Judge recuses self in puppy mill case

The judge who was supposed to preside over the animal cruelty trial of a dog breeding company has disqualified himself because his wife’s pet-sitting business cares for one of the 153 dogs seized from the company’s Waimanalo facility and which is the subject of one of the criminal charges.

Bradley International Inc. is facing 153 charges of animal cruelty in connection with its operation of Bradley Hawaiian Puppies.

The Hawaiian Humane Society seized 155 dogs from the Mahailua Street facility in February. One of the dogs died at the facility. Another dog died during transport, the Humane Society said in its petition to force Bradley to forfeit ownership of the dogs.

The state charged Bradley with one count of second-degree cruelty to animals for each of the remaining dogs. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

The case was originally assigned to a Honolulu district judge in Kaneohe where Bradley would have faced a nonjury trial. It was reassigned to Circuit Judge Edward Kubo Jr. after Bradley asked for a trial by jury. Kubo took himself off the case last month, and it has been reassigned to Judge Glenn Kim.

Bradley International lawyer Jason Burks acknowledges that because his client is a company, not a person, no one is facing jail time. He said he and his client requested a jury trial because they feel the state Circuit Court is better equipped to handle the case.

The state did secure the same animal cruelty charges against David Becker, manager of the Waimanalo facility, but he left the state before investigators could serve him a penal summons informing him of the charges, said Dave Koga, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

Becker is believed to be in Florida.

Koga said the state cannot seek Becker’s extradition because the penal summons has no legal power outside Hawaii.

Burks said he raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest with Kubo because he said Kubo is listed as a donor on Hawaiian Humane Society fundraising literature and because of his wife’s pet-sitting business and its involvement with the Hawaiian Humane Society.

The Humane Society conducted the investigation that led to the criminal charges and will be the state’s principal witness against Bradley in trial. It is also seeking the forfeiture of the dogs.

In a 19-page order Kubo issued last month disqualifying himself from the case, he said he has attended Humane Society fundraising dinners with his wife but has never donated to the organization. He said he has no involvement in his wife’s business, Hawaii Pet Nanny.

Kubo said his wife’s business organizes fundraisers for the Humane Society, has donated money to the organization and is an advocate for the humane care and treatment of pets. He included in his order his wife’s online postings on Hawaii Pet Nanny’s Facebook page calling Bradley’s Waimanalo facility a puppy mill and calling for an end to puppy mills in Hawaii.

But he said his wife’s views and opinions are of no consequence to him and his role as a judge in the case and do not constitute an interest in his part in the outcome of the case.

Kubo said he disqualified himself because a foster care provider for one of the 153 dogs contracted Hawaii Pet Nanny to periodically walk and care for the dog daily for a discounted fee. And while the fee is paid to the business, some of the money inevitably enters his household, which benefits his wife and him.