Colorado: Yet again, an animal abuser gets probation. Lynn Kubic gets probation - big surprise. No state in America takes animal cruelty seriously.

COLORADO -- Lynn Kubic (aka Lynn Denise Kubic), owner of Jurassic Pets, was sentenced Wednesday on a charge of animal cruelty involving her Thornton pet store to [just] one year of probation and ordered to have no contact with animals. She was the third family member to be sentenced in connection with the animal abuse investigation.

 

Adams County Judge Brian Bowen also ordered Kubic to perform 100 hours of community service and pay a $100 fine. -- Ooh, what punishment for abusing and neglecting 100s of animals! Good job Judge Bowen - not!

 

Her husband, Kenneth Kubic (aka Kenneth Mark Kubic), 62, and son, Brian Kubic, 22, were also charged after Thornton police raided the family’s store, Jurassic Pets, at 10380 Washington St. in Thornton, last year.

 

The criminal investigation into potential animal abuse at the store was prompted by an investigation first conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

In May, Kenneth Kubic was convicted of 18 counts of cruelty to animals after a two-day trial in Adams County.

 

After Daddy Ken Kubic went to trial and lost big time - convicted of 18 counts of cruelty, his POS son Biran Kubic and skank wife Lynn Kubic decided going to trial wasn't such a smart idea and took a plea agreement. In exchange for their guilty pleas, the DA's office was TOO LENIENT in dismissing all the other charges. After all, if Ken Kubic got convicted of 18 counts, I'd say chances are that the jury/judge would've found Brian and Lynn guilty of similar amounts of charges. I say this is laziness on the part of the DA's office in Adams County.

 

Their son, Brian Kubic, pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to animals and had 37 others dismissed. He was ordered to pay more than $1,400 in fines and costs (a pittance compared to the cruelty he inflicted on animals FOR YEARS).

Lynn Kubic pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty, and 37 other counts were dismissed.

During the elder Kubic’s trial, witnesses said kittens, hedgehogs, reptiles and rodents were confined in unsanitary conditions without food, water and veterinary care. Some of the animals died and others had to be euthanized after the shop was raided because of their condition.

Jurassic Pets continues to operate two stores — the one raided by police in Thornton and another location in Lakewood.

PETA also documented egregious suffering at a second business owned by the Kubic family, the breeding facility Willards Rodent Factory in Adams County.

Rats and mice at Willards were typically fed only monthly, and food became moldy, was contaminated with animals’ waste, or ran out. 

Animals were routinely denied veterinary care and euthanasia, with many found drowned in flooded tubs or dead and rotting in bins. 

PETA has called on the Adams County Sheriff’s Office to help the animals there.

 

The Colorado Department of Agriculture has issued a search warrant for the Kubics’ home to count the number of animals and determine if they are complying with the permanent injunction issued in the spring.

According to the department, the family does not have a license to operate pet stores.

 

(Denver Post - Aug 31, 2016)

Earlier:

• Colorado: PETA's in-depth investigation of the horrible cruelty inflicted by demon family Lynn Kubic, Brian Kubic and Kenneth Kubic
• Colorado: Lynn Kubic, 55, and her husband Kenneth Kubic, 62, found guilty of animal cruelty

Colorado: PETA's in-depth investigation of the horrible cruelty inflicted by demon family Lynn Kubic, Brian Kubic and Kenneth Kubic

COLORADO -- Witnesses worked at two businesses run by animal dealers Lynn and Kenneth Kubic, who have been breeding animals since 1985—Willards Rodent Factory, a rodent-breeding barn, and Jurassic Pets LLC, a pet store. Witnesses routinely found animals suffering in horrific conditions.

 

Based on PETA’s evidence, the Thornton, Colorado, Police Department executed a search warrant at Jurassic Pets on December 10, 2014, that allowed them to rescue some of the mammals, reptiles, and amphibians there. In March 2015, Kenneth and Lynn Kubic and their son and store manager, Brian Kubic, were charged with a total of 97 counts of cruelty to animals. In April 2016, Brian Kubic was convicted of cruelty to animals, and in May 2016, Kenneth Kubic was convicted on 18 counts of cruelty to animals. In June 2016, Lynn Kubic was also convicted of cruelty to animals.

