Man convicted of animal cruelty ordered to jail

A 23-year-old Spokane Valley man has been ordered to serve a day in jail and to undergo a mental evaluation after repeatedly violating a court order springing from an animal-cruelty case involving 61 animals.

District Court records show weekly, unannounced inspections found James W. McMullen frequently had more than the 10 pets allowed under a December 2004 plea bargain in which he admitted three counts of confining animals in an unsafe manner and one count of operating an illegal kennel.

“McMullen has had an ever-changing variety of dogs, chickens and rabbits,” according to a county animal control officer who monitors McMullen under a two-year probation.

The officer said McMullen generally took good care of the animals, but once asked for dog food because he was out and had to be reminded on other occasions to clean his rabbit cages and to fill his dogs’ water dish. McMullen reportedly admitted he had more than 10 animals, but refused to say where he was keeping those not at his home in the 8900 block of East Harrington Ave.

Even though he was keeping some animals at a friend’s house, McMullen still was caught with more than 10 at his home on several occasions. He ordinarily kept three or four chickens in his small mobile home, according to court documents.

Judge Sara Derr suspended a 90-day jail term and a $1,000 fine as part of the plea bargain last December that required the supervised probation. In August, though, Derr ordered McMullen to serve one of the jail days at the Geiger Corrections Center.

McMullen was living with his mother, 64-year-old Carol McMullen, at her home in the 6200 block of North Idaho Road when authorities impounded 61 dogs, cats, rabbits and turtles in February 2004. Officers found 11 dogs and 17 cats in the McMullens’ fly- and feces-ridden mobile home.

Carol McMullen was convicted of 13 misdemeanors, including five counts of animal cruelty.