Who, age	What	Where	When	Last Known Address
Bruce Van Bramer	56 dogs, 29 cats removed from hospice shelter	Lake Katrine, NY Ulster County	August 7, 2006
Type of Crime	Other Crimes	#/Type of animal(s) involved	Case Status	Next Court Date /Courthouse
		56 dogs, 29 cats	Not charged

On August 7^th, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Department and Ulster County SPCA Officers arrived at Bruce Van Bramer’s home on Potter Hill Road.  Sheriff Richard Bockelman stated they had obtained enough evidence to proceed with a search warrant.  The initial investigation was prompted after receiving a tip from a ‘concerned citizen’ regarding possible animal abuse.  At 7 p.m., Bockelman stated they were about a quarter of the way through taking control of the animals.  Bockelman also stated that a veterinarian was examining the animals before they were crated and put in vans. He would not say how many animals were involved or where they were being taken.  Bockelman did state that the animals are considered to be evidence and at that point, they had not made an arrest.

Van Bramer operates a shelter run as a nonprofit organization.  He stated that officials would not tell him when they would be returning his animals.  They wanted him to give permission to adopt out the animals or euthanize them on the spot, which he refused.  Seized animals included geese, chickens and a goat.

Van Bramer has operated the shelter at the countryside location for more than five years.  The 3,000 square foot former inn is almost entirely open to the animals.  Van Bramer stated that he takes in animals that are considered to be un-adoptable for reasons as varied as being too old, aggressive or terminally ill.  He would not speak about the number of animals he cares for but did state his dogs go through 200 cans of dog food and 50 pounds of kibble each day.  The cats consume 20 pounds of dry food and about 160 cans of moist food daily.

William Szarka of LaGrange is making a documentary about Van Bramer. He states he has been inside the house filming and was able to observe Van Bramer in action.  Over 11 hours of footage were shot, showing the vet taking care of each dog and giving them medicine.  Szarka stated he never saw anything he would consider abusive. The dogs were all very happy and they all got along.

Billie McFadden who volunteers for Van Bramer stated that what the SPCA was doing to Van Bramer was going to kill him – that the animals are his life and he is so good to them.

Looking out a neighbor’s second-story window, Van Bramer recognized one of the dogs being put in a van.  It was a dog that had come to him from a puppy mill where it was living on fecal matter and urine and had very little fur.  He sadly stated that the dog had been thrown away, but had come back from it.

Update 9/1/06:  An Ulster grand jury declined to file charges against Van Bramer.  80 dogs and cats seized will be returned to Van Bramer’s animal shelter.  4 dogs and 1 cat were euthanized after they were seized by the SPCA after a veterinarian determined they were suffering and near death.

The SPCA has been criticized for the way the gunpoint raid was conducted and for euthanizing the animals after they were seized.  Doug Neiderkorn, the humane law enforcement officer who was responsible for the care of the animals since the raid has resigned.

Veterinarian Jayme Motler testified that the dogs were being treated for canine influenza that has spread through Van Bramer’s home 9 days prior to the raid by the sheriff and the SPCA.  Dr. Motler stated “those animal adored Van Bramer”.  If he was starving them or beating them or abusing them, I wouldn’t see that response from the animals”.

The Ulster County SPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officer, Doug Neiderkorn, has resigned.

Update 6/18/07:  The Ulster County SPCA has begun returning 80 dogs and cats to Bruce Van Bramer, who was cleared of animal cruelty charges and allowed to reclaim the pets that were seized from him by the Ulster County Sheriff's Office in early August.

The Sheriff's Office seized 56 dogs and 29 cats from Van Bramer's Lake Katrine home on Aug. 7 after receiving reports of possible animal abuse, and deputies put the pets in the care of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. But an Ulster County grand jury on Friday found there was not sufficient evidence to indict Van Bramer, clearing the way for him to get the animals back.

Some of the animals have been at the SPCA shelter on Brabrandt Road in Ulster since the seizure, while others were sent by the SPCA to various foster homes and other shelters because the local shelter lacked sufficient space. It now is up to the SPCA to gather up all the animals and get them back to Van Bramer.

Van Bramer had two veterinarians vaccinate and license 19 of the dogs at the SPCA shelter before taking them home. The SPCA's acting director, Jackie McDowell, said the agency will work to get the remaining 66 animals back to Van Bramer within two to three days.

"We'(ll) ... do the best we can," McDowell said, though Van Bramer noted some of the animals were sent a considerable distance.

"Nobody can still tell me why (some of) these dogs are in New Jersey," he said of animals that were shipped to foster homes and shelters in the Garden State.

Van Bramer held several of the dogs to calm them down as they received rabies and distemper shots. Dr. Wayne Tremper, a veterinarian from the Ulster Animal Hospital in Kingston, and Dr. Jayme Motler, of Hoof & Paw Veterinary Services in Rhinebeck, checked the dogs' eyes, ears, breathing, pulse and weight as they vaccinated each one.

"We're checking to make sure they're in good health and not carrying anything," Tremper said. "They've been taking good care of them here, but they've been carted around all over the county."

Van Bramer says he always took good care of animals at his home-based business, which he describes as a hospice for old and sick animals. He said previously that he accepts the animals so their owners have an alternative to euthanasia.

Van Bramer also said he never was contacted prior to the raid by sheriff's deputies and would have welcomed any professionals who wanted to check out the conditions at his home. He said many of the animals seem unwell, but it is because they are old and sick, not abused.

Bill Szarka, who's directing a documentary about Van Bramer's work, had been filming at Van Bramer's home since the end of May and supplied an hour's worth of footage to the grand jury in an effort to clear Van Bramer. Szarka said he shot more than 15 hours of film and was at Van Bramer's home the day before the raid.

"If I had seen any abuse, I would obviously have reported it, but I never did," Szarka said.

The filmmaker said his footage from Aug. 6 showed clean conditions, unlike the state of the house after the raid, which he said included animal feces on the walls, floors and ceiling.

  (Photo courtesy of The Daily Freeman - Van Bramer (in red shirt) holds one of his dogs at the Ulster County SPCA as the animals are examined and vaccinated before returning to his hospice rescue.

Reference:

Poughkeepsie Journal	Ulster County Press
The Daily Press	The Daily Freeman
The Journal News