not.
The fourth dog, named Wootan, was given Valium before being loaded into a carrier to be sent back to New York, and died, according to indictments in Gentry’s case.
The prosecutor also raised concerns about the potential for witness intimidation, citing a social media post showing a picture of a rat and the name “Jason,” as well as other messages attributed to Donovan or someone on his behalf.
Legier also noted Donovan was once fined by Pennsylvania authorities after ignoring a 2007 Parvovirus outbreak at a facility he co-owned there. The virus is highly contagious and can cause serious illness. Some dogs died as a result of the lack of treatment, the prosecutor said.
‘Respected breeder’
Donovan’s attorney, Jack Atwood, questioned the credibility of Gentry and the strength of the case.
“My client and Mr. Gentry were in business together,” said Atwood.
He suggested that Gentry — whose unlicensed kennel in Lynn was shut down after it was discovered during the investigation into the deaths of Gotti and Livid — had motive to point the finger at Donovan. Atwood also told the judge authorities in New York saw no issues with Donovan’s kennel there. The kennel was inspected after Donovan was originally charged in the case last summer.
And Atwood said his client has sold dogs to prisons and police departments, to be used as guard dogs or drug dogs.
“He’s a respected breeder,” said Atwood.
Atwood also challenged the prosecutor’s request for additional bail, telling Feeley that Donovan has traveled back and forth from New York for court appearances and meetings with the lawyer at least four times.
“He looks forward to defending himself on these charges,” Atwood told the judge.
If convicted, Donovan faces up to five years in prison on each of the six counts. The potential penalty for animal cruelty was increased by legislation that, by coincidence, was enacted two weeks after the deaths of Gotti and Livid, the prosecutor told the judge.
Donovan’s case is scheduled to be back in court March 10. Typically, in Essex County, defendants or their attorneys in criminal cases are expected to be in court monthly, but Feeley granted Atwood additional time to prepare for the pretrial conference.
That decision came after Atwood told the judge he needs time to review evidence turned over by prosecutors, including 2,300 pages of cellphone records — records that put Donovan in Massachusetts at the time of the dogs’ deaths.
(The Daily News of Newburyport - Jan 14, 2016)
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