ER - Death toll rises in Mad River dog deaths

Shannon Miranda picks up a skull near Mad River at a dump site found Sunday that contained 10 or 11 dead dogs. Ferndale veterinarian Dr. J. Kevin Silver said the skull came from a sheep. Heather Muller/The Eureka Reporter

Death toll rises in Mad River dog deaths
by Heather Muller , 8/22/2006

High atop South Fork Mountain, only a few feet from a breathtaking view of Ruth Lake, stood seven blue barrels that looked all too familiar.

Made of heavy plastic with a large, U-shaped hole cut in each lid, dozens of barrels matching the description were found at kennels on the former property of Roberta Bugenig.

Laid on their sides, they served as makeshift doghouses for the still unknown number of dogs that lived — and died — at the Bugenig residence.

Standing upright some four miles off Highway 36, the seven barrels were found Sunday night to contain the remains of another 10 or 11 black-and-brown dogs and part of a sheep.

“I have completely lost my ability to be stunned,” said Shannon Miranda, who went to the dump site with The Eureka Reporter, which had been told of its location by two bowhunters looking for deer.

This was the second dog dump site Miranda had visited in six days, and it appeared to be the third such site containing dogs from the former Bugenig property.

But was it?

Miranda said he was stunned again when he learned Monday morning from Steve Frick, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement agent, that Frick said he had found the seven barrels himself approximately three weeks ago — and left them there.

Miranda said Frick previously told him the barrels contained seven dogs, but it was evident Sunday that the contents of the barrels had not been examined.

Dead animals still stuck to the bottoms of the barrels were pried out by Miranda so he could see if they matched the Bugenig dogs.

Seven dogs and a sheep skull were found in the three barrels Miranda examined, and the other four barrels appeared to contain one dog each.

Miranda also found a red dog collar still on the neck of one skeleton and a panel from an Attaboy dog food bag — both of which matched items seen in a videotape filmed Aug. 11 at the Bugenig kennels when the surviving dogs were rescued.

“Why on earth would evidence like this be left out there?” Miranda asked.

The Eureka Reporter asked Frick the same question, and his response was terse.

“Unknown,” he said.

And how many dogs had he said were in the barrels?

“No comment.”

What looked like a large-caliber bullet hole was found in one dog skull, while other dogs appeared to have been killed by blunt-force trauma to the head.

Miranda said three of the dogs appeared to have been only recently killed. Other carcasses looked several months old.

Trinity County Sheriff Lorrac Craig was called Monday afternoon to comment on the status of the investigation, but he was out of the office and did not return the call by press time.

Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.

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