Furry additions to the family

Marshall County chief deputy adopts cats rescued in massive animal neglect case

The Veren family of rural State Center -- Marshall County Chief Deputy Ben, his wife Casee and their sons Cooper and Conner -- welcomed two new members recently: cats Salt and Peppa, who were rescued as part of a major criminal investigation into animal neglect at a rural Marshalltown property on Sept. 24.

Pedro Garcia-Alvarez, age 46, and Millie Moreno-Garcia, age 55, both of Marshalltown, were arrested on Monday, Sept. 28 and charged with Livestock Neglect-Causing Serious Injury or Death and Livestock Neglect-Failure to Provide Adequate Livestock Care after nearly 380 total animals were rescued from the property -- 342 chickens (seven of which were euthanized), 18 sheep, two geese, five goats, six pigs, two rabbits, one duck, one horse and two kittens -- in coordination with the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. One of the injured ponies was humanely euthanized.

Robyn Dobernecker from the ARL of Iowa shared an update on how the situation has proceeded since then with the case still pending in the court system. Fortunately, all of the rescued animals have been voluntarily surrendered to the ARL of Iowa, and that has allowed Dobernecker and her team to move forward with providing the necessary medical care.

"They're doing really well with all that, they're gaining weight and getting better with their health. So we're still working through that process. Most of them, as I said, are doing well," she said.

The kittens, she added, were in the best overall health, and they've been named in honor of the iconic 1990s rap music duo. Some of the chickens have survived, Dobernecker said, but many were in such poor health that they were not able to recover after the rescue. Cases involving this many animals are rare, and both Veren and Sheriff Joel Phillips said it was the largest they had ever dealt with in their law enforcement careers.

"It's usually been horses and some other livestock -- swine and beef. It's usually in the ones and twos. It's kind of where the owners have neglected. It comes down to financial obligations to be able to provide the current nutrition for those animals. So that's kind of where we run into it," Phillips said. "This is the biggest one I've been involved with in 24 years."

Veren credited the ARL of Iowa staff for its swift response, with about a dozen staff on site during the incident, and Dobernecker reciprocated the praise.

"Without these guys in law enforcement, we can't do what we do," she said. "So we appreciate that they took it seriously and did something about it."

Salt and Peppa ventured out from their new home and visited the jail/sheriff's office complex on Wednesday morning, and Veren is happy to see them healthy and overfed, making friends with the cats the family already has. The kittens were about eight weeks old at the time of the rescue, and the family had to wait a few more weeks before they were healthy enough to be adopted.

"They're enjoying life," Ben said.

The situation, Phillips reflected, has reiterated the importance of collaboration and coordination between agencies as the ARL of Iowa brought livestock trailers, crates and personnel to the scene on that day.

"The work doesn't stop once you rescue them. It's that continuing care, the rehabilitation," he said. "The criminal process through the courts is ongoing, so we can't talk a whole lot about it.

(But) it takes a lot of partnerships, a lot of cooperation and communication between a lot of people."

Veren added that many people have the best of intentions when they acquire animals, but especially in cases involving livestock, they may not realize the resources, time, space and care it takes to raise them properly.

"We ask people (that) if you're looking to get into doing hobby farming or animals, just to know what you're getting into before you get into it because oftentimes it can be overwhelming," he said.

Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.