Target: Jim Nagle, Prosecuting Attorney, Walla Walla County, Washington
Goal: Secure felony animal cruelty charges and lifelong animal-ownership bans for all individuals allegedly responsible for the deaths and neglect of pets found in an apartment strewn with carcasses and filth.
Authorities entered a local apartment after a neighbor complained of an overpowering stench and months-long absence of the occupants. Inside, officers and wildlife agents allegedly discovered two frantic, starving dogs pacing through layers of trash, dried feces, and the decomposing remains of cats and birds. Three caged birds were apparently still alive but had no food or water, while countless others were found dead alongside scattered bones and fur.
Investigators say the scene was so extreme that city leadership publicly expressed outrage, calling the suffering “beyond comprehension.” Yet no cruelty charges have been announced. Without decisive legal action, the alleged deaths of these animals—and trauma endured by those who survived—may never receive the justice they deserve.
Washington law classifies prolonged deprivation of food, water, or necessary care as felony animal cruelty. Applying the maximum penalties, including full restitution for rescue and cleanup costs and permanent prohibitions on owning animals, is essential to deter similar neglect and honor the lives lost in this horrifying case.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Prosecutor Nagle,
Police and wildlife officers reportedly found a nightmarish scene inside a College Place apartment: two emaciated dogs scrambling over heaps of garbage, multiple dead cats and birds decomposing on the floor, and three living birds without any food or water. According to official reports, the floor was coated in dried waste, and bones and fur littered the rooms—evidence of prolonged, fatal neglect.
Community members had sounded the alarm after saying they endured foul odors and heard desperate barking for weeks. The agony these animals allegedly endured—starvation, dehydration, and confinement among carcasses—meets the statutory threshold for felony animal cruelty under Washington law.
We respectfully urge your office to file and pursue the most serious felony charges available against every responsible party, seek court-ordered restitution for all rescue and medical expenses, require psychological counseling, and impose lifetime bans on possessing animals. A vigorous prosecution will send a clear message that such extreme neglect will not be tolerated and will help prevent future tragedies.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo credit: Charlie Boy Criscola
Agree all comments, starve these bastards and let them die slow painful death. Not worth feeding. Justice now. Also give to public to beat.
Agree!
YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
No charges filed yet! What are you waiting for!
The piece of trash responsible for this needs to be euthanized. That’s right, euthanize the subhuman that did this
I’m so sick of this shit!!
If authorities do little to nothing to stop and punish these HITLERS then authorities themselves become complicit heinous animal torturers and murderers and need to be put behind bars for stealing tax payer dollars bc they are not doing their jobs and supporting felons to continue to murder!! GOD AND KARMA ARE WATCHING YOU AUTHORITIES AND WILL PAY YOU AND YOURS BACK 1000FOLD FOR YOUR HEINOUS COMPLICIT PART IN THESE HORRENDOUS CRIMES AND VICTIM’ SUFFERING!! AUTHORITIES WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FURTHER ATROCITIES AS IF THEY HAD MURDERED VICTIMS THEMSELVES!!! SHAME!!
This is totally ABHORRENT,cruel and disgusting to say the least!!!
Those responsible for this animal torture chamber seriously need a full psychiatric assessment ASAP!!! then locked away and throw away the KEY!!!!
THESE CRUEL & ABUSIVE ASSHOLES SHOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO OWN, ADOPT, AMD BE AROUND ANY MORE BIRDS, DOGS, AND ALL OTHER ANIMALS FOR THAT FACT!!
How can you turn a blind eye to animal cruelty and abuse. These people need to be charged and held responsible for their actions. How come no one said anything sooner? These people should never be allowed to have any animals ever.
Did the neighbors contact the proper authorities? Did the authorities not respond? If I heard dogs barking in a desperate sounding way for weeks I’d be calling anybody who would listen in every law related agency, daily.(maybe more)
Irresponsibility…,it’s the root of so much suffering. All those animals left behind, it would be bad enough if there were only one, but multiple birds, dogs, and cats. People who think it’s okay to just leave living beings that they brought into their lives behind have to be taught, REALLY taught, that being irresponsible bums doesn’t fly with the law. They always manage to take care of themselves but just can’t seem to make arrangements for their animals. Because they are lazy bums, they should never have taken in any animals, but that would have required them not being selfish bastards. Throw the book at these pieces of garbage.
Absolutely No Tolerance Towards Animal ABUSERS n Cruelty. An eye for an eye fits this crime n should be the punishment
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Mahatma Gandhi
Apparently the 2 accused (Benjamin Read and Austen Devaney) were operating amateur (self-taught?) taxidermy business. I assume the animals, reptiles and birds found inside (dead and alive) were going to be slaughtered for this purpose. Why did the neighbors and/or manager of the apartments not investigate sooner? The animals had been abandoned in the apartment for TWO MONTHS. I vote to imprison these 2 oxygen-wasters in a sealed apartment with no food or water until they die. They will take 3-5 days to die without water, and ±3 weeks without food (Bobby Sands took 66 days to die, but he drank water to keep going). But if they are obese, they may survive awhile longer (living on their fat). Plus, it will save taxpayers money if they die. And it will also save other innocent animals from falling into their evil clutches.
What a shame it is that rich people are generally heartless and dead inside. If only one mega millionaire hired a sharp shooting hit team of assassins to take out these two filthy scumbags and all other animal abusers and killers this world would be a much safer, better, happier place. Oh if only I were rich I would sanction the extermination of all these pointless freaks