PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man accused of starving a pair of pit bulls has been summoned to appear in Clallam County District Court.
Joshua Almaden, 26, was charged Thursday with two counts of second-degree animal cruelty after the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office removed the severely undernourished dogs from a filthy pen last month.
Almaden has a hearing scheduled for Friday, District Court officials said.
Sheriff’s Deputy Tracey Kellas, animal control officer, investigated a report of two dogs so underweight their ribs were visible at 4316 S. Doss Road, south of Port Angeles.
The dogs — named Uno and Dos — were examined by a veterinarian Jan. 16.
“In over 30 years of veterinarian practice I have rarely seen dogs so thin,” Dwight Waknitz, Olympic Veterinary Clinic veterinarian, said in a Jan. 26 letter filed in District Court.
“My opinion is that they have been deprived of food for at least several weeks and more likely several months,” he said.
“They have probably been confined without food. Dogs are natural scavengers and left to their own devices would roam and find food of some kind.”
Uno is estimated to be 2 years old, and Dos is about 11 months old, Waknitz said.
They are being cared for at the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society shelter in Port Angeles.
Friendly dogs
Waknitz said the dogs were friendly and “appeared to enjoy the attention they received while being examined in the clinic.”
“There was no indication of any aggressive behavior by either dog,” he wrote in the letter.
A kidney function test revealed that both dogs had elevated blood nitrogen levels.
During starvation, the body uses its own muscle to provide energy, resulting in elevated nitrogen waste products in the blood, Waknitz wrote.
Internal parasites that could explain the dogs’ severe muscle loss were not detected in fecal exams, he added.
Clallam County Chief Criminal Deputy Ron Cameron said the recommended charges could be increased to first-degree animal cruelty.
Second-degree animal cruelty is a gross misdemeanor in Washington.
First-degree animal cruelty is a Class C felony.
The Olympic Peninsula Humane Society and Kitsap Bank have opened a fund to help pay for the care of Uno and Dos.
Donations can be made at any Kitsap Bank branch under the name “Animal Welfare Fund.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
