Dogcatcher in Heap of Trouble

This free-spirited, two-brothel boomtown has long had a problem with its pets and, these days, the town is roiled by problems with its dogcatcher too.

Animals--many of them not spayed or neutered--are everywhere. Reflecting Nevada’s leave-me-alone attitude, their owners let them run free through the dusty neighborhoods that bleed seamlessly into the open desert, asphalt roads giving way to gravel.

The town’s dogcatchers are run ragged. The woman who held the job for years finally gave up. The Sheriff’s Department took over, then complained it didn’t have sufficient staffing, and also gave up.

All eyes looked hopefully to Karl Mitchell, a local man who keeps lions, tigers and other exotic animals at his 10-acre spread for use in movies and commercial promotions.

Here’s a man, local officials believed, who knows his stuff. Nye County commissioners hired him in December, over a company in Las Vegas, 60 miles to the west.

But on Tuesday, Mitchell, 48, will be grilled by his commission bosses who now question his management of their animal shelter. That may be the least of his headaches.

Mitchell is due in court later this month on criminal charges and is accused, among other things, of stealing valuable animals from their owners and for using euthanasia drugs without a proper license. He also faces trial on sex-related charges involving workers at the animal shelter.

Mitchell denies any wrongdoing.

“I took an unpopular job that nobody wanted, and now I’m getting hit with all this scurrilous, scandalous stuff,” he complained.

The brouhaha over Mitchell is virtually daily fodder in the local newspaper and has everyone wagging--although many residents are reluctant to talk publicly for fear of getting on the wrong side of either the sheriff or the dogcatcher. Both carry a lot of clout in this town. Both carry badges.

Nye County Sheriff Wade L. Lieseke Jr. said that after conducting a background check of Mitchell, he advised the county commissioners against hiring him.

In 1985, Mitchell was arrested in Los Angeles County’s Antelope Valley and accused of ramming the vehicles of two state fish and game officers pursuing him for alleged possession of a wildcat without a permit. Mitchell pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and said he now considers it “old news.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been dogging Mitchell for years over alleged mistreatment of animals used in his commercial business, and he was fined $27,500 in April for violations of the Animal Welfare Act. Mitchell has appealed the case.

Sheriff’s deputies here have arrested Mitchell repeatedly in recent weeks.

In one case, he faces felony charges of stealing two purebred silky terriers--including one that was pregnant--that were left untended in a frontyard. Mitchell said he needed to rescue the terriers from the heat.

The dogs’ owner, Kathy Diaz, said Mitchell told her the dogs perished soon after he picked them up. Disbelieving, she complained to the sheriff. Deputies found the animals safe and healthy in Mitchell’s home.

Mitchell said he told Diaz that the dogs “might as well have been dead” and that he took them to his home--rather than the animal shelter--to better tend them.

Mitchell also is accused of firing his weapon in a way that might have endangered others. He said he was justified in shooting a German shepherd, which he said was threatening people and animals. “It got a good ding,” he said, “but policemen have shot and killed dogs for less.”

The sheriff also arrested Mitchell for the alleged theft of a cockatoo that flew out of the window of its owner’s mobile home. Witnesses reported that Mitchell put the bird in a cage but it hasn’t been seen since, the sheriff said.

Most recently, he was arrested for possession of phenobarbital, a controlled substance used to euthanize animals. He said he holds a temporary certificate to administer the drug. Representatives for the Nevada boards of pharmacy and veterinary medicine said Mitchell’s applications to euthanize animals, and to possess the necessary drugs, have not yet been approved, pending a background investigation.

Mitchell also faces misdemeanor charges of annoying a minor with unwelcome touching, solicitation of prostitution and open and gross lewdness involving a teenager and an adult. He said those charges are based on retaliatory allegations after he dismissed shelter employees for inappropriate behavior.

Mitchell has remained free on more than $100,000 in various bail payments.

Longtime resident David Zabler, his Yorkshire terrier at his side, pondered the plight of Pahrump’s dogcatcher and shook his head. “A lot of things have happened since that guy took over,” he said.

“It’s the worst possible job in the world,” said Lieseke. Said Mitchell: “This job is absolutely thankless. But I’m not in it for the thanks. I’m in it to save animals.”

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Times researcher John Beckham contributed to this story.