Police have arrested and charged the man and woman who were seen on video dumping a litter of kittens in a field on a sweltering day in San Bernardino.
The incident occurred on May 30 as Elisabeth Lomeli and her friend were driving in the area of East 40th and Harrison streets. The pair quickly noticed the couple dumping the felines in a dirt field and pulled over to confront them.
Video footage taken by Lomeli’s friend Kossondra Villasenor showed that the cats did not immediately leave their cage, so the woman tipped the cage on its side to get the cats – four kittens around six weeks old and an adult believed to be their mother – out of the enclosure.
Upon confronting the female suspect, she claimed to Lomeli and her friend that her local shelter wouldn’t accept the cats, prompting her to dump them, while also claiming that the cats were all strays she had taken in.
The interaction between Lomeli, Villasenor and the couple got heated as the suspects became combative, and a heated argument ensued.
“You’re mad because we called you out about the cats,” Villasenor is heard saying. “You guys came to dump cats. It’s hot. This is not humane at all!”
Lomeli eventually took the cats herself instead of allowing the couple to abandon them; she noted that they wouldn’t even give her the cage, so she had to grab a box.
While she was doing so, the cat believed to be the mother ran away from the area and as of Wednesday, she has yet to be found. Jaina Spagis, director of a local rescue organization called Cats of San Bernardino, said that the search is being conducted on foot, via drone and is being augmented by the passing out of flyers.
The kittens, meanwhile, were taken to an out-of-state rescue shelter after Lomeli and Villasenor reported the incident to San Bernardino City Animal Services.
“We’ve been able to find three friendly kittens and a cat in the area while we were searching, so we believe that either someone else is dumping cats here or that the couple had dumped some other cats in the area,” Spagis said.
The San Bernardino Police Department confirmed to KTLA on Wednesday morning that the man and woman — who left were both arrested on Tuesday night. Their names were not released, but SBPD said that the man is from Riverside and the woman from San Bernardino.
“Both were arrested and have been charged with animal abandonment, which is a misdemeanor,” an SBPD spokesperson said. “They were released and issued citations with pending court dates, and the DA’s Office is not reviewing the case.”
San Bernardino City Animal Shelter Director Kris Watson tells KTLA that dumping animals in public spaces is a criminal act.
“This is illegal abandonment of animals,” Watson said. “It is illegal to abandon any domestic animal, a cat or dog. You could be facing prison time, high fines and/or probation.”
Video below: KTLA coverage of the kitten dumping on June 3.
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