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MARK ANTHONY TREVINO and STEVEN CLARK WOODINGTON arrested - 270 dogs and 1 cat found in a warehouse

- Texas, USA -



~ Update: August 27, 2022


Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz announced that on Friday, August 26, in Brownsville, 62-years-old STEVEN CLARK WOODINGTON (pictured), appeared before Judge David Gonzalez. After a one-week trial, WOODINGTON was found guilty by a jury on nineteen counts of cruelty to non-livestock animals-failure to provide adequate care.


In a news release, DA Saenz briefly recounted the facts that ultimately led to this guilty verdict.

It all started in September 2019, when residents in Los Fresnos filed complaints about barking dogs at 35848 Bingley Road.


Cameron County Health Department Animal Control Division responded and the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the investigation.


In a warehouse called ‘All Accounted for Rescue’ owned by WOODINGTON and run by TREVINO, authorities found a cat and “over 300 dogs held in different-sized kennels; several dogs were crowded in the same kennel and were in very unhealthy conditions and need of medical attention. Some dogs were covered in feces and urine, and others had open wounds”, said DA Saenz.

He also said that sadly, “A total of 19 dogs did not survive this cruel situation.”


WOODINGTON claimed he was operating an animal rescue that housed dogs until they were placed for adoption.


At-the-time Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said the conditions the animals were found in would make “anybody sick.”


WOODINGTON will be back in court on Thursday, September 29, 2022, for sentencing.



Additional Source:




~ Original story September 14, 2019


29-year-old MARK ANTHONY TREVINO and 59-year-old STEVEN CLARK WOODINGTON (both pictured), were arrested on Monday, September 9, 2019, and charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals, which is a Class A misdemeanor.


The arrests are the result of authorities discovering 270 dogs and a cat locked up in kennels in a warehouse located at 35848 Bingley Road in Los Fresnos.

Cameron County Health Department Animal Control Division responded to residents’ complaints of barking dogs.

The Cameron County Sheriff’s Office was also alerted and responded to the scene.


Kennel after kennel with three to four dogs in each were discovered in the warehouse called ‘All Accounted for Rescue’ owned by WOODINGTON and run by TREVINO.


Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said during a press release that the conditions the helpless animals were found in would make “anybody sick”. Kennels covered with feces and urine and the poor furbabies had no water or food.


Removing all the animals from this hellish place and placing them in humane conditions required the assistance and collaboration of different organizations, including, including City of Brownsville Animal Control, City of Port Isabel Animal Control, City of Los Fresnos Animal Control, Los Fresnos Fire Department and Cameron County Pct. 4 office.


As a result of the dogs being picked up, the Cameron County Animal Shelter will be closed until further notice and Ms. Esmeralda Guajardo, Health Administrator, said: “The large number of animals which we are working with requires that we utilize the entire facility for them. Once the situation is stabilized, operations will resume to normal operating hours.”


TREVINO and WOODINGTON were each issued a $20,000 bond.

The investigation is ongoing.


Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.

Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.




Sources:





VASILI PLATUNOV and OKSANA DMITRIEVNA HIGGINS arrested for felony animal abuse and neglect

Updated: Sep 5, 2022

- Nevada, USA -



~ Update: September 5, 2022


The Nye County Sheriff’s Office confirmed dogs are buried on the Amargosa Valley property where VASILI PLATUNOV and OKSANA DMITRIEVNA HIGGINS (pictured), were running a dog breeding business.


Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said that on Thursday, September 1, 2022, ASPCA Forensic Investigators and Nye County Sheriff’s Office Investigators returned to the property to execute a warrant to excavate possible burial sites.

Investigators discovered several dogs’ carcasses who were in various stages of decomposition.


In a video posted on Facebook, Sheriff Wehrly said that on the evening of August 25, 2022, deputies executed a warrant on the Pahrump property and removed an additional twenty-five dogs. She further said that while PLATUNOV and HIGGINS were in custody on previous charges, they were re-booked “on multiple additional felony animal abuse charges.”


While the sheriff’s office posts regular updates on this horrific animal cruelty case, I want to join Sheriff Wehrly in thanking all the agencies and organizations that are coming together to deal with the multiple aspects of this case.


Updates will be published as they become available.






~ Original story:


The Nye County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 55-years-old VASILI PLATUNOV and 55-years-old OKSANA DMITRIEVNA HIGGINS (both pictured), for felony animal abuse and neglect.


The sheriff’s office said that the arrest is the result of an investigation which also led to the execution of a search warrant on a property in Amargosa Valley from which approximately 300 dogs were removed.


The sheriff’s office said in a statement: “This investigation will continue for the next several days and it is anticipated that several additional charges will be added. A more detailed release will be published as soon as we can.”


The nonprofit Nevada Voters for Animals, posted on their Facebook page heartbreaking pictures of Bodan, a 3-year-old male Caucasian Shepherd, who passed away, and said: “This cruelty has been going on for YEARS in Nye County but Bodan's EXTREME & Horrific condition was finally the tipping point for Nye County Officials. We are grateful Est Alpha Kennel owner Vasili Platunov and Oksana Higgins have finally been arrested for Felony Animal Cruelty for their MASSIVE SCALE CRUELTY & NEGLECT.”


