James Montgomery, a 68-year-old Kahaluu man arrested for investigation of felony animal cruelty after police found two dogs in a city garbage bin, was released Saturday night pending investigation.
Meanwhile, 34 dogs seized from his Mahakea Road home continued to be cared for at the Hawaiian Humane Society’s headquarters on Waialae Avenue on Sunday.
Susan Tam, Humane Society spokeswoman, said the staff was working to comfort the animals and assessing their medical condition.
The malnourished dog that police found in a trash can Saturday morning was still recovering at a private veterinary clinic, Tam said.
Police said the incident began at about 8:20 a.m. when officers responded to a report about someone disposing of live dogs and found the two dogs in a trash can, one of them dead. Officers arrested Montgomery on suspicion of felony animal cruelty and sought a search warrant to check on several other dogs on the property.
At about 7:20 p.m. Saturday, a detective returned with a search warrant and entered the property with Humane Society investigators.
Christine Kam, another Humane Society spokeswoman, said about nine dogs were in a windowless bunker in the bottom of a hillside in the backyard, and about 16 were in a structure connected to the home. About a half-dozen newborn puppies were taken from another part of the home.
Kam said she could not forget the horrendous odor inside the pitch-black bunker that housed animals in cages with wire bottoms, allowing urine and feces to fall through. She said the building had no ventilation, and the animals were kept without food or water.
Montgomery’s daughter, Lydia, said she called police two days earlier because she was concerned about the animals. Police took a report, then on Friday night Lydia and other tenants heard horrifying animal sounds from the backyard.
On Saturday morning she saw her father’s assistant throw a bag in a trash can. Mike Aki, another tenant, said he opened the trash can and saw the bag moving. He said the puppy inside stood up and was shaking, and the other dog was dead.
Before police arrived, Aki said, he saw Montgomery put another dead dog into a dog food bag and dump the bag into another trash can moments before a garbage truck picked up the rubbish.
Montgomery is a former Kaiser High School teacher. He pleaded guilty to 55 counts of animal cruelty in 2006 after 64 dogs were seized from his property and was fined $5,500. The Humane Society was ordered to return his animals.
