ER - IN THE 'INTERESTS OF JUSTICE'?

Shannon Miranda examines the contents of blue barrels found Sunday night near Mad River. The seven barrels contained 10 or 11 dead dogs and part of a sheep. Heather Muller/The Eureka Reporter

IN THE 'INTERESTS OF JUSTICE'?
by Heather Muller , 8/23/2006

In yet another twist in the Mad River dog abuse scandal, information uncovered late last week suggests that officials on this side of the county line missed at least two opportunities to intervene on behalf of the unknown number of horses, sheep and dogs that ultimately died at the former Trinity County residence of Roberta Bugenig.

As recently as June 2004, Bugenig, now 65, lived in Humboldt County, on Chalk Mountain Road near Bridgeville, and in January and June of that year was investigated for alleged offenses related to her care and treatment of 61 dogs and a blind horse named Lucky.

But according to public records, charges against Bugenig requested by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office — including 122 alleged misdemeanor county code violations for failure to vaccinate and license her dogs, and one alleged felony violation for abuse of the horse — were never filed by the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office.

John and Stacy Malcolm are expected to be charged in Trinity County with multiple felony animal cruelty charges stemming from their treatment of the Bugenig animals.

But why were charges not filed against Bugenig years earlier in Humboldt County?

Lt. Steve Knight, who heads up the animal control division of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, said he doesn’t know.

“As I understand it, we had one case where (Bugenig) was cited for numerous counts for no rabies vaccination and licensing of the animals,” he said. “That was back in January 2004. In June of 2004 deputies went out again to investigate a report of animal neglect and cruelty, and a case was referred to the DA’s Office for charges.”

Knight added, “I don’t know what the DA did with it.”

District Attorney Paul Gallegos said Monday that the first case, involving the 122 alleged misdemeanor violations, was received by his office June 15, 2004, and was rejected Oct. 26 of the same year.

“These were regulatory offenses, not neglect offenses,” Gallegos said, adding that the reason given in the file for rejection of the charges was “interests of justice.”

“There could have been issues of proof,” he said.

The alleged felony offense of abuse of the horse was received by the DA’s office July 9, 2004, and rejected Aug. 23, 2004, for lack of evidence, according to Gallegos.

“We can do nothing unless we have sufficient evidence of an offense,” he said. “That’s it in a nutshell.”

Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Brenda Godsey said Tuesday that she could not speak to the evidentiary value of information provided to the DA’s Office, but could officially confirm that a videotape had been booked into evidence.

Godsey also confirmed that deputies had posted a pre-seizure notification on the stall of the horse June 4, 2004. But when deputies returned June 9 to follow up on the notice, all of the animals were gone.

Bugenig had left Humboldt County and moved approximately five miles across the county line near Mad River in Trinity County.

Timothy Noal Gray, the Malcolms’ defense attorney, confirmed that Lucky died on the Mad River property of unknown causes in March of this year.

The horse was old, Gray said, and he believed its death was “a natural thing.” The Malcolms, he said, had it buried at “considerable personal expense.”

Dozens of dogs were found dead and dying in and around the kennels at the former Bugenig property on Aug. 10, after a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement agent found blue barrels containing dead dogs that had been dumped in Six Rivers National Forest. They were eventually linked back to the kennels.

Knight said Humboldt County Animal Control did everything it could to intervene in the matter. According to documents obtained by The Eureka Reporter, one deputy even prepared a declaration in support of a warrant requesting the arrest of Bugenig for alleged “failure to provide care” for the animals.

Although charges were not filed by the DA’s Office, Knight said his office did inform Trinity County that Bugenig was moving into its jurisdiction.

Trinity County Animal Control Officer Christine Edwards confirmed that she had been notified about Bugenig in 2004.

“There were complaints at one time of a woman locating here with too many dogs,” Edwards said in an Aug. 18 interview.

But Edwards insisted that she didn’t know who the woman was or where she had moved until law enforcement personnel were called to the property in March 2005 to forcibly evict Bugenig from the residence.

“I think we did our job,” Knight said — and, in light of subsequent events, “I’m glad we did our job.”

It is impossible to know whether the prosecution of Bugenig in Humboldt County could have averted the tragedy.

“If we had filed, based on the charges,” Gallegos said, “probably the best results — or the worst results from her perspective — would have been probation.”

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

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