A 33-year-old woman who claimed to run an animal rescue operation is facing criminal charges after prosecutors say more than a dozen dogs were rescued from her locked, sun-baked car in Newport Beach on the Fourth of July.
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Many of the dogs found in Priscilla Martin’s car were caged and covered in feces, prosecutors allege, and they did not have access to water.
One pup — a six-week-old Golden Retriever — had to be euthanized after being taken from the car in critical condition because of severe, untreated parasites, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.
Thirteen of the dogs in the car were found to have intestinal parasites, prosecutors said, and several were suffering from heat distress.
Martin, 33, has been charged with three felony counts and 11 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty by a caretaker, along with a single count of putting the carcass of a dead animal on the road. She faces up to 15 years and 10 months in prison if convicted as charged.
Martin pleaded not guilty to the charges on Thursday, July 23, court records show. A court commissioner ordered that she be released from custody while awaiting trial, but that she not have access to any animals. Prosecutors had unsuccessfully argued for $50,000 bail.
An attorney listed in court records as representing Martin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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According to prosecutors, Martin on social media advertises a purportedly non-profit animal rescue she described running called K9 Paws Rescue. However, prosecutors added, the organization does not appear to be listed on the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, a requirement for groups that have non-profit status.
Newport Beach officers on July 4 received a call about multiple dogs locked in a vehicle. They found 18 dogs, 14 in wire crates and plastic containers in Martin’s car. Prosecutors described the conditions the canines faced as “extremely unsanitary.”
A dead dog discovered by Irvine police officers on July 13 was also found to have a microchip that tied the animal to Martin. Prosecutors say they have video footage that shows Martin driving into a parking lot, dragging the dead body of the dog out of her car and leaving it in some bushes. The dog was found to have died of heat stroke, prosecutors added, consistent with potentially being left in a hot car.
Investigators found Martin in Costa Mesa on July 22 and arrested her on suspicion of animal cruelty. Another 14 dogs were in Martin’s vehicle at the time of her arrest, prosecutors said. Those dogs are undergoing health evaluations, prosecutors added.
“Every living being deserves a safe home with the basic necessities of life. Despite our compassion for the homeless, it does not excuse subjecting defenseless animals to inhumane conditions,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “The abuse of animals will never be tolerated, and anyone who engages in violence or neglect against animals will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The announcement of the charges against Martin comes weeks after the county’s last high-profile animal cruelty case came to an end. Earlier this month, Irvine dog trainer Kwong “Tony” Chun Sit was sentenced to 11 years and 10 months behind bars for the deaths of 11 dogs in his care, while a woman he worked with, Tingeng Liu, received three years for helping Sit try to dispose of the bodies of the dogs.
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