Despite having extensive evidence of persistent, widespread cruelty to animals since October 2, 2014, the Adams County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) did not seize or render aid to the thousands of animals kept at Willards Rodent Factory.

Willards Rodent Factory: The Kubics' Barn of Horrors
The Kubics breed rats and mice in a barn located on their Adams County property—just a few feet away from their family residence. Thousands of rodents—crowded shoulder to shoulder in filthy tubs on top of bedding saturated with weeks’ worth of waste—were kept in bins and metal troughs inside the barn during the course of PETA’s investigation. The Kubics did not employ a single full-time person to care for the animals. Lynn Kubic claimed that “you just don’t make enough money at this to … have a ton of employees or spend a ton of time out here.”  Hundreds of rodents were found dying, dead, and decomposing.

Turtles left to rot in filthy rancid water

 

Tubs housing rodents frequently flooded, drowning rats and mice by the hundreds. Lynn Kubic —who admitted that she would not enter the barn after a flood because of the stench— lamented the loss of money but never the suffering of the drowned animals.

 

Were kittens fed to the larger snakes?

Cats were permitted to roam freely in and out of the “rodent factory,” terrifying rats and mice by opening tubs in which rodents were housed, defecating above them, and even tearing them apart. Rats and mice starved to death. Lynn Kubic admitted, “I probably lose more animals to starvation … than floods.” The Kubics fed rats and mice once per month, allowing the food to become moldy and covered with feces as the weeks passed.

The Kubics denied ill and injured rats veterinary care and instead “whacked” them—swung them by the tail and slammed them into a hard surface to try to kill them. The Kubics admitted to freezing live rats and mice to death.

Witnesses found a critically injured rat, “Miss Rat,” whose upper jaw, nose, and muzzle were missing. Brian Kubic—the only authority present at the facility that day—instructed that Miss Rat be thrown to the free-roaming cats, adding, “It’s not like I care … [I]t’s one rat out of, like, 10,000 ….” The rat was taken to a veterinarian, who found that she was suffering from “traumatic injuries” and put her out of her misery.

Kenneth Kubic admitted that he shoots cats, while Lynn Kubic took kittens born to the cats and sold them in the couple’s pet store. At least two kittens languished without any effective veterinary care for obviously severe upper respiratory infections—and died.

Despite initial assurances that it would take swift action to rescue these long-neglected animals, the ACSO failed to act while animals languished, suffered, drowned, and died, deprived of the protections afforded by Colorado’s anti-cruelty statutes, which they depend on the ACSO to uphold and enforce.

Jurassic Pets: Little Shop of Horrors
The Kubics sold many of the rats, mice, and kittens from the barn as well as reptiles and mammals bred and/or kept in their basement through their grimy pet shop in Thornton, called Jurassic Pets, where animals were crammed on top of one another inside cramped enclosures, in which feces, rotting meat, and dead animals collected for days.

As at the barn, workers also “whacked” rats and mice and admitted to wrapping them in plastic bags in an attempt to suffocate those who survived the blows. One little rat languished for almost 10 minutes— gasping for breath and trembling— after being “whacked.” A worker then tried to break the rat’s neck.

Scores of ill or injured animals languished without adequate veterinary care, despite managers’ and Lynn Kubic’s awareness of their poor conditions. As one worker put it, “A trip to the vet is gonna be a hundred and something, so is it really worth our money to do that? … [W]e are a business. … If we were to take every animal to the vet that truly needs to be, there’d be no reason to sell ’em ….”

Witnesses found a hedgehog, since named Ghost, whose right eye was shrunken. Lynn Kubic denied Ghost adequate veterinary care for months, until her eye was so “infected” that it was “los[t].” Ghost was rescued, and a veterinary ophthalmologist found that she had been neglected so severely that her eye had degenerated and lost all vision.

