44 dogs seized from Vallejo home in cruelty investigation of previously convicted breeder

VALLEJO: Solano County sheriff's deputies and animal control officers removed 44 dogs from a Vallejo home on Thursday, October 15, serving a search warrant as part of an animal cruelty investigation involving resident Susan Anthony, the San Francisco Focal reported on October 16. KTVU also reported the Thursday seizure.

The warrant was served at a residence on the 800 block of Carolina Street in central Vallejo, the Focal and Claycord reports said. KTVU, which identified the address as 838 Carolina Street, reported that deputies entering the home discovered animal waste inside the residence alongside dozens of dogs living in cramped quarters, and that the property had been the subject of numerous complaints from area residents before the raid. Sgt. Rex Hawkins of the Solano County Sheriff's Office told KTVU, "We're conducting a search warrant that has to do with an animal cruelty case that's active and ongoing," and added, "This is what we consider a hoarder house."

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The dogs were taken to multiple locations, Hawkins said, according to the Focal report. "It's a lot of dogs, so it's overwhelming the shelter system," Sgt. Rex Hawkins said, according to Claycord. "Dogs are being taken everywhere." Hawkins did not comment in the Focal report on the health of the dogs or the conditions they were living in, and a veterinary assessment of the dogs was pending.

Anthony says the dogs belong to her 99-year-old mother

Anthony runs California Carolina Dogs, a breeding and adoption business, and has bred and kept Carolina dogs, also called American dingos, at several Vallejo properties for about 20 years, according to the Focal report. She told KTVU she started working with the breed in 1999 and reported that there were more than 35 dogs on the property, claiming they belong to her 99-year-old mother because her own dogs were seized by the county in 2024. "These dogs are being taken care of by other people other than my mom, but she has the ownership of these dogs on her property," Anthony told KTVU.

Anthony, who was present during Thursday's raid, according to Claycord, maintained that the dogs are healthy and live a good life on the property, which sits on two lots in a residential area. She described the seizure as traumatic for the dogs, according to the Focal report. KTVU reported that she attempted to show reporters the yard during the raid, but animal control officers warned her she could face arrest for interfering with the search warrant. Neighbors reported living for years with a strong odor of dog feces and relentless daily barking, KTVU reported. Neighbor Joanna Morrison told KTVU, "I'm happy there's something being done to move the dogs into a better situation and relieve the pressure on the neighborhood with the noise and the smell."

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Neighbors and animal rights groups have complained about the operation since 2013, accusing it of functioning as a puppy mill, according to the Focal report.

A May conviction and a civil case still running

In May, Anthony was found guilty in Solano County Superior Court of one count of animal cruelty related to keeping and breeding a group of dogs that ran loose on a small ranch in east Vallejo, and court records show she was granted probation in June, according to the Focal report. KTVU reported that she is prohibited from owning dogs under an order she has since appealed.

She also faces a civil suit filed by the Caru Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which alleges that her operation's practices amount to animal cruelty, and a hearing in that case was scheduled for Friday at the county courthouse in Fairfield, according to the Focal report. In September 2025, she filed a motion for a restraining order against the county Animal Control, which was denied, according to the account published by Claycord.

For now, the animals are in the hands of authorities and shelters. The reports said veterinary assessments were still pending, the animal cruelty investigation is active and ongoing, and the civil case continues, with no decision reported yet on where the 44 dogs will ultimately go.