KERN COUNTY [CA] UNDER FIRE FOR
MISHANDLING CASE
Poor handling of chronic problem caused
situation to deteriorate into cannibalism
http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/5170241p-5208342c.html
Official: Hindsight 20/20 on dogs
Animal Control chief says he would have done things
differently
By DAVID HUNN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: dhunn @ bakersfield.com
Posted: Thursday December 23rd, 2004, 11:10 PM
Last Updated: Thursday December 23rd, 2004, 11:26 PM
A day after a pack of starving, cannibalistic dogs was pulled
out of a desert back yard, the chief of Kern County Animal
Control said, in hindsight, he would have done things
differently.
The dogs had been starving for weeks, maybe months,
neighbors said. They were neglected and had begun eating each
other for food. "With the information we have today, we may
have taken a more aggressive approach," said Steve McCalley,
the director of the county's environmental health service,
which oversees Animal Control.
Then McCalley beseeched Kern County residents for help.
Neighbors, he said, must tell his department of the worst
offenders. "We're a safety net," McCalley said. "We're
not everybody's animal keeper. We need eyes or ears in the
community." McCalley saw the dogs himself on Tuesday.
But he said Animal Control can't go around pulling pets from
owners. "I don't know if we're necessarily -- without
due process -- in a position to make that decision," he said.
But other counties' agencies said their officers often
have to pull animals from abusive or deadly situations.
And they're backed by state law, said Kaye Michelson,
spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal
Care and Control. When an officer believes prompt action
is required to protect the health of an animal or person, the
officer "shall immediately seize the animal," penal code
reads. McCalley didn't want to second-guess his
officers, he said Thursday. But he admitted, again, the
decision to leave the dogs may have been a bad one.
It all started last Friday, when Kern County Animal
Control went with sheriff's deputies to evict Donald and Linda
Bone from their rental in the desert near Mojave. There,
they found a pack of wild Shar-Pei and pit bull mixes. Dog
carcasses littered the fenced back yard. Neighbors
said the dogs had been so hungry they had attacked and eaten
each other. They said they'd gotten loose and killed other
dogs. They said they were worried about their children.
And they said they'd been calling Animal Control for the past
year. County records agreed.
But Animal Control didn't remove the dogs. The Bones
said they'd be back over the weekend, director Denise Haynes
said. So officers left the dogs there. Neighbors and county
staff brought food and water. The Bones didn't come
back. Monday, officers gave them another chance.
They left a note saying they'd give them 48 more hours.
Wednesday, with no sign of the owners, officers pulled 19 dogs
from the yard in an exhausting, two-hour chase. By the end,
they found seven dead dogs. Most had been wholly or partially
eaten by the pack. Animal Control director Haynes hadn't
been sure she would push for prosecution. Wednesday, she said
she would -- felony neglect and cruelty to animals.
All week, Supervisor Don Maben's phone was ringing.
Kern residents were upset. Wednesday, he announced he wanted a
deeper investigation into the role of county agencies,
including Animal Control. He had already set up a
committee, weeks earlier, recommending an audit of the agency.
Other phones were ringing, too. Even the Humane Society's
Sacramento office was getting calls, said director Eric Sakach.
His staff called the county, and asked if it could help.
Animal Control never called back. Sakach said this kind
of case is unusual, but not unheard of.
"It's not just a Kern County problem," he said.
"The reality of the situation for many agencies is that Animal
Control has never been properly funded, throughout the state,"
Sakach said. McCalley agreed.
Animal Control, he said, responds to 35,000 calls a
year. Thousands go unanswered. Is Animal
Control doing enough to protect animals?