The witnesses documented evidence of thousands of deaths including reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and fish, the latter of which occurred in multiple massive die-offs in the store, and some had been ignored for so long that their bodies were rotting. Brian Kubic stated that it was “too late” for many ailing reptiles and threw them into the freezer while still alive, where they suffered and died slowly and in agony.

Animals were routinely denied water. Many animals rushed to drink or soak themselves when water was provided for up to an hour.

You Can Help!
Please act now to help ensure that no more animals suffer at the Kubics’ hands.

On October 2, 2014, PETA met with and submitted detailed eyewitness statements, video and photographic evidence, and veterinary reports to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which licenses Jurassic Pets and at least two of the Kubics’ other operations under the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA).

Please urge officials to ensure a permanent end to this systemic cruelty by revoking the Kubics’ PACFA licenses by signing the petition HERE.

Related:

• Colorado: Lynn Kubic, 55, and her husband Kenneth Kubic, 62, found guilty of animal cruelty

Colorado: Lynn Kubic, 55, and her husband Kenneth Kubic, 62, found guilty of animal cruelty

COLORADO -- Three owners of an exotic pet store in Thornton that was raided on suspicion of neglect of the animals have been found guilty.

Lynn Kubic, 55, owner of Jurassic Pets in Thornton, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty in Adams County Court.

Charges were filed against Kubic, her husband, Kenneth Kubic, 62, and their son Brian Kubic, 22 in March 2015 after an investigation by the Thornton Police Department after complaints were received about gross neglect of animals at the store.

Authorities raided the Thornton store at 10380 Washington St., executing a search warrant in December 2014.

 

 

Witnesses during the trial of Kenneth Kubic testified about kittens, hedgehogs, reptiles and rodents confined to filthy enclosures without adequate food and water, and needing veterinary care, according to the 17th District Attorney’s Office. Several of the animals subsequently died.

Scott Larsen, vice president of the Denver Zoo who examined animals at the store, testified that a number of them were so dehydrated and emaciated that they had to be euthanized. He said depending on the species, it would take weeks to months of neglect for the animals to reach that condition.

According to a PETA news release, video footage and photographs showed Jurassic Pets staff routinely denied animals water and that Lynn Kubic attempted to kill a pet rat by “whacking” him against a wooden board, and denied a hedgehog adequate veterinary care for months for a badly infected eye.

 

Turtles left to rot in filthy rancid water

Lynn Kubic will be sentenced July 27.

Kenneth Kubic was convicted of 18 counts of animal cruelty after his trial in May. Brian Kubic pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor animal cruelty. They will be sentenced June 29.

(KDVR - June 15, 2016)

California: Ex-Palmdale Schools administrator sentenced in animal cruelty case

CALIFORNIA -- A former assistant superintendent with the Palmdale school district was sentenced Thursday to 270 days in county jail and ordered to attend two-dozen animal cruelty classes for the abuse of 19 pit bulls found at her Antelope Acres home.

Pauline Ruth Winbush, 53, was also ordered to serve five years on formal probation in connection with her April 5 no contest plea to one felony count each of possession with intent for dog fighting and animal neglect.

Co-defendant Kevin Williams, 52, was sentenced to a year in jail, along with 24 animal cruelty classes and five years probation.

Williams — described by prosecutors as Winbush’s boyfriend when the two were charged in 2014 — pleaded no contest to the same two charges as Winbush.

A judge suspended state prison terms of three years and eight months, which the two will not have to serve unless they violate the terms of their probation.

A third defendant, Rodney Scott, 47, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty. He is set to be sentenced next April.

Officers from the county’s Department of Animal Care and Control searched the Antelope Acres property after a horse belonging to Winbush and Williams was found roaming the streets. They discovered dogs being kept inside the home in crates that were filled with feces and urine, according to Deputy District Attorney Lyle Riggs.

Some of the dogs showed signs of being used for dog fighting, and the animals had to be euthanized. Other animals found included a tortoise, snakes and a box full of mice that appeared to be eating each other out of hunger, Riggs said.

