Dumas, 35, and Mansulla, 31, both of Berlin, are currently out on $5,000 personal recognizance bail following their arrest on April 6. The charges are Class A misdemeanors carrying a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
According to the arrest warrant, Dube learned from more than one person that the home of Mansulla and Dumas, who are both actively involved in the care of their animals, was "very dirty" and had "a very strong smell."
Dube stated she had been to the residence at 143 Jericho Road on more than one occasion in an attempt to talk to Mansulla about Carmella but was denied access.
On March 1, Dube was again denied access to their home, but Mansulla allowed Dube to see Carmella out on her porch.
Dube stated she had to stand away and could not touch Carmella, but she could see the dog "did not appear to be in good physical condition."
Dube described Carmella as having "oozing, red sores on her body" and that "her eyes were full of mucous, and her nails were long."
Mansulla told Dube that she had taken Carmella to the veterinarian that day and she had received a treatment of Prednisone.
Dube talked with a number of veterinarian clinics in the area, including Cape Horn Pet Clinic in Northumberland and North Country Animal Hospital in Gorham.
Both had several dogs in their files listed as belonging to Mansulla and Dumas. Records indicate some dogs received rabies shots, and some had been seen for health certificates, but most of the dogs had not been seen on a regular basis.
Records indicate that Dumas was a no-show for an appointment made at the Lancaster Veterinary Hospital. The Littleton Area Emergency Vet reported they did see a pregnant dog named Victoria, but that Mansulla was not cooperative with the staff and she left without paying for the visit.
By March 25, Dube had enough information for a search warrant for the residence of Mansulla and Dumas for the seizure of Carmella and the inspection of Mansulla’s other animals.
What was found that evening prompted the removal of not only Carmella, but also another 14 dogs and a cat.
According to the arrest warrant, “there was urine and feces on the floor in the kennel area where most of the dogs were being kept. Most of the dogs had feces visible on their coats, and they had a yellow appearance on their feet and belies that looked to be from urine.”
The smell of urine and feces was strong enough to carry into the residence.
None of the dogs had water available and only a puppy had some food.
The cat was being housed in a crate with urine-soaked paper. All of the animals were transported to the Conway Area Humane Society by its employees.
After examination by one of Conway’s veterinarians, Kate Battenfelder, it was determined that the animals were thin, and had health problems that include skin and eye problems, injured and inflamed paws, long nails, missing fur, ear infections and coats that were stained with urine and feces.
After further analysis, the three youngest puppies and several adult dogs tested positive for whipworms and/or roundworms. Roundworms can be transmitted to humans through contact with the feces of an infected animal or through contaminated soil.
A second thorough examination was performed on April 2, 3 and 4 on the 15 dogs and cat by veterinarian Monique Kramer, who told Dube she was familiar with issues related to neglect and had previously testified in several court cases.
Kramer’s findings state that the poor condition of the animals was due to "lack of care over a period of time and living in a dirty environment."
Dumas and Mansulla were released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail and are scheduled a court date on May 13..
TEN YEARS OF COMPLAINTS
In 2007, Dumas and Mansulla were involved in a beef back and forth on faunaclassifieds.com, a reptile forum in which people buy and sell reptiles. They were called criminals by forum users and they responded in kind, name-calling and insulting. Someone then posted a screenshot of where they bred and sold pit bulls on a site called Diamonds Exotic Kennels.
