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Animal Rescuers Remove Dying Animals From Mojave Compound

Bemis And Trapani Face Up To 10 Years In Prison

POSTED: 2:15 pm PDT May 27, 2009
UPDATED: 2:39 pm PDT May 27, 2009

Animal rescuers spent the last several days pulling more animals from the Mojave home of convicted animal abusers Cindy Bemis and Cynthia Trapani's Mojave home.

Rescuers said they found dead, sick and dying animals and made even more gruesome discoveries.

Rescuers said Bemis and Trapani's Mojave compound has proven to be one of the worst cases of animal abuse they've ever seen.

Out of more than 300 animals that once lived here, 60 dogs and a dozen cats have yet to be rescued from the compound.

Chris DeRose, president of Last Chance for Animals, said, "It’s been a very difficult rescue. These animals have been neglected so much they are pretty much fending for themselves. It's literally a dog eat dog situation. And they're in bad shape, they're in bad shape. There are a lot of these dogs that are just fighting to survive with one another. There are so many of them there, two people -- there's no way two people can handle over 200 animals on property like this."

Rescuers said the smell in the trailer is overwhelming. The floor is so caked with animal waste that it has actually rotted away; one rescuer described it as walking on lava.

There are several holes in the floor where dogs dug to get under the trailer to birth a litter of puppies, most of which didn't survive.

DeRose said, "Since we have been on the property for the past week, hey have found at least one litter of puppies being delivered every day. It's very difficult to capture the mothers because they're quite feral. So a lot of these puppies are dying. We're doing the best we can, saving as many as we can. But some of them are coming out and they're already dead."

Rescuers say the biggest challenge has been trying to find rescue organizations and foster homes to take the animals in.

A pet shop in Covina took 50 pets, the Riverside Humane Society took 20 dogs, and All Breed Rescue took 30 of the pets in the worst condition.

Bemis and Trapani are facing 10 years in prison after being convicted on 14 counts of animal cruelty.

They are scheduled for sentencing on June 17.
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