More animals seized in cruelty case

May 28—With some staff only getting as much as three hours of sleep in the past two days, workers for Sutter Animal Services in Yuba City have been inundated with more animals seized as a result of an ongoing animal cruelty case in Sutter County.

On Tuesday, 63 animals including 39 dogs, 13 horses, seven cats and four exotic birds were seized in the "vicinity" of the 3400 block of Sankey Road in Pleasant Grove through the combined efforts of the Sutter Animal Services Authority, Sutter County Sheriff's Office and Sutter County Code Enforcement.

The sheriff's office previously said the animals were seized because of a "lack of proper shelter, nourishment, and veterinary care."

As a result of the investigation and warrants that were served, Lynette Kim Countryman-Dunivan, 50, and Chad Damon Dunivan, 51, both of Pleasant Grove, were arrested for numerous felony charges, including animal abuse.

On Thursday, a second search and seizure warrant was executed as part of the ongoing investigation of suspected animal cruelty and neglect at the Sankey Road property, the Sutter County Sheriff's Office said on Friday.

Due to "logistical constraints," 10 animals included in the original warrant were not able to be seized on Tuesday. The sheriff's office said animal control officers wrote a "Piggyback" warrant to seize the additional animals.

During the serving of that warrant, deputies found that seven animals which were to be seized were not at the property. However, the officers were able to determine that 47 additional animal cruelty violations had allegedly occurred.

"The Sutter Animal Authority and the Sutter County Sheriff's Office, with assistance from the Sutter County Sheriff's Posse and the Yuba County Animal Control, combined their efforts to seize 64 animals which included: 18 horses, 8 geese, 7 dogs, 7 alpacas, 5 peacocks, 5 exotic birds, 4 sheep, 2 pigs, 2 brahma bulls, 1 longhorn bull, 1 rooster, 1 camel and an ostrich," the Sutter County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Animals were seized due to a lack of proper nourishment, shelter and veterinary care. The warrant served was due to a collaborating effort between Animal Control Officers Newman and Terry with the Sutter Animal Services Authority and Deputy Arbaugh with the Sutter County Sheriff's Office. Both agencies worked diligently to obtain an additional warrant to complete the investigation."

A bail enhancement was authored for Countryman-Dunivan and Dunivan after first being arrested with bail set at $1,500 for 18 counts of cruelty to animals.

As of Friday afternoon, Countryman-Dunivan was still at Sutter County Jail with bail set at $75,000 for charges that include seven counts for destroying/concealing evidence and 47 counts of cruelty to animals. Dunivan also was still at Sutter County Jail with bail set at $50,000 for charges that include seven counts for destroying/concealing evidence and 47 counts of cruelty to animals.

Countryman-Dunivan has previously been involved in other animal cruelty cases over the years and was convicted of animal neglect in Oregon in 1997 and in 2002, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Sutter County Sheriff's Office said there could be more criminal charges.

Sutter Animal Services

On Friday, the Appeal was given an inside look at how the animals are being received and taken care of by Sutter Animal Services in Yuba City. Staff there reported working as much as 18-hour days this week with very little sleep due to the large amount and variety of animals that have been involved in the case.

Yuba City Vice-Mayor Wade Kirchner and Sutter County District Three Supervisor Mike Ziegenmeyer also were on hand to view the progress of the massive intake and hear the concerns of the seemingly overwhelmed staff.

Also at the facility were Brad McIntire, Yuba City community services director, and Yuba City City Manager Diana Langley.

Staff said no animals involved in the seizure have died. In fact, a mule that was seized gave birth overnight.

While most of the animals are being cared for at Sutter Animal Services, some also are in the care of various others who work in partnership with the authority, Langley said.

Many of the animals the Appeal observed were in poor condition with the horses that were seized showing the most obvious signs of potential abuse or neglect. Cuts could be seen on their necks and bodies along with the thin nature of the horses causing their bones to be clearly visible.

Included with other animals in the seizure such as llamas and exotic birds, there were what looked to be more than a dozen dalmatian puppies who also were at the shelter.

When asked if Sutter Animal Services would have any issues with adopting out the animals once the criminal case was completed, McIntire said that would not be a problem.

"We have a ton of interest and it's not just local," McIntire said. "It's regional, it's statewide."

As for what was needed currently in order to help care or take in the animals, Megan Anderson, manager for Sutter Animal Services Authority, said those details were still being sorted out.

"What I did first thing this morning was go over to one of our sites ... now we're kind of walking around and assessing our needs," Anderson said. "... There's so many different breeds of animals that we're looking to assess right now and provide exams to. So, that's what we're doing today is actually putting everything into the system, taking everything into account, then identifying what their needs are and going from there."

Anderson said there has been an "overwhelming response" to the case.

"There's so many vested parties that have been following this particular individual that there's an overwhelming amount of support," Anderson said. "We received a lot of phone calls just based on their own stories and their wanting to support us. They cannot believe that Sutter County has actually done something about it, where other counties they tried and didn't get very far. I don't know the circumstances or what can hold something like that up, but when you're dealing with cruelty investigations there's so many steps that have to happen before you actually move forward with a case — so you're building a case."

Anderson said while Countryman-Dunivan has been in Sutter County, Sutter Animal Services Authority has been aware of her presence because authorities from other "resources" had made contact.

"When her animals came into our county, you have to wait to receive information, like a complaint or something like where we respond to a call and then we identify what we're dealing with," Anderson said.

On Friday, McIntire was working to get more staff to Sutter Animal Services to help with the ongoing process.

"I have a very exhausted staff," McIntire said. "I need to get people in."

Anderson said over the past few days, staff has been working long hours to get the animals safely into the facility and to the related partners.

"Last night we didn't leave here until 1:30 in the morning, so we weren't going to be able to get any type of exams at that point," Anderson said. "We needed to bed them down, get everybody in a clean, safe environment and provide them food and water. Now today, we're trying to put them all into the system and now will be having veterinarians (come). ... We're being pulled in different directions."