Updated: Long Beach Dog Rescue Owner Arrested

Updates with Long Beach officials visiting Long Beach Kennel to inspect it as Tennessee authorities now say the number of dogs is 140 not 128 that were found in a U-Haul truck and trailer of a local kennel owner. And the Kennel, which is still open and operating, declining immediate comment on the case.

A well-known figure in Long Beach animal rescue circles was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty in Tennessee after a routine traffic stop discovery of 148 dogs in a U-Haul truck and trailer, police said.

Bonnie Sheehan of the Long Beach-based Hearts for Hounds rescue group, was taken into custody after a traffic stop Tuesday in Fayette County. Officers reported discovering more than 100 dogs and a cat inside a U-Haul truck that Sheehan was driving, and in a minivan the truck was towing. Patch was not immediately able to reach Sheehan for comment, but a man helping to operate her kennel said at 5 p.m. Wednesday that it remains open and operational and they would have no comment.

The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis said that the animals were "filthy, hungry, thirsty and living in the squalor from several days on the road without a break for air or to relieve themselves."

Sheehan has been in the process of moving Hearts for Hounds from Long Beach to property she owns in Virginia. The group is familiar to Belmont Shore and Naples residents for the rescue operation that it hosted in the marina near the Sunday Harbor Area Farmers Market. 

Sheehan, 55, and a companion riding with her, Pamela A. King-McCracken, 59, both of  Long Beach, each faced 128 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and were held on $100,000 bail, the newspaper reported.

"I have seen animals like this when we raided a puppy mill a few years ago," Gina Thweatt of Fayette County Animal Rescue told the Commercial Appeal. "But as far as transporting them like this? No, I haven't. Not where they literally could not get any air or circulation.... They have a warped idea of loving their animals."

The paper also quoted an animal shelter official there as saying the dogs would be sheltered in an East Memphis warehouse for the time being. The Long Beach Press Telegram reported that a Jan. 24 court date has been set for Sheehan and King-McCracken and that there are questions about whether Long Beach Animal Care Services should have taken some action to prevent the transport of the animals.

It quoted, John Keisler, acting manager of Animal Care Services, as saying the agency would investigate its procedures in the case. The paper reported Keisler, as saying that an animal care officer visited Sheehan as she was preparing to leave with her animals from Long Beach Kennel Room and Groom. The facility at 1354 Obispo Ave. is where Sheehan kept the dogs.

The Press Telegram updated its story today with this addition: As the case of dog rescuers Bonnie Sheehan and Pamela McCracken, charged with 128 counts each of animal cruelty, continued to unfold, officials from Long Beach Animal Care Services visited the site where Sheehan had boarded her dogs and found 21 animals left behind by the founder of the nonprofit Hearts for Hounds dog rescue group.

The Los Angeles chapter of the spcaLA e-mailed an announcement of the arrest today and offered tips onn where best to volunteer animal rescue efforts. It read in part:

“Too often we see individuals who feel as though a ‘love’ of animals is all they need to operate a rescue group,” says spcaLA President, Madeline Bernstein.  “Caring for a large number of abandoned, abused animals requires infrastructure, veterinary care and professionals in a variety of fields, not the least of which is safe animal transport.

"At least one of the women told authorities that they 'loved' their animals, but when individuals who purportedly 'love' animals allow them to suffer such conditions, that 'love' is toxic and has become abuse."

spcaLA urges anyone who witnesses animal cruelty or neglect to report it by calling 1(800)540-SPCA (7722) or reporting online at www.spcaLA.com.

Full disclosure: Patch editor Nancy Wride rescued her family's dog from Hearts for Hounds and kenneled him there for a week of the winter school break. And last year, Patch Pets regularly featured dogs from the shelter.