Not guilty pleas entered for 2 men in Ogden dog-hoarding case

OGDEN — Not guilty pleas were entered by the judge for the two men charged in the Ogden dog-hoarding case from April.

Miguel Salgado Vargas and his nephew, Ramon Aispuro Cano, said little in their first appearances at Ogden Justice Court on Tuesday. Aispuro Cano referenced the intense media attention the case has drawn from Utah news outlets.

“I’m very nervous because of that,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter.

Salgado Vargas, 73, faces 633 charges related to the alleged hoarding of 157 dogs and 11 cats at his Ogden home, all of them class B misdemeanors, while Aispuro Cano, 50, who also lived at the residence, faces 336 charges. They said nothing about the case during their appearances on Tuesday and didn’t comment on the matter afterward, but Stucki entered not-guilty pleas for each of the men and assigned them public defenders.

Salgado Vargas’s next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 29, while Aispuro Cano is set to appear on Oct. 6. A representative with the Ogden Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment as the case proceeds through the court.

A team of Ogden animal services officers and police, assisted by outside agencies, removed the 168 critters from the Salgado Vargas home in the 3000 block of Jefferson Avenue on April 15 after receiving a report of possible animal neglect. In 2012, Ogden authorities removed 149 dogs from Salgado Vargas’ home, the same house on Jefferson Avenue, but he didn’t face any charges at that time.

Stucki kept the focus of Tuesday’s hearing on making sure the two men understood their legal rights, but also referenced the public attention the case has garnered, given the large number of animals involved.

“I can understand how it would make you nervous. It would make me nervous, too,” he said. But in deciding the cases, he said, the focus will be on the evidence and the defense that the two men put forward.

The 168 animals, mostly small dogs, were initially housed at Weber County Animal Services after their removal, and all have since been adopted with the help of other animal rescue organizations, according to Jessika Clark, spokeswoman for the county, which operates the animal services office. One of the dogs died soon after it was adopted, but officials said the critters were generally in good health.

Both men face 168 counts each of cruelty to animals and 168 counts of public nuisance. Salgado Vargas faces an additional 148 counts on each of two other charges: failing to obtain a rabies vaccination for an animal and maintaining an unlicensed animal, as well as a single count of maintaining a kennel without a permit.

Police body-camera video from the April 15 removal operation showed scores of barking dogs crowded in several rooms within the Salgado Vargas home. The intense odor prompted at least one of them to wear a gas mask, while others donned hazmat suits as they removed the animals.