Tijeras man charged with extreme animal cruelty in dog-hoarding case

A 70-year-old Tijeras man is jailed after allegedly keeping more than 60 dogs without food, water and shelter at his property in the East Mountains.

Now, officials say Bernalillo County Animal Services is overcapacity after adding the dozens of dogs seized from the property and are seeking foster parents and forever homes.

County spokeswoman Tiffany Chamblee said some of the dogs are as young as 2 days old and “most are feral (unsocialized), ill, and/or have tested positive for parvovirus and coccidia,” conditions that are fatal if left untreated.

She said “the socialized and healthy appearing dogs” are under a 10-day quarantine and, afterward, will be made available for adoption.

Chamblee said their facility was built to hold 190 dogs and they currently have 279, including those seized on Wednesday, although not all are housed at the facility.

She said the county has a committee that, when overcapacity, reviews each animal at the facility and determines a plan of action, from housing and behavior plans to euthanasia.

“Factors taken into consideration are adoptability, medical, and behavior,” she said. “Unfortunately, if we do not have an ‘out’ for these animals, the committee must determine who will be humanly euthanized.”

Meanwhile, Douglas Reames is charged with extreme animal cruelty in the case. He was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Thursday. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

Court records show Reames’ neighbor filed a complaint against him in January, alleging Reames’ dogs killed the neighbor’s chickens. Reames replied that the neighbor “heaped much misery” on him and prevented him from fulfilling his goal of operating a dog rescue and training kennel.

A judge sided with the neighbor in the case and ordered Reames to pay more than $1,000 in damages, according to court records.

Then in July, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office’s Animal Cruelty Task Force was made aware of “a large number of dogs” on Reames’ property on Sedillo Road, near Interstate 40.

By then, the county’s Animal Care Services had been trying to work with Reames for years to get him to comply with county ordinances, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. A search warrant was signed on Oct. 27 to allow deputies and animal control officers to seize the dogs from the property.

Deputies said they arrived at the property around 9 a.m. Wednesday, and Reames told them he was feeding the dogs frozen chicken tenders and French fries. Reames then asked for an attorney and refused to speak with deputies.

Deputies found “hoarding conditions” outside the home with several dog-filled kennels piled with trash and feces and no food, water or insulation from the cold, according to the complaint. Inside the home were “very poor living conditions” with dog and human feces and more kennels with dogs and newborn puppies inside.

Deputies said several dogs had visible injuries and scarring, were underweight and possibly ill. Deputies also found animal bones and “decomposing dog remains” on the property.

“It was clear based on the number of remains that Douglas Reames knew or should have known that animals on the property were succumbing to death due to the conditions,” according to the complaint.