Ontario Dog Abuse Probe Expands to Second Home

A day after Humane Society workers uncovered what they called one of the area’s worst animal abuse cases in 20 years, their probe widened Friday to a second Ontario home with more dogs in similar conditions.

Three dogs kept in a bedroom blanketed with feces were removed Friday from the home of Jacqi Killeen, 48, on Berkeley Avenue.

On Thursday, authorities had served a search warrant at the home of Killeen’s friend, Patricia Fraus. There, they found what officials called a horrific scene: 24 dogs, most Saint Bernards and all severely neglected, some limping and others with skin infections and thickly matted hair. In the garage, they found the carcasses of two Saint Bernards who had been dead for two to five months and a third dog carcass so decomposed that a veterinarian could not determine the breed, said Brian Sampson, supervisor of animal services for the Inland Valley Humane Society.

Fraus was cited, and authorities said they are pursuing possible felony charges against both women. If found guilty, they could receive up to a year in jail or a $20,000 fine, Sampson said.

“I hope this opens the eyes for a lot of people,” he said. “If they knew what kind of behavior goes on. . . . This is abuse and neglect.”

Killeen declined to comment. Fraus, 64, said she was “too exhausted to talk.”

Friday afternoon, Fraus gave Humane Society officials a note requesting a private hearing to tell her side of the story.

Acting on an anonymous tip, authorities had tried to investigate Fraus’ home twice earlier this week, but she had refused. On Thursday, they carried a warrant.

Authorities said conditions in the house in a mostly industrial area on Vineyard Avenue were nearly indescribable. As they encountered the stench of decaying animals and months-old feces, several inspectors gagged.

Fraus, who teaches dog agility courses in her yard, told investigators that her severe depression had prevented her from burying the dogs that had died.

Killeen was at Fraus’ home when authorities were inspecting it, Sampson said. During the 6 1/2-hour probe, word emerged that similar conditions might exist at Killeen’s home.

Authorities arrived at that house late Friday morning. The conditions, although not as severe as those at Fraus’ home and not deemed by city code inspectors as uninhabitable for humans, were deplorable, they said.

In the bedroom where two cocker spaniels and one mutt that appeared to be part mastiff were confined, “there was nowhere the dogs could walk where there wasn’t fecal matter,” said Dr. Gina Gross, a veterinarian with the Humane Society. “These dogs are old. They deserve a better existence than this.”

Gross also found anti-parasitic skin medication in Killeen’s bedroom, an indication that the woman had contracted a disease from the dogs, Gross said.

Killeen stood by for hours, visibly distraught, as inspectors confiscated papers, medications, her answering machine and her dogs.

The women, who may be tried together, are expected to receive a court date in June, officials said. The dogs are being housed at the Humane Society pending the resolution of the cases.

Neighbors of both women said they thought their dogs had been cared for.

“I’ve seen her take her dogs to the vet and to get them groomed,” said Tanya Carillo, 27, a homemaker who lives next door to Killeen. “She loved her dogs. That’s pretty sad to do that to a dog.”

Pauline Holt, like several residents in the small cluster of homes near industrial complexes in Fraus’ neighborhood, runs a dog kennel. She said, “I never saw more than three dogs out, but they all looked fine . . . I’m disappointed to hear [what happened]. People are strange. You hate to hear of this going on, but you know it does.”