At an earlier court hearing, it was revealed that evidence discovered at the property linked Scott to the couple in an operation to breed pit bulls for fighting, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

At the time of the raid, Winbush was an assistant superintendent for the Palmdale School District, whose board voted unanimously last year to terminate her employment agreement.

(MyNewsLA.com - May 5, 2016)

Earlier:

• California: Former Palmdale public school administrator Pauline Winbush, 2 others plead to animal abuse charges

California: Former Palmdale public school administrator Pauline Winbush, 2 others plead to animal abuse charges

CALIFORNIA -- A former administrator at Palmdale School District and her live-in boyfriend pleaded no contest Tuesday to animal abuse charges, after authorities had to euthanize 19 pit bulls kept at the woman's property.

In an Antelope Valley courtroom, Pauline Ruth Winbush, 53, and her boyfriend, Kevin Williams, 52, entered the plea to one felony count each of animal neglect and possession with the intent of dogfighting, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

As part of the plea deal, 27 other counts against Winbush and Williams will be dismissed.

The case began Oct. 29, 2014, when a horse owned by Winbush and Williams was found wandering the streets. Deputies later found scores of animals in poor condition at the couple's Antelope Acres home. Inside the couple's home, the dogs were kept in crates filled with urine and feces, prosecutors said.

Some of the dogs bore signs of fighting with other dogs, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lyle Riggs said at the time.

Snakes and a tortoise were also kept at the home, along with a box with mice that "appeared to be eating each other out of hunger," according to a statement from the district attorney's office.

A third person, Rodney Scott, 47, was linked to the case after evidence surfaced that he was involved in breeding pit bulls for dogfights, prosecutors said. Scott pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of animal cruelty.

At a sentencing scheduled for May 5, Winbush faces 270 days in jail and Williams faces a year in jail. Scott, who is expected to be sentenced at a later date, is barred from owning or possessing animals for a year.

Winbush launched her career in 1989 as an educator at the Los Angeles Unified School District before joining the Palmdale School District in 1992, according a biography that was previously posted on the district's website.

She ascended the administrative ranks, serving as assistant principal and principal before becoming an assistant superintendent of human resources. Before Raul Maldonado was named the district's superintendent in May 2014, she served as the interim superintendent.

In February 2015, shortly after Winbush was charged, the district's board voted unanimously to fire her, the Antelope Valley Times reported.

The district, the fourth-largest elementary school district in California and the largest in L.A. County, serves 22,000 students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

(Los Angeles Times Times - April 6, 2016)

Texas: Trial underway for Brent Justice, accused of creating horrific videos showing animals tortured to death

TEXAS -- The trial for a man accused of torturing and killing a puppy began Monday in Harris County.

Brent Justice and Ashley Richards were charged in 2012 with animal cruelty after they allegedly used a meat cleaver to cut off a pit bull puppy’s tail, slice its leg and slash its neck. The puppy died as a result.

Brent Justice

The gruesome death was reportedly videotaped and posted online to make money. Investigators said the videos are called crush videos. Crush videos show an animal being tortured, often crushed, to satisfy the viewer’s sexual appetite.

Justice and Richards created as many as 27 'crush' videos between February 2010 and August 2012 and was eventually stopped after PETA discovered the footage and alerted the authorities.

After her arrest in 2012, prosecutors said Richards tortured a puppy, kittens, a rabbit, mice, a pigeon, fish, lobsters and crabs using high heeled shoes, a meat cleaver, knives, screwdrivers and pliers.

She allegedly killed a cat by slitting its throat and stomping its eye with her shoe heel.

Richards pleaded guilty to creating the video at the federal level and has a sentencing trial set for Feb. 25.

 

Ashley Richards 

She also pleaded guilty to the animal cruelty charge and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Justice is acting as his own attorney in the Harris County trial.

