MCSO said deputies arrested Catherine Hutchison, 61, and Kevin Main, 55, at their Tonopah home Tuesday night.
Hutchison and Main each face 75 misdemeanor charges of failure to provide medical treatment, 129 misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, neglect or abandonment and four felony charges of animal cruelty, neglect with physical injury.
That's a total of 208 counts each.
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| Undercover video - they actually let someone into this room(!) |
The presumptive prison sentence for a first-time offender convicted of a class 6 felony is one year. The minimum is six months and the maximum is 18 months. It was not immediately known if Hutchison or Main had priors arrests for suspected animal abuse or cruelty.
Shutting down the puppy mill
Acting on a tip from somebody who tried to buy a dog, deputies seized 129 animals from the Tonopah home near 348th Avenue and Van Buren Street on Nov. 17, 2015.
"There were 122 pugs, six French bulldogs and one cat "living in deplorable conditions, with no food or water."
Officer Chris Hegstrom of MCSO said at the time that Hutchison and Main had been booted out of a Phoenix home three months earlier. He said that's when investigators believe they moved their illegal puppy mill operation out into the desert.
All of the animals were nursed back to health and have been adopted out to loving homes through the sheriff's MASH unit adoption program.
Both Hutchison and Main made their initial court appearances Wednesday morning. The judge released them on their own recognizance. Both are scheduled to be back in court later this month.
Outspoken in his abhorrence of animal abuse and hoarding cases, Arpaio said his office has seen an uptick in such cases and "has promised these types of investigations will continue."
The MASH (MCSO Animal Safe Haven) no-kill shelter "was created to house and care for animals that have been abused or neglected by their caretakers and rescued by the Animal Crimes Investigations Unit."
(CBS5AZ - March 30, 2016)
Name: Kevin L. Main
DOB: 06/29/1961
Age at arrest: 55
Sex: Male
Race: White
Height: 5'09"
Weight: 175
Booking date: 03/29/2016
Booked by: Maricopa County Sheriff Office, AZ
Name: Catherine Hutchison
DOB: 10/12/1954
Age at arrest: 61
Sex: Female
Race: White
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 135
Booking date: 03/29/2016
Booked by: Maricopa County Sheriff Office, AZ
