**Updated 4:30 p.m.
Debra Gray, former owner of Orphan Kanines, is back behind bars after being booked into the Racine County Jail charged with seven counts of misdemeanor bail jumping and two misdemeanor counts of illegally obtaining a prescription for allegedly assisting Veterinarian Mary Pratt will illegal surgeries on animals. If convicted, she faces up to 5-1/2 years in jail and/or up to $61,000 in fines.
Pratt, 65, of New Berlin, was charged with four misdemeanor counts of bail jumping. If convicted, she faces up to 36 months in jail and/or up to $40,000 in fines.
Online jail records confirm that Gray and Pratt were taken into custody Monday.
Gray’s charges are on top of the 171 counts of animal cruelty and keeping animals in unsafe conditions she’s facing after nearly 100 animals were rescued in May from the Orphan Kanines facility in Caledonia and two residences.
According to the criminal complaint, a tip lead Caledonia police on Monday to execute a search warrant at a residence in the 4700 block of Highway H for a report of illegal surgical procedures being performed there on animals. When officers arrived, they found Pratt performing an operation on a cat while Gray kept track of vital signs.
The basement of the home is described by police as being filled with spider webs, dust, open wiring and lit by fixtures supported by hangers. Officers say Gray was not wearing scrubs or wearing a mask and was seated approximately three feet away from the makeshift operating table. Medicine and equipment were also observed in the space.
Police allowed Pratt to finish the spay operation for the cat on which she was currently working but would not permit her to begin a new spay procedure when they were asked, the complaint reads. In addition to the animal undergoing surgery, there was a kitten, an adult male and an older female cat there for treatment as well.
Police say witnesses told them the older female belongs to a relative of Gray’s but that at least three cats at the home are still under Gray’s ownership.
During questioning, Pratt admitted to performing hundreds of operations in the basement of the home and that since Gray’s arrest last spring she has completed at least ten procedures there, the complaint reads. Pratt also told police that the surgical equipment belongs to a relative of Gray’s and that she gets about $40 per spay or neuter but that Gray handled all the scheduling and billing.
Police say mail found on scene and an interview with Gray’s daughter showed invoices addressed to Orphaned Canines Wellness Clinic at the home’s address. Text messages on a mobile phone also indicate that customers were scheduling procedures for their pets, including at least one dog and several kittens.
A number of medications, including controlled narcotics, were found in unlocked cabinets, drawers and on shelves, the complaint reads.
Gray and Pratt both had their initial appearances Tuesday. Gray was assigned a $5,000 cash bond and ordered to not have any contact with either her relative or Pratt and to not possess any domestic animals. Her next court date is a status conference on Dec. 8.
Pratt was given a $10,000 cash bond and ordered not to have contact with Gray. She will next be in court for a pre-trial conference on Dec. 18.