(KHOU - Feb 8, 2016)

Earlier:

• Houston pair charged with torturing, killing puppy
• Monster sentenced to 10 years in prison for torturing animals to death in sexually perverted videos

Snakes, rabbits among 2 dozen animals rescued from vacant Gillespie home

ILLINOIS -- After discovering over two dozen animals in a vacant Gillespie home, police called "The Bat Guy" Ron Scheller to rescue the animals from the home.

Neighbors called police to report broken windows and signs of a break-in at the home, which is when they discovered the animals.

  

Animals in the home included snakes, rabbits, rats, hamsters and mice, all without any food or water.

I think these poor little animals were being kept to feed the snake.s :(

The home was reportedly filled with garbage and officials believe it had been vacant for approximately one month.

 

One of the animals found, an Albino Reticulated Python, was dehydrated and in need of some care, but is expected to be okay.

Scheller said he and LaMarr Young, who specializes in snake rescue, were able to remove the snakes and other animals from the home.

(KMOV.com - Aug 6, 2015)

Former Radford pet store owner, Alexander Nelson, ordered to give up his animals

VIRGINIA -- A former Radford pet store owner has been forced to give up his animals.

On Monday, a Pulaski County Circuit Court judge ordered Alexander Nelson IV to sign over custody of a number of dogs and a hamster.

Nelson was charged in 2014 with 43 counts of animal cruelty. He was once the owner of Classy Critters in Radford, a pet store that is no longer in operation.

According to Angels of Assisi, when animal control arrived at his property in April, they found 32 under-socialized dogs living in inhumane conditions.

The dogs, which are keeshond and husky mixes, were taken into the care of Angels of Assisi on April 25 and have been receiving routine medical treatment and extensive rehabilitation. Angels of Assisi says volunteers have been working to socialize the dogs and most of them are ready for foster care and adoption.

(WBJ7 - May 05, 2015 )

Earlier:

• Former Radford pet store owner faces multiple animal cruelty charges
• Former Radford pet shop owner guilty of animal cruelty

Former Radford pet shop owner guilty of animal cruelty

VIRGINA -- The owner of a former pet shop in the city was found guilty of 15 counts of animal cruelty Thursday in General District Court.
 
Alexander Montgomery Nelson IV, of Roanoke, was sentenced to pay $1,500 in fines and was barred from selling or possessing any animals by General District Judge H. Lee Harrell. Nelson will cease operation of Classy Critters, formerly located at 1031 E. Main St. He was also sentenced to 15 jail sentences of 180 days, all of which were suspended.

In June, Radford police and animal control responded to a complaint of a foul odor coming from inside the pet shop, according to a city news release.

Authorities then obtained a search warrant based on the odor and condition of the animals in view.

Police seized three dogs, two turtles, one bearded dragon, one leopard gecko, one fat-tailed gecko and numerous fish. They also found deceased animals including multiple rodents and fish.

Nelson originally faced a total of 43 charges, including the 15 animal cruelty counts, 15 counts of failure of a dealer or pet store to provide adequate care, five counts of improper disposal of a deceased animal, three counts of not providing rabies shots for dogs, three counts of not having a license for dogs and two counts of dogs running at large, according to the release.

Today, Nelson faces a hearing on restitution for the state’s time and effort in caring for his animals after they were seized from him in June, Radford Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jason Annis said.

In 2009, Nelson was charged with 200 misdemeanor counts of improperly disposing of a dead animal in Pulaski County General District Court for leaving hundreds of dead rats to decompose on his property near Snowville.

A judge ordered Nelson to clean them up within a month, then changed his mind in October of that year after an official with the Department of Environmental Quality told police it would be best not to disturb the rats. Nelson was then ordered to let the rats decompose on-site and not dump any more, according to Roanoke Times records. The charges were dismissed in 2010, according to Roanoke Times records.
(Roanoke.com - Dec 4, 2014)

Earlier:

• Former Radford pet store owner faces multiple animal cruelty charges

United Kingdom: Former Horncastle mayor Pamela Crisp-Beard and her daughter Maria Crisp-Beard deny their 50+ animals were being hoarded in horrific conditions

UNITED KINGDOM -- A former Mayor of Horncastle and her daughter kept animals in such unhygienic and squalid conditions that a vet judged they would likely suffer if they continued to stay there, a court heard.

