40 Dogs Seized Near Site of April Raid

Inland Valley Humane Society officers impounded 40 dogs on Wednesday from an unlicensed dog kennel in Ontario, around the corner from where 24 Saint Bernards were rescued last month, officials said.

Dogs were living in squalid conditions, with feces coating the floors in the house and the backyard dog runs at Aztec Kennels in the 1800 block of Elm Street, officers reported.

Brian Sampson, the Humane Society’s supervisor of animal services, said they will ask prosecutors to file charges of animal neglect against Donna Giello, who runs the kennel.

Giello said that the dogs became more than she could handle lately. “I’m glad they’re taking ‘em,” she said.

As bad as it was, the conditions at the Elm Street home were better than those encountered on April 12 when officers raided Patricia Fraus’ home in the 1500 block of South Vineyard Avenue and found four dead dogs, Sampson said. Code enforcement officers deemed the home uninhabitable and 24 dogs were impounded. Giello said she did not know Fraus.

No dead dogs were found Wednesday and officers considered leaving the dogs, mostly Rottweilers and dachshunds, and giving Giello a chance to clean up. But officers decided to impound the dogs after hearing that she had been cited in Riverside for keeping dogs in similar conditions. Giello denies having been cited in Riverside.

Eight dogs belonging to Roberta Smith, a tenant on the property, were not impounded, but she was told by officers to find a new home for them by the weekend, she said.