ICYMI: A Swampscott Man is Facing Charges of Animal Cruelty and Malicious Killing

Photo credit: WHDH 7News

Jason Gentry was already facing charges related to his treatment of animals in Lynn when he appeared in Chelsea District Court Tuesday on charges he killed two puppies found behind a Revere gas station last fall.

Gentry, 35, of Swampscott, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts each of animal cruelty and malicious killing of an animal. Last week, he pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of animal cruelty and a charge of running an unlicensed kennel during an appearance in Lynn District Court, according to the Boston Globe.

In the Revere case, the Suffolk Country District Attorney’s office alleges that Gentry killed two 20-week-old puppies for failing to meet the breed standards of Donovan pinschers, a designer breed created by Donovan.

Following his court appearance Tuesday, Gentry was released on $1,000 bail, but he left the courthouse to the angry shouts of local groups who fight for animal rights.

“Salem Saves Animals did attend and protest for these poor dogs found in Revere,” Salem Saves Animals founding member Lorelei Stathopoulos told Salem Patch. She added that her group had encountered Gentry in the past when he had kennel in Salem and had been suspicious of his methods for training dogs.

“When the two dogs showed up in Revere, (founding member) Leanne and I, who who are from Revere, were so upset and Salem Saves Animals put up a thousand dollars for any information (about the incident),” said Stathopoulos. “We just had the need to follow through and we started networking. Alpha Canine came up and both Leanne and I both felt he was somehow part of this.”

Revere Police Chief Joseph Carfelli told WHDH 7News that the dogs Donovan was breeding at the Lynn facility were extremely aggressive and seemed to be part of a “fighting culture.”

In the Lynn case, Gentry is facing charges after authorities raided his facility, Alpha Canine Performance, and found five dogs in “deplorable” conditions, the Boston Globe reported court documents showed.

A second man, Dominick Donovan, 51, of Long Beach, New York was taken into custody in New York and faces arraignment at a later date.