ER - Dog suspects head for trial

Dog suspects head for trial
by Heather Muller , 10/13/2006

Just one witness was called Wednesday at the preliminary hearing of John Malcolm, Stacy Malcolm and Roger Zampatti in connection with the discovery of an unknown number of dogs — many dead, some barely alive — on and around the former property of Roberta Bugenig near Mad River.

Steve Frick, formerly a law enforcement agent for the U.S. Forest Service, now a special agent for the agency, was examined and cross-examined for approximately two hours by Trinity County Deputy District Attorney Eric Heryford, the Malcolms’ defense attorney Timothy Noal Gray, and Zampatti’s public defender Derrick Riske.

In the end, Trinity County Superior Court Judge James Woodward concluded that there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.

“I find there’s probable cause to believe that 41 counts of animal abuse occurred, and probable cause to believe the three defendants are involved in that violation,” Woodward said at the conclusion of the hearing in Weaverville, held two months to the day after 13 surviving dogs were rescued.

The three suspects had previously been indicted on 42 felony counts each of animal cruelty and one felony count of marijuana cultivation based on evidence gathered in August by Frick and Trinity County Animal Control Officer Christine Edwards.

One charge was dropped Wednesday because of a mathematical discrepancy in the total number of dead dogs found by officers.

The Malcolms and Zampatti stand accused of abusing or otherwise failing to care for an as yet unknown number of dogs at the residence, many of which are believed by prosecutors to have died from starvation and dehydration after ownership of them was transferred to Stacy, and after Zampatti moved onto the property where they were kept.

The skulls of a few of the estimated 16 other dogs found at two dump sites within miles of the property contained what appeared to be bullet holes, while the skulls of others had been crushed.

Shannon Miranda, owner and operator of Miranda’s Animal Rescue in Fortuna, and The Eureka Reporter saw and photographed the dogs at both dump sites in August after having been led to the locations by two different anonymous informants.

It was Frick’s discovery of one of these dump sites that launched the investigation that resulted in the three arrests.

Frick testified that a report from an unnamed person was received at the counter of the Mad River Ranger Station on July 28, stating that blue plastic barrels containing dead dogs had been found on national forest property at the top of South Fork Mountain.

Frick said he was not in the office when the report came in, but followed up with a visit to the site Aug. 3.

“I located at that time, I believed, six dead dogs in seven barrels,” he said. The dogs were decomposing in piles of hay, Frick said, and were “curled up in a position as if they were sleeping or resting.” Frick later said that further investigation revealed the barrels to contain 10 dogs instead of six.

Heryford asked, “On the way back to the office, did you notice anything?”

“Yes,” Frick replied. He said he recalled from prior observation similar barrels at a residence along Highway 36, and on the way back to the office he saw those barrels again. He said he knew the residence to have belonged at one time to Bugenig.

On Aug. 4, Frick said, he contacted Humboldt County Public Guardian Ramon Herrera, who had been named trustee of the property following a legal battle between Bugenig and other beneficiaries of a family trust. Frick said he made plans to meet with Herrera at the property Aug. 10 to investigate the barrels.

But when he visited the property with Herrera, Frick said, he found much more than just blue barrels.

He was met at the gate by Zampatti, who Frick said described himself as the caretaker of the property.

In addition to numerous dead dogs, some curled up in blue barrels like the ones he had seen in the forest, Frick said he found 11 dogs still alive.

The dogs, he said, were “in very poor health. … I didn’t find any food in any of the kennels that had live dogs. The water in the kennels was very dirty. Some kennels didn’t contain water. The water was filled with algae — very unfit for animals.”

As Frick toured the property, he said, he asked Zampatti if one particular dog had been starved to death. “He went over and kicked it,” Frick said, “and agreed with me it had been starved to death.”

In response to additional questioning, Frick said, “I counted 10 dogs that were dead, and five of them still had fur, and the other half were just skulls laying around in the kennels.”

