Officers Seize More than 100 Animals from Aguanga Property
August 8, 2024
Riverside County Animal Services officers served a search warrant Wednesday (Aug. 7) at a property in Aguanga and seized more than 100 animals – with a great majority of the animals being livestock or birds.
The animals included three horses, six goats, several dogs, chickens, exotic birds and mice. Also impounded: pet cockroaches.
Some of the dogs – described as “wolf hybrid” by some in the community, total nine. Some came from the seizure and others were found by members of the public and animal control officers prior to the seizure operation.
The horses were in poor condition at the property, located in the 44000 block of Bonny Lane in Aguanga, located where highways 371 and 79 intersect and approximately 20 miles from Temecula.
The property owner was not present and did not respond to two official notices from Animal Services posted at the property on July 31. The conditions of some animals, coupled with the lack of on-site caretakers, resulted in the seizure.
Ultimately, Animal Services will seek felony animal cruelty when it submits its findings to the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.
The Aguanga investigation follows multiple cases of hoarding that Animal Services officers investigated and handled in the Coachella Valley in recent weeks. Those cases led to approximately 100 dog impounds collectively.
“Once again, our officers are responding to animals in need and I am proud of their efforts,” Animal Services Director Erin Gettis said. “This was one of the more unique investigations we’ve had, considering the wide arrange of critters now needing our assistance.”
All told, the collection includes parakeets, cockatiels, quails, geese, one turkey, horses, dogs and the aforementioned roaches. Almost all the critters are being cared for at the county’s San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus in San Jacinto. Two animals – a miniature horse and a sheep – were transported to the county’s shelter in Jurupa Valley. The two were believed to be a bonded pair.
The investigation stemmed from a tip from a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department deputy who was working in the area during the Nixon Fire. The deputy, assisting in the community with evacuation notices, spotted the property and raised his concerns with Animal Services.
There had also been recent reports on social platforms of dogs being willfully abandoned. Some of those dogs, described as “wolf hybrids,” have been collected by the public and Animal Services. Some of those types of dumped dogs looked similar to those found at the Aguanga property.
Animal Services currently has nine of those dogs in its care at the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus.
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Caption: These are some of the animals that were seized at a property in Aguanga.
