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Following a week-long trial in 2022, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge issued a call discovering that Craigslist puppy traffickers, the Kenneys, dedicated animal neglect and fraud by promoting fatally sick dogs to households. The Court additional introduced that it’ll prohibit the household from promoting dogs and awarded $100,000 in punitive damages, compensatory damages for veterinary bills, and $10,000 in emotional misery damages for every puppy offered to the purchasers.
In awarding damages for emotional misery, the Court discovered that the Kenneys’ scheme was “especially heinous” because the struggling of the puppies from sickness leading to dying took an emotional toll on the households. The resolution acknowledged: “dogs, who are family, are understandably treated differently from generic property by the legislature and courts alike.”
For years, members of the Kenney household — Trina, Rick, and their grownup youngsters Elijah and Jezriel — uncared for animals and defrauded customers in Southern California by misrepresenting the well being, age, intercourse, and breed of puppies they breed and promote by way of Craigslist and different websites on the web.
The Court discovered that the proof clearly established that the puppies had been stored in unsanitary situations and sick on the time of sale. The Court additionally noticed that the defendants knew their puppies had been contracting lethal illnesses reminiscent of Parvovirus and supplied fabricated immunization data to the households. Three of the puppies at challenge within the lawsuit died from these illnesses, along with a number of others bought by households not linked to the lawsuit.
The Court granted the injunction based mostly partially on Corporations Code part 10404, a California legislation that offers the SPCA standing to sue in civil courtroom to enjoin animal legislation violations.
“This decision sends a clear message that sellers will be held accountable when they engage in animal neglect and fraud,” mentioned Christopher Berry, a Managing Attorney for the Animal Legal Defense Fund. “Unfortunately, this type of exploitive behavior is common, and families wishing to avoid it should adopt from a shelter or rescue organization.”
“The plaintiffs, who were harassed and intimidated by the defendants after spending weeks trying to save their sick and dying puppies, are grateful that justice has prevailed in this case and that the defendants can never again harm innocent puppies or families with their false advertising scheme,” mentioned lawyer Gary Praglin.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 9 plaintiffs who bought underage and sick puppies from the household between 2018 and 2020. Trina Kenney was beforehand federally prosecuted and convicted of felony mail fraud for promoting abused and sick horses.
The victims’ tales are heartbreaking, like what occurred to newlyweds Brittany and Brandon Swigart, who in February 2019 responded to the Kenneys’ Craigslist advert for an 8-week-old mini-labradoodle puppy. The couple paid $1,200 in money for Winnie, the puppy they had been thrilled so as to add to their new household. The Kenneys mentioned Winnie was 8 weeks old and totally vaccinated — however the Swigarts quickly realized that Winnie was solely 4 weeks old, had been dyed brown, and had not been vaccinated. Winnie sadly died from a illness simply weeks after she was delivered to her new home. She contracted the illness as a result of the Kenneys had not supplied her with the vaccinations that the Swigarts had been advised. Winnie by no means weighed over one pound.
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