Pamela Crisp-Beard and her daughter Maria Crisp-Beard appeared at Skegness Magistrates Court as a trial continued into six offences all relating to animal welfare. They deny all the allegations.

  

Pamela Crisp-Beard was Mayor of Horncastle between May 1997 and May 1998 and was a town councillor until 2011.

The charges relate to over 50 animals including 15 rabbits, a golden pheasant, two guinea pigs, five mice, two rats, a cat, two dogs, four ducks, a goose and 22 chickens.

The court heard that conditions at the Linden Road two-story house were so bad there was a strong smell of feces and urine.

It was said the house was dark, cold and cluttered with cages and hutches stacked on top of each other. Animal feces was even found on cutlery, the magistrates were told.

It was said many of the animals did not have reasonable access to food, they were living on dirty straw and that where water was provided it was dirty.

RSPCA inspectors first visited the property on January 16 this year where the animals were seen and five animal warning notices were issued.

RSPCA inspector Rebecca Lowe told the court: “It was completely cluttered. There was not much general walking space, there were things about everywhere. The premises was not clean. There was a smell from the front door of ammonia and feces.”

Ms Lowe said cockerels had been placed in cat baskets stacked on top of each other.

She said: “We asked to remove them immediately and take them outside. I saw three cockerels come out of one of the baskets. Cat baskets are not suitable for one cockerel let alone three.”

The RSPCA returned to the property on January 29 but were told to return the next day.

They returned on January 30 accompanied by two police officers.

Ms Lowe said the conditions did not look any different apart from some cat baskets had been removed from the kitchen, some animals had clean straw but piled on dirty straw and the pheasant had been moved from the utility room to a shed.

Annaliese Leslie, who at the time was working for Marshlands Vets in Boston, was called to assess the animals.

Based on her report that the animals would suffer if they continued to stay there, the animals were seized by police.

Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Beris Brickles, asked Miss Leslie on the suitability of conditions for the animals.

Annaliese Leslie, who at the time was working for Marshlands Vets in Boston, was called to assess the animals.

Based on her report that the animals would suffer if they continued to stay there, the animals were seized by police.

Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Beris Brickles, asked Miss Leslie on the suitability of conditions for the animals.

She told the court one shed containing five roaming rabbits was knee-deep in compacted faeces.

She said: “It was very, very deep compacted feces - It was knee deep. The rabbits had created a network of tunnels through this. You had to take a step up to get into the shed. It was about 18 inches deep I would say.”

Speaking about the pheasant she said the bird was extremely dirty which was not natural. She said: “It would need a bath over some time to help get himself clean.”

The court heard the RSPCA inspectors had struggled to identify the bird.

The vet added: “The house was very dark, dirty and there was extreme level of clutter. Surfaces were dirty and there was cutlery with animal faeces.”

The court heard a number of the rabbits were underweight and two had signs of urine scald (urine burn) where their fur was coming out.

Miss Leslie told the court this could have been prevented from being in a clean environment.

The rabbits had since put on weight after being rescued.

She said a cat was found to be greasy and dirty and was stained from urine.

She said: “For him to be exposed to so much dirt and feces to be dyed by it, than that is a long time issue.”

The court also heard a rat was living in a cage smaller than its body length.

Ms Leslie said there was plenty of advice available from vets, the RSPCA and the Defra code of conduct for people to get advice on the best conditions for their pets.

 

In cross examination, Ruth Harrop questioned the access to clean water issue stating that some animals choose to drink outside.

The court heard none of the animals were found to be dehydrated and apart from two rabbits there was no clinical concern found in the other animals.

A parrot was the only animal not seized. Two ferrets had been rehomed by the Crisp-Beards by the time of the RSPCA’s final visit.

The case was adjourned until Tuesday when the defence case will be heard.

Pamela Crisp-Beard also faces two charges of being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control in a public place.

(Lincolnshire Echo - Dec 13, 2014)