PLACITAS, New Mexico – Hours and thousands of dollars from animal welfare groups had no consequences for the man accused of neglecting dozens of Australian shepherds.

KOB 4 has been following this case since February, from the initial seizure in Placitas to a failed trial. We spoke with the rescuers about the now closed case.

The Placitas property looked a lot different nine months ago.

“I smell something dead on this side of the property, like really rotten.”

It turned out to be more than just one thing. Sandoval County deputies found several dead dogs and dozens of live, wild dogs on Paul Jaramillo’s property.

“What really pissed me off was the severed plant in the front yard. »

Deputies arrested Jaramillo and charged him with 18 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

Investigators say Jaramillo and his wife were breeding mini Australian Shepherds for rare coloring for years before the seizure.

“It was definitely an overwhelming situation for our shelter,” said Mattie Allen, communications director for Española Humane.

Española Humane took 25 dogs from this property. Allen says they all needed some level of veterinary care and the shelter spent thousands of dollars sterilizing and vaccinating them.

“The dogs took a while to recover. Some of them, behaviorally, are still recovering. It was a brutal situation,” Allen said.

A judge threw out the case once in August after deputies failed to show up for a scheduled bench trial.

We discussed the case with the lieutenant a few days later, when the office refiled the charges:

“I have seen serious cases. I think it’s one of the worst I’ve seen since, kind of being involved, and that’s why we definitely want to be on top of it and make sure that we handle this properly.

The deputies went to a bench trial a month later.

Judge Kenneth Eichwald of Cibola Magistrate Court allowed only a certain number of witnesses from the sheriff’s office.

Judge Eichwald dismissed the case in early October, citing misconduct by the sheriff’s office. Then he recused himself two days later.

There has been no movement in this file for 30 days.

“In the years that I have worked at an animal shelter, I have never been involved in a case that was prosecuted or in which anyone was convicted,” Allen said.

We have contacted the Sheriff’s Office three times over the past month to confirm this case is closed, but have not received a response.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised. It was still incredibly heartbreaking, and we’re all wondering when our state is going to take animal cruelty seriously? Allen said.

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