TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

For $60, Jennifer Hall could have acquired a loyal companion and saved herself a lot of trouble.

The Kern County Animal Control employee was arrested Wednesday morning on suspicion of stealing an English bulldog valued at $3,000 from the shelter, Sheriff’s spokesman Ray Pruitt said. She was booked on two felonies, grand theft of a dog and possession of stolen property.

Hall, 35, could have legally adopted the dog for just $60, said Kern County Public Health Director Matt Constantine. That’s all it costs to adopt any dog at the shelter.

“This is unfortunate news and it’s a very difficult time for us,” Constantine said during a press conference held at the county Public Health building on Mount Vernon Avenue.

The bulldog, a stray, was brought to the shelter April 19, Constantine said. Hall processed the animal and stole it within a week, he said.

Constantine said he’s not sure what Hall’s motive was or how she committed the alleged theft.

A report was filed with the Bakersfield Police Department after the theft was discovered. The case was stagnant until Jan. 8, when a local veterinarian told Animal Control Division Manager Kim Mullins that Hall had told her she’d taken the dog without going through proper adoption procedures.

Mullins notified the Sheriff’s Department, which investigated and served a search warrant Jan. 19 at Hall’s home in the 9200 block of Seabeck Avenue, Pruitt said. The dog was found there, as well as information that led detectives to two puppies the dog gave birth to in June at Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital.

The bulldog gave birth to at least three puppies, Pruitt said.

“There are one or two puppies that potentially may be outstanding,” he said, adding that anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at 861-3110.

Hall declined an interview from jail, and as of late Wednesday afternoon she was no longer listed on the Sheriff’s Department website as being in custody.

The bulldog and puppies are in good health and are being held at an undisclosed location, Constantine said. Hall is on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

Employed at Animal Control since mid-2009, Hall is an “animal care worker,” Constantine said.

As the title suggests, her duties involve feeding and otherwise taking care of the animals.

Precautions have been taken that should help prevent similar thefts from happening, Constantine said. Those measures include installing surveillance cameras and changing locks.

He said this incident is not indicative of the quality of the rest of the animal control staff, and that they hold themselves to very high standards.

A receptionist at Bakersfield Veterinary Hospital, where the puppies were born, said late Wednesday afternoon that they would have no comment.

Dogs dropped off at the shelter are held for five days to give owners a chance to reclaim them, said animal control spokeswoman Kim Rodriguez. After that time, they can be put up for adoption or released to a rescue group.

How long a dog is held before it’s euthanized depends on the health of the animal, Rodriguez said. Dogs kept in close confines are more likely to contract kennel cough or other illnesses.

“We try to keep them for as long as we can without jeopardizing their welfare,” she said.

A total of 2,054 dogs were adopted from the shelter in 2010.