Animal cruelty alleged at Mendocino Co. home; 10 dogs, sheep rescued

CALIFORNIA -- The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is seeking animal cruelty charges against the owner of a Hopland home where county Animal Control officers and firefighters found more than 100 animals in a fenced yard without food and water Monday night, authorities reported Thursday.

"They were definitely hungry and dehydrated, but they were healthy.... They weren't too terribly skinny." said Capt. Mitch Franklin of the Hopland Fire Protection District, which sent a water tender to provide drinking water for the animals.

The MCSO received a call Monday from a person concerned that sheep, goats, cows, dogs, chickens and several other kinds of animals at a home in the 2400 block of McNab Ranch Road were being neglected, and sent all three of its Animal Control officers to the home at about 4 p.m.

Animal Control spent more than two hours at the home that evening and rescued an undisclosed number of sheep and 10 dogs from the yard, according to MCSO spokesman Capt. Greg Van Patten.

The animals were kept in a fenced area covering "several acres" of mostly bare dirt and "some hay," according to Franklin. He described the property as "trashed," with animal feces everywhere.

"All the water tubs were empty, and there was no water on the property," Franklin said.

He said it looked as though the animals had been without food and water for "at least a day, maybe more," based on the fact that "some of those water troughs hold 80 gallons, and they were bone-dry."

Van Patten said an Animal Control officer went back the next day and spoke with the homeowner, who wasn't home when authorities arrived the night before. A veterinarian also responded Tuesday and examined the animals, and no more animals were taken from the home.

An officer returned Thursday to ensure the animals still on the property were being properly fed and watered, according to Van Patten.

"We've been out there several times in the past over animal neglect issues," Van Patten said, adding that the case remains "an open and active Animal Control investigation."

Authorities are working to determine how many of the animals on the property had been allegedly neglected, and how many had been in possible danger of being neglected, he said.

The MCSO sent its report Thursday morning to the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office requesting animal cruelty charges against the homeowner, whose name wasn't released.

(Ukiah Daily Journal - Jan 17, 2014)