Three Bay Area animal shelter employees have been charged following the deaths of seven puppies they were bringing back from the Central Valley as temperatures neared triple digits.
The three suspects – 40-year-old Patricia Santana Valencia of East Palo Alto, 36-year-old Margaret Evans of Fremont and 45-year-old Anne Hartmann of San Carlos – were employed at Pets In Need animal shelter in Palo Alto, police said in a news release on Tuesday.
The incident happened on Aug. 3, when investigators said Valencia, Evans and Hartmann were dispatched to the Central Valley "to retrieve extra animals that other shelters could either not accommodate or had been unsuccessful in adopting out." Of the 27 total dogs they brought back to Palo Alto in their transport van, seven were pit bull/Labrador puppies from the same litter, all three-to-four months old and nine pounds.
Police said the van, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, "lacked air conditioning in the rear cargo area" and the employees didn't give the dogs any water during the trip – even though temperatures in the Central Valley ranged between 90-100 degrees that day.
The suspects later said none of the dogs appeared to be in distress when they stopped for gas in Los Banos during the trip. Once they arrived in Palo Alto, the seven puppies were unresponsive and couldn't be revived.
It's not clear if Valencia, Evans and Hartmann still work at the facility, which authorities said has had a contract with the City of Palo Alto to operate the city's animal shelter since 2019.
They're charged with misdemeanor animal cruelty and neglect.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call 650-329-2413.
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