3 Accused of Scam to Sell Donated Pets for Research

Three San Fernando Valley residents, described by City Atty. James K. Hahn as “cold-hearted,” were charged Thursday with duping pet owners into giving away dogs and cats that were then sold to medical laboratories, where most died in experiments, for sums as high as $500.

“Those animals were sentenced to death,” said Hahn, as he filed 73 misdemeanor theft and conspiracy charges against Barbara Ann Ruggiero, 25, and Frederick John Spero, 43, both of Sylmar, and Ralf Jacobsen, 25, of Chatsworth.

Ruggiero owned two now-defunct kennels in Sun Valley, Comfy Kennel and Budget Boarding, and along with Spero operated Biosphere, a company that was licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to sell animals to research facilities. Only licensed companies may supply animals, usually purchased from pounds or breeders, for research.

Hahn said Ruggiero and Spero paid Jacobsen to obtain animals for free that were sold to three Southern California laboratories for prices ranging from $100 for a cat and from $250 to $500 for a dog, depending on its size.

Jacobsen responded to classified advertisements offering free pets to good homes and assured pet owners he would take the animals to a ranch where the pets could play with children and horses, the complaint charges.

“I never heard of such a heartless scheme before,” Hahn said.

14 Dogs and Cats

The complaint states that nine pet owners, most from the San Fernando Valley, were duped into giving away 14 dogs and cats between last October and January.

“All but three of the 14 animals listed in the complaint died in medical research,” Hahn said. The surviving animals were reunited with their owners.

The complaint charges each of the three defendants with 11 counts of petty theft, 11 counts of theft of an animal for medical research purposes and one count each of conspiracy to steal an animal for medical research and conspiracy to obtain property by false pretenses and promises.

Ruggiero is also charged with one count of theft. Hahn said a pet owner paid Ruggiero a $35 placement fee last August to find a home for a dog that Ruggiero instead sold to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In all, Jacobsen and Spero each face 24 counts and Ruggiero 25.

The maximum penalties for each count are one year in jail or a $10,000 fine or both for conspiracy, one year in jail for theft of an animal for medical research and six months in jail or a $1,000 fine or both for petty theft.

“We think this is a jail-time case,” Hahn said.

Ruggiero, Spero and Jacobsen, who have not been arrested, are scheduled for arraignment Sept. 22 in San Fernando Municipal Court. Ruggiero’s attorney, Hugh H. Siegman, said his client probably would plead not guilty to the charges but would not comment further because he had not seen the complaint.

Spero and Jacobsen could not be reached for comment.

Biosphere sold 78 animals to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Loma Linda University and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Sepulveda, said Deputy City Atty. Norman T. Wegener, who is handling the case. Investigators have not been able to track down all the animals.

Hahn said the three facilities cooperated with his department during the eight-month investigation and did not know how Biosphere had obtained the dogs and cats.

Bob Rush, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Regulation, said the investigation was aided by several San Fernando Valley pet owners and Last Chance for Animals, an animal-rights group based in North Hollywood.

Last Chance for Animals learned of the case through Lani Ciarlo, a Tarzana resident who said she gave a black springer spaniel to Jacobsen last January. Ciarlo said Jacobsen called himself “Mike Johnson” and said he owned a 10-acre ranch in Agua Dulce with horses.

After Ciarlo discovered that the telephone number Jacobsen had left was disconnected, she called other people who had run classified ads offering free pets to good homes. The first person Ciarlo called, Gayle Sovia of Agoura Hills, said she gave a collie to the same man a few hours before Ciarlo gave away her pet.

Last Chance and Ciarlo eventually traced the dogs to Comfy Kennel. Ciarlo said she broke into the kennel on Jan. 24 and found her dog, its hair matted and dirty, in a filthy pen with three other dogs. The next night, about 20 pet owners broke into the kennel and retrieved their pets. Some found only collars or dog tags.

The Department of Animal Regulation started its investigation the next day and eventually impounded about 150 animals.