VENTURA : 2 Plead Not Guilty to Animal Neglect
Alfred (Dale) Beem and his son, Robert, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor animal-neglect charges during their arraignment Friday in Ventura Municipal Court.
A trial is scheduled for Nov. 14.
The two men were originally charged with felony animal abuse when seven horses, 69 rabbits and 35 sheep were impounded from their rented ranch on Piru Canyon Road in an unincorporated section of the county May 31. Deputy Dist. Atty. Mark Pachowicz said the charge was reduced to a misdemeanor due to extenuating circumstances, including the fact that the two men had to care for the animals alone after Beem’s wife and his younger son Michael left Piru to care for ailing relatives.
The reduced charge does not lessen the severity of neglect to the animals.
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