ER - Original owner of Mad River dogs released from prison

Original owner of Mad River dogs released from prison

by Heather Muller , 11/1/2006

After serving eight months of a 16-month sentence in a Chowchilla women’s prison, Roberta Bugenig was released Sunday to supervised parole in Shasta County.

According to her parole officer, Agent Miguel Avitia of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Redding, the conditions of her parole will severely restrict her movements and activities during the three years of her supervision.

During that time, Bugenig will not be allowed to travel outside of Shasta County without his notification and permission, he said, and like all convicted felons in California, she cannot legally own or possess any firearms.

“She is at the highest level of controlled supervision,” he said, adding that he will meet with her face-to-face at least twice a month, and will conduct visits to her residence at least once a month.

Avitia said the restrictions were intended to serve two purposes, one of which was to keep Bugenig away from people in Trinity and Humboldt counties who perceive a threat from her.

“Our job is to help parolees reintegrate into society, but most important it’s to protect the public. Period. That comes first.”

Bugenig was convicted of four felonies after brandishing a firearm at four Trinity County peace officers in 2005, and was initially sentenced to four consecutive 16-month terms. While the convictions held up under legal review, it was later determined that by law she could be sentenced to only one 16-month period, because all four offenses stemmed from a single act.

With time deducted for good behavior while incarcerated, that sentence was reduced to eight months total, which ended Oct. 29.

Included in the terms of her release is one unusual restriction. For the next three years, Avitia said, Bugenig will not be allowed to own any animals.

While few people in Humboldt County were aware of Bugenig’s Trinity County standoff with law enforcement officials, she made headlines locally more than 16 months later because of her original ownership of the dogs involved in the Mad River animal abuse case.

John Malcolm, Stacy Malcolm and Roger Zampatti were arraigned in Trinity County Superior Court last week on 41 felony counts of animal cruelty and one additional felony charge each in connection with two well-tended marijuana plants allegedly found on Bugenig’s former Mad River property amid dozens of dead and dying dogs.

Bugenig has not been charged in the dog abuse case, and Trinity County Deputy District Attorney Eric Heryford, who is prosecuting the Malcolms and Zampatti, said he does not anticipate filing charges against her.

“The potential is there for her to be prosecuted as well, but I don’t have any way of tying her to the dead animals,” he said.

The problem, according to Heryford, is the time line of the alleged abuse.

He said he believed he could establish that the condition of the dogs as documented in August, when they were found, represented a departure from the ordinary standard of due care, which is necessary to win a conviction under California Penal Code section 597 (b). But he did not know that he could demonstrate what their condition was prior to March 15, 2005, the day Bugenig was forcibly evicted from the Mad River property and signed over ownership of the dogs to Stacy.

Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos announced last week that he would not file a felony charge against Bugenig, originally rejected by his office in 2004, stemming from her alleged failure to care for a horse while she lived in Humboldt County, on Chalk Mountain Ranch near Bridgeville.

Shannon Miranda, owner and operator of Miranda’s Animal Rescue in Fortuna and one of several volunteers who rescued 13 surviving dogs Aug. 11, said he was pleased Bugenig would not be allowed to own animals as a condition of her parole but wondered what would happen after that.

“So for three years animals don’t have to worry about her, but after that she can do whatever she wants?” he asked. “None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for her. She started the whole thing. She abused these poor dogs for years in Humboldt County, and then she abused them again in Trinity County. And now she’s walking free because no one filed any charges against her.”

Heryford said he did not know what impact Bugenig’s release might have on his case against the Malcolms and Zampatti.

“Probably my initial reaction is that she doesn’t really change anything. It’s just going to play itself out now.”

Pre-trial motions in the case are scheduled to begin in January in the Trinity County Courthouse in Weaverville.

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

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