Amissville family charged with 60 animal abuse counts - WTOP News (2024)

Listen now to WTOP News WTOP.com | Alexa | Google Home | WTOP App | 103.5 FM

This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

11 rescued dogs adopted to families

Three members of an Amissville family have been charged with 60 offenses involving animal cruelty, inadequate care and abandonment of a dozen dogs after the pets were allegedly left alone inside their home for three weeks, without being fed for periods as long as one and a half weeks or being able to go outdoors.

The family would visit from time to time and throw food in a pile on a floor that was covered with urine and feces, according to a criminal complaint filed Feb. 26 in Rappahannock General District Court. Those accused are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing June 4.

They are Tommy Lee Bruce, 35, and his mother Anna Marie Nickols, 58, who are each facing 20 charges including a felony cruelty charge for a dog that had to be euthanized. Her daughter, Tracey Bruce, 38, was charged with 20 misdemeanor counts and on May 7 Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff “nolle prossed” her charges, choosing not to proceed with prosecuting her case.

Following a complaint filed with the Rappahannock Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Crystal D. Jenkins conducted a welfare check Feb. 21 at 12 Court Lane in the Amissville Mobile Home Park. She found 12 distressed dogs inside. No one was at the home, according to a criminal complaint filed by Jenkins.

She was able to contact Nickols and her son who had been staying in Culpeper with Tracey Bruce and was told “the last time they were fed was approx. 1.5 weeks prior. They also had not been outside since on or before February 1st,” Jenkins wrote in the complaint.

“I located several water pans that had little to no water,” she wrote. “The residence floor and furniture were covered in urine and feces from the dogs.”

Jenkins wrote that “they stated that they had come back a couple of times within the month to give the dogs food. . . . They stated they just put the food on the floor and let the dogs eat from the pile when they were able to get food for them. The dogs have not had vet visits, rabies shots or county tags.”

Tracey Bruce told Jenkins that 11 out of the 12 dogs were hers “but she couldn’t take them to her new residence” in Culpeper, according to Jenkins’ complaint.

The dogs’ condition

Deputy Jenkins wrote in her complaint that the 12 dogs were surrendered by the owners. The five males and seven females, all Chihuahuas or mixed-breed Chihuahuas, were taken to the Rappahannock Animal Welfare League (RAWL) shelter in Amissville. They were treated there and at Blue Mountain Animal Clinic in Luray with combined treatment costs totaling just shy of $4,000, according to Patti Want, shelter director at RAWL for the past 22 years and six years before that, adoption coordinator at RAWL.

Want, triage caregiver along with her right hand person, Marie Scavetti, described to the Rappahannock News, the condition of the dogs upon intake:

“All the dogs were dehydrated, full of fleas, had diarrhea and matted coats with feces stuck to their feet, underneath their tails and feathers on their legs. All had one or more ingrown toenails. Four needed immediate fluids and presented as renal or organ failure. The four could not stand on their own and when helped would fall over. All had severe periodontal disease. All but two were grossly underweight. It was speculated the two larger males were protecting the food from the others (larger as in nine pounds).

“All the dogs were given fluids on Day One,” Want continued. “Day 2, four dogs needed fluids several times a day. Day 3, two dogs were given fluids multiple times a day and hand fed. Fluids were no longer necessary by Day 5. All gained ounces every day with proper diet, hydration and internal parasite treatment.”

One of the 12 dogs, Princess, 14, a blind miniature pinscher/Chihuahua mix had to be humanely euthanized because of organ failure — her organs couldn’t rebound, Want said in an interview.

Nickols and her son Tommy Bruce are each charged with a felony of “torture /maim dog or cat” — in connection with the euthanasia of Princess, according to a warrant for their arrest. That section of the Virginia Code states it is a felony and unlawful to “torture, willfully inflict inhumane injury or pain. . . on or cruelly or unnecessarily beat, maim, mutilate or kill a cat or dog that is a companion animal and as a direct result cause serious bodily injury, the death of such animal, or the euthanasia of such animal on the recommendation of a licensed veterinarian upon determination that such euthanasia was necessary due to the animal’s condition.”

Conviction of the felony charge carries a term of imprisonment for one to five years or confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and/or a possible fine of not more than $2,500, according to the Code of Virginia.

The 19 remaining charges that Nickols and Tommy Bruce each face are misdemeanors involving cruelty to animals, abandonment of animals, inadequate animal care by owner and lack of rabies vaccinations and county tags.

Attorneys representing the family members did not respond to a request for comment nor did prosecutor Goff.

All 11 dogs, ranging in age from one to 10 years, were adopted predominantly by families living in Northern Virginia, within a month after being rescued.

“I am always amazed by a dog’s forgiveness,” said Want. “To be able to move forward from their past when shown kindness. To watch them thrive in RAWLS’s care and then on to a better life with a loving adopter. That is what keeps me and all the RAWL staff going. It takes all of us to do what we do. Rescue is hard. But the ‘wins’ make it all worth it.”