California canine trainer arrested after investigation finds abused, neglected dogs
Placer County detectives arrested the owner of a dog boarding and training facility in Auburn, where dogs have been neglected or abused since at least November, sheriff’s officials said.
The current owner of Auburn K9, Antoine Deshaun Moore, was arrested April 30 on suspicion of committing theft by false pretenses, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday on social media. Sheriff’s officials said Moore was released on bail May 3 and is scheduled to face the felony charge on June 27 in Placer Superior Court.
The Sheriff’s Office has been investigating Auburn K9 for the past month with several victims reporting their dogs were neglected and abused instead of receiving training. Sheriff’s detectives believe there could be other victims.
Maureen Kelly said she found Auburn K9 through a Google search for a kennel and dog training services in her area. She signed her dogs, Quinn and Luna, up for a training course.
“I went online and Auburn K9 came up as this golden ticket,” she said. “It had professional pictures, five star reviews. I thought ‘wow, this is the place.’ I was just bamboozled.”
Kelly said she became suspicious when she went to pick up her dogs, and they were at Moore’s house in Nevada County and not the facility that had been advertised online.
“There were so many neglected dogs in crates outside, and that’s the week it snowed,” she said.
Her dogs, which she lovingly referred to as “the girls,” appeared malnourished and panicked, she said. They looked scared and were jumping and behaving out of character.
“They were just horribly abused,” Kelly said.
Kelly reported Moore and Auburn K9 to Nevada County Animal Control and later to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.
Auburn K9 advertised itself to be a dog boarding and dog training facility, offering obedience training and other types of services. Sheriff’s officials said detectives learned its co-owners are not licensed or permitted to run the business.
Dogs at Auburn K9 were placed in an unventilated garage in Nevada County in crates that doubled as areas where the dogs would defecate and urinate.
Sheriff’s officials said detectives also learned that Nevada County Animal Control officers have been at Moore’s property at least 10 times since December, when most of Moore’s dogs were seized, “citing deplorable living conditions.”
Investigators asked anyone with a dog or knows someone with a dog that was allegedly neglected or abused at the Auburn K9 facility to call the Sheriff’s Office to file a report at 530-886-5375.
This story was originally published May 18, 2022 at 5:09 PM.
