Brunette, 46, will be sentenced Jan. 22. He could face up to four years in state prison as well as probation, and he could be required to pay for more than $100,000 in expenses incurred by the Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority in caring for dozens of his dogs.
Brunette, a self-declared dog breeder, was trying to produce a guard dog, mixing the Italian Cane Corso breed and other breeds on his rural Deer Creek Road property.
Animal services seized 50 dogs Brunette kept there after an investigation began in July 2008 following complaints by neighbors that the property was filthy and smelled of feces.
Many of the dogs were emaciated and sick, and some were locked in small cages without food or water, animal services officers reported.
“The evidence was just overwhelming,” said Henry Brzezinski, animal services general manager.
Brunette’s defense maintained that he cared for and loved the animals and that he did not neglect them intentionally. Court-appointed attorney Margaret Law defended him.
Brunette was found guilty on two felony charges of crimes against animals, four counts of confining animals and three counts of permitting animals to go without care.
“There are people that have breeding operations that follow proper laws — they run a clean, caring operation,” Brzezinski said. “This was definitely not one of those. I didn’t see any love.”
Of the 50 dogs taken from Brunette’s property, 42 were adopted and eight were euthanized, mostly because of behavioral problems, Brzezinski said. Another 15 puppies were born, he said, and nine of those were adopted.
Brzezinski said his agency kept close tabs on the money it spent caring for the dogs — more than $100,000 for veterinarian costs, staff time and boarding facilities when animal services did not have enough room to house all the dogs.
“The quantity of animals, it really does impact our agency,” Brzezinski said. “It took several months to get every animal off the property.”
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