Monterey County woman charged with neglecting dogs fails to appear in court

A woman facing charges after 14 dogs were rescued from filthy crates in a parked car failed to appear in Monterey County Superior Court Friday.

Betty Ann Bustamante was scheduled to be arraigned on animal neglect charges Friday morning but she didn’t appear and a warrant was issued for her arrest, SPCA officials said.

In April, employees with the SPCA for Monterey County rescued four dogs and 10 puppies from a vehicle parked in Monterey. The animals were found stacked in seven, tiny, filthy crates inside an older model Subaru – with as many as four dogs in some of the small crates.

SPCA spokeswoman Beth Brookhouser said Bustamante told SPCA staff that they were stealing her money and that she could “sell the puppies for $2,000 in Carmel.”