On October 15, Solano County Sheriff’s deputies and Animal Control officers took 44 dogs, including four puppies, from a home on Carolina Street in Vallejo. The woman living there had been found guilty of animal cruelty in Solano County Court just five months earlier.

That May conviction was tied to a pack of dogs that roamed uncontrolled on ranch land in east Vallejo. By June, she was on probation. Yet deputies still removed dozens of dogs from her home this month, under a search warrant issued as part of a new cruelty investigation.

Neighbors and animal welfare groups have raised concerns about the breeding operation since 2013. In 2023, one of her dogs was hurt so badly in an attack that it had to be euthanized. In 2024, a puppy was killed by several other dogs. A veterinary check of the dogs taken this month is still pending.

Now local shelters are scrambling to make room. “It’s a lot of dogs, so it’s overwhelming the shelter system,” said Sgt. Rex Hawkins of the Solano County Sheriff’s Office.

A cruelty conviction should mean something. When a court finds that someone has harmed animals, that person should not be able to keep acquiring and breeding more of them. Clear limits protect animals, ease the strain on taxpayer-funded shelters, and give neighbors peace of mind.

The Solano County Board of Supervisors can act now by passing a rule that bars anyone convicted of animal cruelty from owning, breeding, or selling animals in the county. The California State Legislature should make the same protection the law statewide.

Sign the petition to stop convicted animal abusers from taking in more animals, before more dogs pay the price.