The L.A. County District Attorney’s Office is looking to file nearly three dozen charges Friday against a Lake Hughes woman accused of keeping more than 300 animals in “starvation, dehydration, untreated injuries and … filthy conditions,” according to a statement from District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
A March 20 raid at Rock N Paws brought dozens of county Animal Care and Control staff to Christine De Anda, 57, who’s described in Hochman’s statement as a “purported rescuer.”
An estimated 250 dogs and 66 cats were recovered from her property, according to a statement given after law enforcement officials had raided De Anda’s property at 7 a.m. that day.
The case was filed for an arrest warrant before a judge Friday, according to the DA’s Office. De Anda’s arraignment will be set for a later date at the Antelope Valley Courthouse.
Prosecutors have requested her bail be set at $914,500. She is not in custody as of this story’s publication.
Prosecutors are filing 12 felony counts of cruelty to an animal, two felony counts of grand theft of labor and 21 misdemeanor counts, including three misdemeanor counts of cruelty to an animal, according to Hochman. De Anda has not yet been arraigned on the charges.
De Anda’s maximum exposure for the allegations is more than 24 years in prison, according to the DA’s Office.
A message left Friday with Rock N Paws was not immediately returned.
While the most serious charges revolve around the alleged conditions the animals were kept in, De Anda also stands accused of violating multiple county codes with her facility, which include: 12 counts of code enforcement violations; two counts of failure to care for an animal; one count of failure to provide food and water; one count of injurious conditions; one count of unsanitary conditions in enclosures; and one count of operating the kennel without a license.
“For someone who calls herself an animal rescuer, there’s a fundamental responsibility to protect and care for the animals entrusted to her,” Hochman wrote in a statement issued via email. “Instead, purported rescuer Christine De Anda allegedly left these animals to suffer or die from starvation, dehydration, untreated injuries and painful urine and fecal burns in filthy conditions. After repeated citations and warnings, Ms. De Anda continued taking in animals she could not care for, leaving hundreds to endure prolonged suffering. These animal victims cannot speak for themselves and look to us to protect them. My office will hold their victimizer fully accountable for her inhumane actions.”
Hochman’s statements Friday, nearly six months following the initial raid on De Anda’s property, indicated she had been warned numerous times prior about the conditions that her animals were being kept in.
“Over several years, De Anda allegedly continued to take in an increasing number of animals — mainly dogs, but also cats, a pig, rabbit, goose and two goats — despite being unable to care for them,” according to the statement issued by the office’s Media Relations Division. “Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control had issued De Anda citations and warnings over several years concerning conditions at the property and the number of animals she was keeping. Despite those warnings, De Anda allegedly continued operating her rescue and taking in additional animals.”
The outcome of the operation created another problem for the animal-care community: the L.A. County system became flooded with animals in need of adoption, according to local officials.
Hochman touted the charges Friday as part of a handful of such cases throughout the county that had drawn his office’s attention in recent years.
This case is being prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Jessica Palasik of the Antelope Valley Branch Office, a designated animal cruelty prosecutor, and Deputy District Attorney Nichol Walgren of the Environmental Crimes Division/Code Enforcement Section.
The case has been assigned to the Antelope Valley Courthouse in Lancaster.
L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger issued a statement thanking the law enforcement officials responsible for the raid and charges Friday.
“Animal cruelty has no place in our communities,” said Barger’s statement sent in an email from Helen E. Chavez, her communications manager. “The conditions these animals allegedly endured are horrifying and unacceptable. I commend our Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control personnel and all of the agencies and partners who stepped in to rescue these animals, provided them with desperately needed care, and conducted the extensive investigation that led to today’s charges.”
