Animal welfare advocates call on Sonoma County to bolster Animal Services division after gruesome horse death

The gruesome death of a horse on rural Santa Rosa property prompted horse owners and rescuers to issue a passionate public call for improvements at Sonoma County’s Animal Services division.

Equestrian advocates and their allies urged the Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting to ensure Animal Services has the right kind and number of staff and resources to respond to cases of animal abuse and neglect.

“Animals are dying. Animals are suffering,” said Betsy Bueno, owner of Lost Hearts & Souls Horse Rescue. “What are we going to do about this? We need your help.”

Bueno noted that Animal Services, which has 10 allocated full-time positions, is ill-equipped to handle its ongoing caseload and respond in cases that call for urgent intervention.

Tuesday’s turnout followed the death of a paint horse on the Petaluma Hill Road property, where the horse was said by witnesses to have been repeatedly harassed and chased by a dog, day after day for as long as a year.

On July 10, the shepherd mix took the emaciated horse to the ground and attacked it. A veterinarian wound up euthanizing the horse.

The dog was also recently euthanized.

The horse’s death came after numerous reports to Animal Services by people concerned about the horse’s welfare, The Press Democrat reported in late July.

Supervisor Chris Coursey, board chair, said the board shares residents’ anger and concern over the horse’s death.

“I’ve talked to our animal control officers in the wake of this,” Coursey said from the dais. “This affects them too.”

For months, neighbors had watched the dog harass the horse at the Santa Rosa-area property and repeatedly called Animal Services to intervene but were told that nothing could be done.

Brian Whipple, the division’s director, has estimated Animal Services received 15 calls or emails related to the horse over several months. He previously told The Press Democrat his officers made multiple visits to the property and made recommendations about how the owner could contain the dog, but could not do more because the officers did not see any see harassment or abuse firsthand.

Neighbors contend the department could have done more.

“We feel let down and betrayed by animal control,” Monica Lukes told the board Tuesday.

Bueno and Lukes were among about 11 people who attended Tuesday’s meeting to call for more action. Some showed up at 8:30 a.m. for the start of the meeting, determined to show unity, though they would not be able to address the board until the afternoon during public comment.

“How can we be so desensitized to pain, human or horse, that we just look the other way or assume someone else will take care of it?” Linda Aldrich, who runs The Pony Express, a local horse rescue, said after the meeting.

A petition on Change.org set up by Lukes calls for “a thorough and transparent investigation with accountability” into the paint horse case and others, “immediate procedural changes” to ensure protection of Sonoma County horses and “citizen involvement” to monitor how cases are handled.

On Tuesday the petition had reached 1,681 signatures.

Animal Services’ budget is $7.2 million, and it has 31 job positions allotted in 2023-24. Many of those positions are administrative or at the county animal shelter.

Coursey said Whipple is in the process of interviewing candidates for the vacant positions. Whipple previously told The Press Democrat that Animal Services was down to five officers — half the allocated enforcement staff — at the time of the July 10 attack.

“The lack of officers on the job — it’s a problem that’s trying to be fixed,” Coursey said.

The board took no action as there was nothing scheduled on their agenda.

Department of Health Services Director Tina Rivera, whose agency oversees Animal Services, was in attendance at the afternoon session that included the public comments.

Animal Services has recommended the District Attorney’s Office file felony animal abuse charges against the property owner, Lorenzo Salcedo Martinez.

The DA’s office is evaluating Animal Services’ report, filed Aug. 1, Assistant District Attorney Brian Staebell said in an email Monday.

“I would like to see this gentleman get prosecuted,” Bueno said as she debriefed after the meeting with her fellow supporters. “He should never own an animal.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.