UPDATE: Couple charged in Nelson County canine cruelty case

MARCH 18 UPDATE:

Robin Pfeifer was arraigned on 10 counts of cruelty to animals and nine counts of improperly disposing of animal remains on March 17 by video in the Nelson County General District Court.  

Pfeifer is currently being held without bond at the Charlottesville-Albemarle Regional Jail and was appointed Lovingston-based attorney Jerome Gress.  

She is scheduled to appear in court again on April 6.  

Bruce Pfeifer is still at large.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: 

A couple formerly of Afton was charged with animal cruelty Wednesday, two days after investigators found dead and emaciated dogs, and canine body parts, at a home on Virginia 151.

Robin Kitts Pfeifer, 56, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and nine misdemeanor accounts of failure to bury or cremate animal remains.

 Bruce Pfeifer, 56, was also charged with 10 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals and nine misdemeanor counts of failure to bury or cremate animal remains.

 Public safety director Ray Uttaro said investigators did not know where Bruce Pfeifer is and that the warrants have been turned over to the Nelson County Sheriff's Office.

 The Pfeifers’ last known address was 5282 Rockfish Valley Highway, where the dogs were found, but the couple was not living there when the search warrants were issued Monday.

 Uttaro said anyone with information regarding Bruce Pfeifer’s whereabouts should contact the Nelson County Sheriff's Office.

 According to the search warrants filed in Nelson County Circuit Court on Monday, Nelson County Animal Control officer Carla Thompson received a tip from an employee at the Nelson County Humane Society about dead animals at the residence along Va. 151, which prompted the investigation.

 In the search warrant, Thompson said there was a “foul odor” around the property and that she observed several emaciated dogs running loose on the property. 

FROM MONDAY:

Criminal charges of animal abuse and neglect are pending, authorities said, after Nelson County Animal Control officers found several dead dogs and bags of canine body parts at a residence along Va. 151.

 Ray Uttaro, Nelson County Emergency Services Coordinator, said authorities were searching the house Monday afternoon after animal control officers received a tip Sunday night about the condition of animals at the house at 5282 Rockfish Valley Highway.

Uttaro said while searching the property, officers found more than seven live dogs, three dead dogs and plastic bags filled with canine body parts.

“The conditions are just horrible,” he said. “There is feces three to four inches thick inside the house.”

Uttaro said he needed to wear a breathing mask to enter the residence and that there was no food visible for the dogs, but buckets of water were found around the home for them.

Uttaro said five dogs were found alive outside of the home in kennels and a male and female dog, along with three puppies, were also found alive inside the home.

Three dead dogs were found in kennel areas outside the home and had been covered by blankets, Uttaro said.

The investigation is ongoing, Uttaro said. Authorities have not released the name of the home’s owners.

The dogs found alive were taken to the Lovingston Veterinary Hospital for checkups, and the dead dogs and body parts will be taken to a lab in Lynchburg for analysis to determine the cause of death, Uttaro said.

The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office assisted with the search warrant.