The Santa Fe County animal control officer and his colleagues, during a raid of Clopton’s home, found 40 dogs inside the double-wide trailer and seized eight more dogs outside. Some of the canines, according to Kesler, were crowded into kennels, and others seemed injured. A cyst the size of a softball bulged from one dog’s neck. Another suffered from muscle wasting. Seven were pregnant.
Taking the witness stand Wednesday in a Santa Fe courtroom more than three years later as Clopton’s trial on charges of animal cruelty began, Kesler described the squalor in which the dogs appeared to live, setting a vivid scene for jurors.
Attorneys representing the former veterinarian claimed Clopton was not neglecting the canines but caring for them, realizing her vision of offering a sanctuary for dogs unlikely to be adopted.
“They had everything dogs could hope for,” lawyer Sydney West said in her opening statement. “Most of these dogs were in very good condition,” she added. “Some of them had health conditions, but what you’re going to hear is they were being treated.”
The three-day trial began with prosecutors apparently dropping more than half of the charges against Clopton. Though a grand jury indicted her on one count of animal cruelty for each of the 48 dogs seized from her home, prosecutors will ask jurors to return a verdict on fewer than half the counts of animal cruelty and one count of practicing veterinary medicine without a license.
District Attorney Jennifer Padgett declined to comment on the decision to drop many of the charges, citing the ongoing trial.
Clopton had worked as a veterinarian in the Albuquerque area for more than 20 years. But she continued treating animals without renewing her license, leading the New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine to permanently revoke her credentials.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office began investigating her in early 2013 after neighbors complained of incessant barking at her home on Best View Trail in Edgewood.
Kesler testified that on his first visit to the residence, he saw eight dogs outside and heard more barking in the trailer. He warned Clopton about a county ordinance requiring a permit to house more than 10 dogs.
Neighbors continued to complain, reporting that a dog had been killed during a fight and raising concerns about the health of the animals, officers testified.
Detective Nicole Romero said she visited Clopton’s home March 26, 2013, and saw 21 dogs there. A cacophony of barking filled First District Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer’s courtroom as prosecutors played an audio recording of the encounter.
Showing pictures of the dogs to jurors — some depicting wounds or deformities — Assistant District Attorney Estevan Sanchez said the canines were “in various states and degrees of health.”
But lawyers representing Clopton, seeking to cast doubt on law enforcement’s characterization of the dogs’ welfare as dire, questioned why weeks had passed between the first reports of potential abuse and the raid of the woman’s home.
West also argued that the dogs’ injuries were caused by county officers in a raid she depicted as traumatizing and mishandled.
The mess in Clopton’s home, she alleged, was the result of dogs spending hours indoors while officers wrangled the eight canines outside. West also raised questions about the legality of the search, claiming deputies denied Clopton’s request to have an attorney present.
West claimed that many of the animals at the home had been rescued, and she said Clopton’s 6-acre property offered plenty of room for the dogs. Each had a file, she said, detailing its medications. West claimed Clopton aimed to train or rehabilitate many of the canines.
Deputies seized the dogs and took them to the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society. Sanchez said Wednesday 14 of the dogs were euthanized. The shelter found homes for most of the remaining dogs, but it was initially overwhelmed with new puppies after several of the seized dogs gave birth in the shelter.
Investigators booked Clopton into jail but later released her on bond.
Clopton claimed ownership of 10 of the dogs taken from her home and tried to reclaim them. But she did not pay the fees demanded by the shelter and eventually forfeited the dogs.
In late 2013, Marlowe Sommer issued a restraining order, prohibiting Clopton from going within 25 yards of dogs or other pets.
The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday morning.
(Santa Fe New Mexican - Aug 24, 2016)
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