Two Packwood men have been charged with 10 counts of first-degree animal cruelty months after investigators discovered a canvas bag containing 10 drowned puppies in Skate Creek.
One of those men, Anthony L. Mommer, 57, made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday.
The other, Robert P. Werth, 58, failed to make his scheduled appearance, prompting Judge Paul Strophy to issue a $50,000 bench warrant for his arrest. For now, he remains out of custody.
First-degree animal cruelty is considered a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
According to court documents, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office learned of the incident in May when they received a call reporting the drowning of the Mommer family’s “dozen or so puppies.”
The caller identified Mommer and Werth as the perpetrators, but reportedly hung up before the community safety officer could gather further information.
The officer and a deputy visited Mommer's residence. Mommer allegedly told the officers there were originally 14 puppies, but four had died. He said his friend agreed to “get rid of them,” though Mommer had “hoped his friend would re-home them,” according to court documents.
Werth had another idea, Mommer claimed.
“Anthony (Mommer) said Robert Werth talked about getting rid of the puppies in a different way. Anthony said he told Werth not to do that,” court documents stated.
Mommer allegedly told officers he found out the puppies were gone after he and another resident had returned to the house from being out. Mommer said they had left to see his grandchild and had even bought puppy food.
“Anthony said he specifically told Robert (Werth) not to take them,” and that “Robert was the one that talked about drowning the puppies, but he told Robert not to,” court documents stated.
Mommer said he had “no idea” where the puppies were.
The other resident reportedly confirmed Mommer’s story, saying she thought the two men were joking until they returned home late that night to find the puppies missing.
When contacted by the officers, however, Werth told a different story, allegedly claiming that Mommer had asked him to drown the puppies, and to do it while they were out of the house.
“Robert (Werth) said he had asked Anthony if he was sure and that Anthony told him to just ‘get it over with,’" court documents stated.
Werth reportedly said he was “just trying to help the neighborhood with their dog problems,” and indicated that he didn’t know drowning them was a crime.
Werth then took the officers to Skate Creek, the site of the drowning. The canvas bag Werth put the puppies in was still in the water.
Inside the bag, officers found a concrete rock likely used as a weight — and 10 dead puppies.
Nearly two months later, on July 2, the community safety officer received the post-mortem evaluation from Ledgerock Veterinary Pathology.
The causes of death were consistent with drowning.
After the preliminary hearing, Mommer was released on his own personal recognizance. He will look to retain private counsel for his defense. While the case is pending, Mommer is prohibited from having pets or being around any pets without other supervision.
An arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 6.
