Kyle Barbre
Santa Barbara – With animal shelters across the country bursting at the seams with animals available for adoption, it may be reasonable to expect that the occasional adoptive pet owner may not be either temperamentally, emotionally, or psychologically equipped to provide the best of loving care.
That is apparently the suspicion of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, who, in concert with the Santa Barbara County Animal Services Department, began an investigation on May 23rd that resulted in the June 21st arrest of Kyle Barbre, a 21-year-old resident of Goleta on a charge of animal cruelty.
According to SBSD Public Information Office Kelly Hoover, allegations were initially reported to the County Animal Rescue Team “that Barbre had fatally injured his recently adopted one-year-old Chihuahua named Floyd.”
When the Animal Rescue Team reported the allegations on the evening of May 23rd, the county’s Animal Services team responded promptly to Barbre’s residence and seized the remains of the deceased “Floyd”, whereupon “a necropsy was conducted.”
Just a week later, the Santa Barbara County Animal Services turned the case over to the Sheriff’s Department for further investigation. “Based on the evidence obtained,” an arrest warrant for Barbre was issued, pursuant to which he was located at his place of work and taken into custody.
Following a station house conversation in which Barbre was presumably made aware that anything he said could and would be used against him, he was transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where he was booked on a charge of animal cruelty, with his bail set at $100,000.
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