Nevada Voters for Animals also wrote in a Facebook post: “We have been working on this case for months since we learned there were 300 - 400 Large breed livestock guardian dogs on two properties in Pahrump & Armagosa Valley. When we visited the conditions were shocking. It's hard to wrap your head around the gutwrenching cruelty, starvation, dog fights, breeding, Parvo, horrid conditions, massive amounts of injuries & infection due to fighting for survival.”


After reading Nevada Voters for Animals’ post, I Googled the arrestees’ names and I learned that the facility that the nonprofit was referring to, is actually called “Est-Alfa Caucasian Ovcharka Kennel.” I tried to visit their website but I was not able to open it up.


An article by Pahrump Valley Times published on November 4, 2015, entitled “Business owner wants to house more dogs”, reported that for years PLATUNOV has been breeding Caucasian Ovcharka on his Pahrump property.

Pahrump Valley Times further reported: “But after the number of dogs spiked recently, he had to apply for reconsideration of a conditional use permit that would allow him to increase the number from the original 30. After moving to Nevada from New York, Platunov, a long-time breeder, had a steady pack. The number quickly grew to 131 when people started dropping off their dogs. Now Platunov has dozens of kennels with Caucasian Ovcharkas, Turkish Kangal, Armenian Gampr and Georgian Nagazi that had been left there due to their age, behavioral issues or other reasons.”


According to Pahrump Valley Times, at the end of October 2015, several Nye County officials walked around PLATUNOV’s property where they evaluated its conditions and PLATUNOV was scheduled to appear in front of the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission at a later date.


In 2010, the Pahrump Regional Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit that allowed a commercial kennel in the rural estates zoning district. At the time, PLATUNOV had 16 dogs.


I have also come across an interesting video about PLATUNOV published by KPVM, in May 2021, that I would advise you to watch….


Last but not least, in relation to Est-Alfa Caucasian Ovcharka Kennel, Complaints Board published comments and reviews about the kennel’s “Refusal to return money.”


Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.

Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.



Bodan’s pictures (FOTOPLAY) shared from Nevada Voters for Animals' video



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VICTOR ERIK GARCIA-HERRERA, former owner of PawZazz, sentenced for animal cruelty

- Nevada, USA -


On Thursday, August 18, 2022, judge Christy Craig, judge for the Eighth Judicial District Court, sentenced VICTOR ERIK GARCIA-HERRERA (pictured), to a one year suspended prison sentence to be served through probation with the first eleven days served in Clark County Jail from Thursday.

FOX5 reports that prosecutors allege GARCIA-HERRERA, former owner of the pet boarding and grooming facility PawZazz, is behind the death of a female Husky named Mora in July 2021, and the death of a female Chow Chow named Ying Yang on December 24, 2021.


KTNV reports that GARCIA-HERRERA “made an agreement with the district attorney's office known as an Alford plea. This means Garcia-Herrera pleads guilty but maintains his innocence. He understands the evidence is so strong, a jury would find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”


According to KTNV, GARCIA-HERRERA said that the reason for the agreement was to protect his family's safety following harassment on social media. He said PawZazz was also vandalized.

GARCIA-HERRERA accepted the plea deal in April 2022, after the two felony animal cruelty charges he faced were dropped to a gross misdemeanor charge.


Although he was initially charged for the death of Mora and Ying Yang, GARCIA-HERRERA agreed to plead guilty to a count of attempted animal cruelty in connection with Mora’s death and judge Craig told him: “In accordance with the law, I'm judging you guilty of the crime of attempted cruelty to animals, a gross misdemeanor.”


Where the f------ is the attempt here with at least two dead dogs?!?!


According to a Facebook post by animal rights activist Gina Greisen with Nevada Voters for Animals, she took Mora to PawZazz on July 1, 2022, to be boarded for several days and on July 11, 2022, “during a week of record temperatures, we received a 911 text that the Husky was breathing very hard.”

Mora died within “25 minutes of original text”, said Greisen.


According to court documents, Ying Yang, died after being deprived of medical care.


KLAS reports that in addition to the 11 days in jail, GARCIA-HERRERA “will be on probation for one year, can’t have any pets or be around animals, and must complete a class on the appropriate treatment of animals.”


Judge Craig also told GARCIA-HERRERA he is not allowed to run his business from his home.


As reported by FOX5, GARCIA-HERRERA’s wife still owns PawZazz and Greisen and other animal activists asked the judge to shut down PawZazz saying abuse could still happen.

Greisen told judge Craig: “To find out that the wife is going to run it, this case is now worse now because it's one less person to help run this facility that I will say a house of horror for animals.”

Judge Craig said closing a business is not under her authority.


Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.

Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.



Mora's pictures shared from Nevada Voters for Animals






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