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PENELOPE SMITH-BERK, kennel and animal rescue owner, arrested and charged with animal cruelty

- New York, USA -

 

The SPCA Westchester announced that their Humane Law Enforcement Unit (HLE), under the direction of Ernest Lungaro, arrested PENELOPE SMITH-BERK (pictured via Facebook), and charged her with five counts of animal cruelty.

 

BERK, founder of Rescue Right on 402 Old Post Road in Bedford and owner of Northwind Kennels in Bedford, was taken into custody on July 17, 2024, but the incident that ultimately led to her arrest dates back to October 2023.

 

In a press release, the SPCA Westchester said that on October 3, 2023, they were alerted “by several witnesses to a dire situation regarding 4 sick Bernese Mountain Dog puppies who were being denied proper medical care at Rescue Right in Northwind Kennels.”

 

The following day, HLE and state Health Department officials visited the kennel and discovered all four puppies, and their mom, Annabelle, were “suffering and in critical condition”, stated the release. The release goes on to say, “One of the puppies could barely breathe and was nonresponsive.”

 

Officials immediately rushed Annabelle and her babies to a private veterinary hospital where all five were diagnosed with Distemper Virus.


According to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s description, “Canine distemper is a contagious and serious disease caused by the canine distemper virus. The virus attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems of dogs.”

 

Sadly, mom and babies were all euthanized. One of the puppies was euthanized upon arrival at the hospital as he/she was “too far gone to be saved”, explained the SPCA Westchester.

Annabelle and her other three babies were euthanized days later “to prevent further suffering.”

 

As further explained by the SPCA Westchester, the disease “is highly preventable with proper vaccinations and timely medical care. If the dogs had not been denied veterinary treatment, their outcome could have been very different.”

 

According to the SPCA Westchester, Annabelle originated from an Amish Pennsylvania puppy mill and was brought to Rescue Right along with an unneutered male Bernese Mountain. Anabelle was not spayed and she was subsequently impregnated.

 

On July 18, 2024, SMITH-BERK appeared at Bedford Town Court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 

On Rescue Right’s Facebook page, a recent post read:

“To everyone who follows our rescue organization:

For months now, I have been the target of false and damaging rumors. These attacks have led to the filing of misdemeanor charges in Bedford Justice Court. I have pled not guilty and intend to vigorously contest these charges.  I have rescued, cared for, and adopted out thousands of animals over the years, making enormous personal sacrifices to do so.  To the many people who have reached out to me today, I'm grateful for your support.

I will not be commenting further.

Thank you.”

 

SMITH-BERK’s next court date is set for August 28, 2024.


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Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from a press release by the SPCA Westchester. Link included. Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.

In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.

 




 

 

 
 
 

MACEY MICHELLE CASTEEL accused of leaving thirteen puppies in a hot car – Ten puppies died

- Missouri, USA -

 

The Springfield Police Department arrested 30-year-old MACEY MICHELLE CASTEEL (pictured).

 

On the early morning of Sunday, July 14, 2024, Greene County Dispatch received a 911 call about several dogs who were inside a white Toyota Corolla in a parking lot. The caller advised the dogs had been in the vehicle for at least three hours unattended.

 

Three hours after the call, an officer with the Springfield Police Department checked on the dogs, and according to the affidavit, the officer “deemed them not in distress and Springfield Animal Control would not respond.” The officer then rescheduled the call for 9:00 a.m.

 

At 9:39 a.m. another officer went to check on the dogs and saw significant condensation on the inside. The officer observed stacks of dog crates on the back seat and reported that there were multiple dogs in each travel crate and several were whining.

 

The officer reported, “I could see at least one dog heavily panting inside each kennel. There appeared to be dogs inside that were not alive, as they were laying with their eyes open but not moving, and tongues hanging out of their mouths.”

 

When the officer was able to open the vehicle, there was heat radiating from inside and it felt “in excess of 100 degrees.”

 

Two of the crates were filled with young puppies, which were piled on top of each other. Only six of the twelve puppies inside the crates were breathing and only one was able to sit up. They were hot and their fur was matted with moisture. Another dog was found hiding under the passenger's seat.

 

The affidavit described the puppies as 9-week-old Mini Cockapoos.

 

As the officer was on scene, CASTEEL arrived and asked the officer: “Are my puppies OK?”

 

CASTEEL confirmed the puppies were hers and she was placed under arrest. She told the officer that sometime during the night she went to a friend’s house and that only at 4:00 a.m. she remembered the puppies were still in the car. CASTEEL claimed she asked her friend to drive her to her car but the friend refused and she fell back asleep. When she woke up, she walked back to her vehicle. CASTEEL went on to tell the officer that she was traveling to Oklahoma to sell the puppies.

 

Animal Control responded to the scene and took the furvictims to the Emergency Vet Clinic where several of them sadly had to be euthanized due to heat related illness. Only three of the thirteen puppies survived. According to the affidavit, “In the vehicle, the dogs had no access to water, food, or fresh air.”

 

CASTEEL was booked into the Greene County Jail on 13 counts of animal abuse and bond was set at $10,000. She has since been released.