Frick said that on Aug. 10, he phoned Shannon Miranda, of Miranda’s Animal Rescue in Fortuna, to recover the survivors.

Frick said he returned the next day with Miranda to find 13 live dogs instead of 11. He described for the court the condition of the dogs.

“Most were in very poor health, thin, rib cages, rib bones showing. They could barely move. A couple of them could barely stand. They had sores on their tail (heads) from sitting in one position for so long. They were very fragile, flea-ridden, very gruesome.”

Contacted Thursday for comment on the findings of the preliminary hearing, Miranda said he was pleased the suspects would be held to answer to the charges, but was “distraught” about two of the rescued dogs.

In another coincidence of timing, two hours before the preliminary hearing began, the two dogs were euthanized because of what Miranda described as continued deterioration of their physical and mental conditions.

“One was ripping his own sides open and chewing himself bloody,” Miranda said, “and the other was trying to tear off her own legs.”

Of the 13 dogs that initially survived the kennels, two could not be saved and were euthanized immediately. A third was euthanized, Miranda said, after he began injuring himself by pummeling his head against the wooden sides of a barn stall. Four have found homes and are reportedly doing well. Four of the survivors remain in Miranda’s care.
_______________________________________
New information revealed at the hearing

+ Special Agent Steve Frick said that suspect Roger Zampatti told him that Zampatti had helped John Malcolm load seven barrels containing 10 dead dogs into Malcolm’s pickup and unload the barrels in the forest where Frick found them.

+ Frick said approximately 15 minutes after his Aug. 10 arrival at the former property of Roberta Bugenig, Stacy Malcolm arrived and began to provide water to the dogs. Frick said she and Zampatti initially did not know where the dog food was kept.

+ John also came to the property Aug. 10, Frick said, and after having been read his Miranda rights, declined to answer any questions. John “replied with questions in an attempt, I believe, to find out how much I knew,” Frick said.

+ Katherine Renee Harris, previously described by Mad River residents as a girlfriend of Zampatti, was also present at the property Aug. 10. Frick said he interviewed her about her level of involvement in the case and reported that she had stayed on the property only two or three times during the month Zampatti lived there.

+ In response to cross-examination, Frick said he wanted to arrest the three suspects Aug. 10, but did not have any means of transporting them to the jail.

+ Frick said three additional dog skulls and bones were found in a creek drainage behind the former Bugenig house.

+ A handwritten document transferring ownership of the dogs from Bugenig to Stacy was read into evidence at the hearing. It was dated March 15, 2005 — the day of Bugenig’s forcible eviction from the property — and read, “Sold to Stacy Malcolm all my dogs and horses, five horses, all dogs and kennels. Roberta Bugenig.”

+ Trinity County Deputy District Attorney Eric Heryford attempted to compare the conditions of marijuana plants Frick said he found on the property to the conditions of the dogs. “The two marijuana plants were healthy and freshly watered,” Frick said. The Malcolms’ defense attorney, Timothy Noal Gray, objected to that description.

+ Gray had previously stated in news releases that Zampatti had told Frick that Zampatti was solely or primarily responsible for the animals. Frick denied in court that Zampatti had said that to him.

+ The Malcolms and Zampatti are scheduled to be arraigned Oct. 24.
___________________________________
Public information forum scheduled
Shannon Miranda, owner and operator of Miranda’s Animal Rescue in Fortuna, will hold a public information forum about animal hoarding. Called “From Horde to Hope,” the forum will be held at the Wharfinger Building on Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.

The videotape of the Mad River rescue will be shown at the free event. Parents are cautioned that the graphic content of the film may be inappropriate for children.

The Wharfinger Building is located at 1 Marina Way in Eureka. For directions to the site, phone 707-268-1973.

For additional information about the forum or to adopt a Mad River dog, phone Miranda’s Animal Rescue at 707-725-4449, or write to 1603 Sandy Prairie Road, Fortuna, Calif., 95540.

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