Jason Gentry, 35, who lists addresses in Salem and Swampscott, is charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty and one count of operating an unlicensed kennel, the Alpha Canine Performance Center, where three of the dogs died.
Gentry remains free on the $1,500 bail he originally posted after his arraignments in Lynn and Chelsea district courts last summer.
Judge Timothy Feeley set a series of conditions on Gentry's release, including an order that he have no contact with some of the other witnesses in the case.
Gentry was also ordered not to possess any animals other than his girlfriend's pets, an Old English bulldog named Sabooboo and a Boerboel dog named Roman. He agreed to inspections of his home by the Animal Rescue League, the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the Salem animal control officer if his probation officer or prosecutors have a "reasonable suspicion" that he's violating that condition.
Gentry and his co-defendant, Dominick Donovan, a New York breeder of "Donovan pinschers," were first charged last summer after two dead puppies were found in a trash bag outside a Revere gas station.
Investigators later learned that the dead dogs, puppies named Gotti and Livid, were killed, allegedly by Donovan, by hanging them from their collars until they asphyxiated. Gentry is charged with holding the trash bag open for Donovan.
Another puppy died after it was one of four that had its ears cropped with a pair of household scissors, allegedly by Donovan, who had bound their paws and muzzles with duct tape, prosecutors say. Gentry allegedly held the puppies, who had not been given any anesthesia, to prevent them from moving, a prosecutor said in court on Thursday.
A fourth dog, Wootan, died after being fed Valium hidden inside pieces of meat that were being used to lure the dog into a pet carrier.
The hearing was brief, since Gentry and his attorney, Ernest Stone, and prosecutor Lynsey Legier had already agreed on the bail amount and conditions of Gentry's ongoing release in the case.
Donovan, 51, of Long Beach, New York, was in court on Thursday for arraignment. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and, after a hearing, his bail was set at $5,000. It was during that hearing that Legier revealed new details about the case, and revealed that Gentry has become a witness against Donovan.
Outside, a group of protesters led by a Salem businesswoman, Lorelei Stathopoulos, held photos of the dogs that were allegedly killed. Stathopoulous said she was planning a private vigil at her shop, Crow Haven Corner, following the court proceeding.
(Salem News - Jan 15, 2016)
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