 

Court records show that CASTEEL is scheduled to appear at Greene County Circuit Court on September 3, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.

 

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Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from the Probable Cause Affidavit.

Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.

In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.

 

 

CASTEEL’s mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Springfield Police Department.






 
 
 

JOEDARRYL L. MCBRIDE charged after eight dogs used for fighting removed from his home

- Indiana, USA -

 

32-year-old JOEDARRYL L. MCBRIDE (pictured), is scheduled to appear in Allen County Superior Court on July 12, 2024, to face dogfighting charges among other offenses.

 

According to the Probable Cause Affidavit obtained by Voice For Us, on February 18, 2024, the Fort Wayne Police Department responded to a domestic dispute call and since the caller said that she wanted to surrender eight Pitbulls, Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control (FWACC) Officer Werling and Officer Speer also responded to the scene.

 

Officers learned from the caller that MCBRIDE had hit her in the mouth and fled the scene.

 

The caller told Officers that MCBRIDE had been fighting dogs and training them in the home.

 

The Affidavit identified the dogs found at the home as:

 

3-month-old tan female Pitbull mix named Daisy

3-month-old tan female Pitbull mix named Princess

3-month-old black and white male Pitbull mix named Ray

3-month-old black and white male Pitbull mix named Ruthless

2-year-old tan female Pitbull mix named Eve

2-yearold tan female Pitbull mix named Queen

2-year-old tan male Pitbull mix named Debo

2-year-old black and white male Pitbull mix named Katos

 

The caller went on to tell Officers that MCBRIDE had been actively training the dogs and entering them in dogfights but she could not provide the dates of the fights and where they took place. She then showed the Officers a photo on her phone of one of the dogs that MCBRIDE had fought who had been killed during a dogfight somewhere in Ohio. She added that MCBRIDE “normally takes the dogs to Michigan, Ohio and Atlanta for fights.”

 

Officer Werling asked the woman how she knew MCBRIDE was training the dogs to fight so she took all the Officers to the garage and showed them the training equipment.

 

Officers found a red harness hanging from a bicycle along with a metal spring with a rope and a hide attached. The woman then pointed to a metal chain hanging from the ceiling and stated that the chain in the ceiling is where MCBRIDE attached the metal spring with the rope and hide. She further said that MCBRIDE has a pole with a white T-Shirt on it that he uses with Katos. “do not wave a white t-shirt in front of Katos or he will attack and not let go”, she said.

 

The same day, Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control removed all eight dogs.

 

Officer Werling returned to the home the following day and asked the woman whether she had ever seen anything such as trophies, medication/feeding charts, lineage charts, etc. that MCBRIDE may have for the dogs. The woman answered that there were some “dog books” and advised Officer Werling that MCBRIDE self-medicates the dogs and that all the medication were in the refrigerator.

 

Officer Werling found a slew of medications, including prescription antibiotic injections only meant to be used for cattle and swine; “Muscle-up” supplements for horses; dewormer for goats; injectable penicillin and corticosteroids; prescription antibiotics, and several other kinds of medication like testosterone used as an anabolic steroid.

 

On February 20, 2024, Dr. Andrew Riebe, DVM completed an examination on all eight dogs and he concluded that all the skin injuries, lesions, wounds, and scars on the furvictims were “most consistent with a history of organized dog fighting.”

 

On February 21, 2024, MCBRIDE contacted Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control about the dogs.

He said that he was breeding dogs, that the items he had were for training, and that with multiple dogs in the home, altercations naturally happen. MCBRIDE also said that the dogs get aggressive when breeding. When MCBRIDE was asked about the injuries on the dogs, he claimed they “were from the dogs trying to remove themselves from their kennels” and added that when neighbors throw bones over the fence, the dogs “get territorial over food and that leads to altercations.”

 

On March 5, 2024, Daisy, Eve, Katos, Queen, Princess, Ray, and Ruthless were sadly euthanized.

According to the Affidavit, after the furvictims’ examination it was determined that they “could not be placed due to aggression resulting from coming from a dog fighting case and were heavily scarred.”

 

Debo was placed into the Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control Adoption Program where he was adopted into his forever home.

 

As stated in the Affidavit, it also emerged that on September 23, 2022, Fort Wayne Animal Care & Control responded to MCBRIDE’s home “after receiving a video of a dog fight with the Defendant in the video with a black dog and an injured brown dog. While doing a welfare check on the dogs in the home, FWACC was able to obtain photos of Katos at the time of that investigation and Katos did not have the bite wounds/scars that he did on February 18, 2024.”

 

On April 10, 2024, a warrant was issued for MCBRIDE’s arrest and he was taken into custody on April 30, 2024, on six felony counts of purchasing or possessing an animal for fighting and possession of animal fighting paraphernalia.

 

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Disclaimer: This story is sourced from the Probable Cause Affidavit provided to Voice For Us.

Please note that details may be removed or new information added should updates become available.

In the case of charges being dropped, dismissed, or the case being purged, this article will be rectified accordingly, if official documentation is provided to Voice For Us.

 

 

MCBRIDE’s mugshot provided to Voice For Us by the Allen County Sheriff's Office




 
 
 

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