Man Pleads Not Guilty To Animal Abuse At Poway Home

POWAY, CA – A Poway man accused, along with his wife, of hoarding 94 Yorkshire terrier and Yorkie-mix dogs in filthy conditions in their home pleaded not guilty Monday to 10 felony counts of animal abuse and one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

Mark Vattimo, 73, can remain free on his posted $50,000 bail as long as he doesn't possess any animals and allows authorities to search his home or business at any time while the case is pending, said Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy.

The prosecutor said the San Diego Humane Society got a report in January from a concerned veterinarian about the condition of dogs that were allegedly being kept in an unsanitary dark room filled with feces, urine and mice at the home of Vattimo and Christine Calvert.

Officials from the San Diego Humane Society went to the home but were initially denied entrance, Reedy said. A few days later, officials were allowed in and 94 dogs were removed from the defendants' home over six to eight hours, the prosecutor said.

Twenty-nine dogs were subsequently taken from another location and 46 dogs were seized from a motorhome when Calvert was arrested last month in Primm, Nevada. Calvert, 62, is being extradited to San Diego to face the same charges as her husband, the prosecutor said.

"I think this is a pretty horrific case in the sense of the sheer number of animals and the conditions that these animals were being kept in," the prosecutor told reporters. "That's an awful lot of dogs to have in one location kept in those conditions by two people."

All of the dogs that were seized from the home had health problems, including ear infections and severe matting. It was not clear why the couple had so many dogs in the residence, Reedy said.

About 90 dogs have been adopted after being nursed back to health by the Humane Society.

Each defendant faces a maximum of nine years in custody if convicted. A readiness conference is set for April 13 and a preliminary hearing for May 16.

“The shocking condition and sheer number of animals in the defendants’ home make this a particularly disturbing case of animal abuse,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a statement.

“Hoarding is a mental illness and we have compassion for individuals who suffer from the disease,” Stephen MacKinnon, chief of humane law enforcement for San Diego Humane Society, said in a statement following the elderly couple's arrest. “When they reach out to us for help and are cooperative, our priority is to get the animals to safety and get the individuals the help they need. In this instance, when we discovered the owners were withholding animals and interfering with an active investigation, it became intentional animal cruelty so criminal charges needed to be pursued.

“We’re grateful for the support of the District Attorney’s office and to be in a community that doesn’t tolerate animal cruelty or neglect.”

By Kelly Wheeler, City News Service. Patch reporter Kristina Houck contributed to this report.

Image courtesy of San Diego Humane Society.