ARLINGTON — An Arlington canine coach pleaded responsible to 1 depend of animal cruelty Tuesday morning in reference to the deaths of three canines he was boarding.
Alan Brown won’t be convicted for the crime, nevertheless, if he completes two years of neighborhood supervision as a part of a plea deal. Brown will be unable to board canines throughout that point, however the situations don’t forestall him from coaching them.
The homeowners of two German shepherds and a Bernese poodle combine every got here ahead to CBS Information Texas final 12 months, sharing comparable tales of boarding their pets with Brown whereas they went on trip and discovering out their canines had died after they returned.
Final September, a Tarrant County grand jury indicted Brown on three counts every of animal cruelty and tampering with proof.
He may have confronted jail time, as felony animal cruelty prices carry a sentence of as much as two years in state jail.
Trent Robinson, the proprietor of one of many canines who died in Brown’s care, spoke in court docket after the responsible plea Tuesday.
“You’ll by no means know the ache and the struggling that you’ve precipitated me and my household and my youngsters,” Robinson mentioned. “These weren’t canines to us. These had been our kids and so they meant the world to us.”
Brown declined to remark to reporters as he left the courtroom.
Mysterious deaths
The primary of the three canines that died was a German shepherd named Booster.
In June of 2023, Trent Robinson informed CBS Information Texas that he left Booster with Brown whereas he took a five-day trip to Mexico practically two years earlier. When Robinson returned, he mentioned Brown requested to satisfy him at a veterinary clinic the place Brown informed him he discovered Booster lifeless inside his kennel earlier that morning.
Robinson mentioned Brown informed him that Booster had performed outdoors the day earlier than and by no means cooled off.
In 2022 Robinson received a judgment of $7,500 in small claims court docket towards Brown, which he mentioned Tuesday Brown has by no means paid.
In June of 2023, Emeka and Masera Ndukwe boarded their Bernese mountain dog-standard poodle combine Brooklyn with Brown whereas they went on a honeymoon in Europe. They informed CBS Information Texas that Brown had agreed to recurrently ship them footage and updates, however they by no means obtained any.
5 days into the journey, Masera Ndukwe noticed {that a} summer season warmth wave was hitting Texas and despatched a take a look at message to Brown informing him that Brooklyn would not do properly within the warmth. Brown did not reply till the following day.
Days later, certainly one of her pals supplied to choose up Brooklyn and hold him till they returned. Emeka Ndukwe mentioned that was when Brown returned their cellphone name, telling them their canine had died 4 days earlier.
After CBS Information Texas revealed its story on the deaths of Booster and Brooklyn, a 3rd canine proprietor got here ahead with an analogous story.
Evan Malloy’s German shepherd named Hershey had boarded with Brown simply two weeks earlier than Brooklyn did, in June of 2023. Malloy mentioned he and his spouse had thought-about their 6-year-old canine’s loss of life a horrible thriller till a member of the family despatched them the CBS Information Texas report in regards to the different incidents.
He mentioned the similarities stood out, together with that Brown had given them no indication there was something improper with the canine till they arrived after a visit to Miami to choose her up.
Cost towards spouse dropped
Court docket information present a cost towards former police officer Stacie Brown was additionally dropped Tuesday.
Alan Brown’s spouse was scheduled to go to trial subsequent week for obstruction or retaliation. She was accused of submitting a false report towards Emeka Ndukwe after he posted on social media about Brooklyn’s loss of life.
Arlington police fired Brown in February after an administrative assessment of her conduct.
Town of Arlington has cited Alan Brown 3 times for working a enterprise out of his house with out a registration certificates. The primary quotation got here in November of 2021, after the loss of life of Robinson’s canine. Information present Brown pleaded no contest to the quotation a month later.
The following two citations had been written in June and July of 2023 after two extra canines had been reported to have died. A metropolis spokesperson informed CBS Information Texas in August that it was persevering with to observe the priority till exercise on the home had stopped.
Emeka Ndukwe steered after the court docket listening to Tuesday he nonetheless wonders if the boarding enterprise may have been stopped earlier than he and his spouse determined to depart Brooklyn with Brown.
“I believe there’s nonetheless a protracted strategy to go,” he mentioned. “Hopefully over time the legal guidelines get stronger in order that canines aren’t seen simply as property however they’re really seen because the extension of our household that Brooklyn was.”
Extra from CBS Information
Steven Rosenbaum
