A Buena Vista Township man is facing a felony for allegedly letting severely injured puppies he was breeding go without veterinary care.
On Dec. 9, Daniel W. Montrel Jr. brought a pit bull-Labrador mix puppy to Saginaw Animal Care and Control, saying he found it.
“It had severe trauma to the left side of its body and bite wounds to its hind legs,” said Director Bonnie Kanicki. “The hind legs were nearly dismembered.”
On further questioning from Animal Control staff, Montrel said the puppy was his and that an animal had injured it in his back yard about a month prior, Kanicki said. In the time since the puppy had been injured, Montrel had been employing an ill-advised “home remedy” of pouring peroxide in the wounds and wrapping them in gauze, Kanicki said.
Montrel signed over ownership of the puppy to the agency.
On Jan. 6, Montrel brought a second injured puppy to Animal Control.
“This one was injured worse than the first puppy,” Kanicki said, adding Montrel said it too had been attacked by an animal in his back yard. “She was very bad. Both had their hind legs nearly torn from their bodies. They were full of bite wounds and flesh tear wounds. He had denied this dog veterinary care for so long the injuries were severely infected.”
As with the first puppy, Montrel had treated the second one’s wounds with peroxide and gauze wraps, Kanicki said.
Montrel signed this puppy over to Animal Control as well. Both puppies received emergency care from Dr. Joseph Kline at Erwin’s Veterinary Clinic in St. Charles.
“The vets saved these puppies’ lives,” Kanicki said, adding neither had to have their legs amputated.
Animal Control staff asked Montrel to sign over any other animals in his care.
“It was obvious he was not capable of caring for them and his home treatment had delayed proper medical care that they needed,” Kanicki said.
Montrel ended up signing over a third puppy and an adult female to the agency. Investigators believed he still had more though, Kanicki said.
Animal Control officers and Buena Vista Township police officers on Jan. 8 executed a search warrant on Montrel’s home, seizing another adult female, an adult male, and four more puppies, that were in decent condition. Montrel had been using the three adults to breed puppies, Kanicki said.
“We could not verify his story of what may have attacked and tore up these puppies,” she said. “We suspect it was possible the unneutered adult male may have caused the injuries. The injuries were consistent with a dog attack.”
Authorities issued a warrant for Montrel on Feb. 18.
www.mlive.com
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