Written for the web by George Warren, Reporter
One
year after El Dorado County animal control officers raided an illegal dog
breeding operation, they returned to arrest the breeder.
Arthur Warren faces 10 felony counts of animal cruelty and 11 misdemeanor counts
of animal neglect. He's also being charged with operating a kennel without a
county permit.
Authorities also arrested Georgia Thompson, the owner of the 20-acre ranch in
Somerset. Chief Animal Control officer Henry Brzezinski told News10 Thompson is
equally responsible and faces identical charges because she owns the property
and shares a home with Warren. Bail has been set at $50,000 each.
Despite the raid and seizure of dozens of neglected animals in May 2005, Warren continued breeding and selling Australian Shepherd puppies.
In an interview with News10 in March, Warren admitted he's breaking the law
by breeding without a kennel permit. But he considered it a technical violation,
and himself a responsible breeder doing business as Middle Fork Aussies.
"I've sold hundreds of these puppies and I've got hundreds of people that
are very happy with their dogs," Warren said.
But some of Warren's customers told a different story. Lisa Paquette of Live Oak
bought a 4-month-old Aussie puppy for $400 after seeing Warren's classified ad
in the Sacramento Bee. She said Warren assured her the puppy would be a good
family dog. But a few days after she brought the puppy home, the dog attacked a
professional trainer.
"All of a sudden the dog just went crazy on her," said Paquette.
"She bit into her arm, her leg. That just blew me away. I mean, this was a
puppy."
Other customers told of buying sick dogs from Warren. Paula Davis of Oakley
bought two Aussie puppies from the breeder. Yet after two months and $600 in vet
bills, she had to have one of them put down because of a heart problem.
