PLACITAS, N.M. – Hours of time and thousands of dollars from animal rescue groups met with no consequences for the man accused of neglecting dozens of Australian shepherds. 

KOB 4 has been following this case since February, from the initial seizure in Placitas to a flubbed bench trial. We spoke with rescuers about the now closed case. 

The Placitas property looked a lot different nine months ago. 

“I smell something dead on that side of the property, like really rotten.”

It turned out to be a lot more than just one thing. Sandoval County deputies found several dead dogs, and dozens of living and feral ones on Paul Jaramillo’s property. 

“The thing that really pissed me off was the severed foot in the front yard.”

Deputies took Jaramillo into custody and charged him with 18 counts of misdemeanor cruelty to animals.

Investigators say Jaramillo and his wife were breeding mini Australian shepherds for rare coloring for years before the seizure. 

“It was definitely an overwhelming situation for our shelter,” said Mattie Allen, director of communications for Española Humane. 

Española Humane took 25 dogs from that property. Allen says they all needed some level of veterinary care and the shelter spent thousands to spay, neuter, and vaccinate them.

“The dogs took a while to recover. Some of them, behaviorally, are still recovering. It was a brutal situation,” said Allen.

A judge dismissed the case once in August after deputies didn’t show up for the scheduled bench trial. 

We sat down with the lieutenant on the case days later when the office refiled the charges:

“I’ve seen some bad cases. I think this is one of the worst that I’ve seen since, kind of being involved, and so that’s why we definitely want to be on top of it and make sure we’re, you know, dealing with it correctly.”

Deputies went to a bench trial a month later. 

Cibola Magistrate Court Judge Kenneth Eichwald only allowed a certain number of witnesses from the sheriff’s office. 

Judge Eichwald dismissed the case in early October, citing misconduct from the sheriff’s office. Then, he recused himself two days later. 

There hasn’t been movement on the case in 30 days. 

“In the years that I’ve worked in animal sheltering, I’ve actually never been involved in a case that was prosecuted or where anyone received any sort of sentence,” Allen said.

We reached out to the sheriff’s office three separate times in the past month for confirmation this case is closed, but haven’t heard back. 

“Unfortunately, I did not feel surprised. It was still incredibly heartbreaking, and we all just wonder when our state is going to take animal cruelty seriously?” said Allen.

MORE:

• Horses and dozens of dogs rescued in Sandoval County hoarding case
• Placitas animal abuse case reopened