The Napa County District Attorney’s Office has announced that on June 2, 2022, following a three-day jury trial presided over by Judge Francisca Tisher, in Department One of the Napa County Superior Court, 38-years-old ZACHARY JAY ROBERTS has been convicted of two Felony crimes of animal cruelty.
According to a press release by the DA’s Office, “The jury also found that the crimes involved great violence, great bodily harm, or other acts disclosing a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness and that the crimes were inflicted upon particularly vulnerable victims.”
As indicated in the release, ROBERTS’ convictions stem from his “prolonged neglect and abuse” of his dogs Avery and Princess.
ROBERTS was acquitted of animal cruelty related to a third dog.
On January 17, 2020, Princess, a 1-year-old Chihuahua was found deceased. She was “emaciated and undernourished.” Avery, a 1-year-old Pitbull mix was found alive but also “emaciated and undernourished.” Avery was in critical condition, said the DA’s Office.
The furbabies were found with ROBERTS “by a local registered veterinary technician who regularly performed community outreach”, according to the release.
The release goes on to say that “In addition to their poor body conditions, both dogs suffered additional signs of neglect including grossly overgrown nails and coats covered in urine and feces. Avery was treated on an emergency basis at a Napa veterinary hospital, where she stayed as in-patient for approximately one week. Avery’s treating veterinary believed that Avery would have passed away if she had been rescued any later.”
ROBERTS claimed that Princess and Avery would not eat the food he had available for them. However, medical evaluations of the furbabies and additional evidence presented to the jury proved otherwise.
Napa County Deputy District Attorney Taryn Hunter who prosecuted the case said: “Although Avery and Princess could not tell us what happened to them, the extent of their conditions made clear that they had suffered at the hands of Mr. Roberts for far too long. I am grateful for the community that came together to save Avery, and for the jury’s verdicts in this egregious case of cruelty.”
Avery made a full recovery and she was later adopted by a Napa family.
I have emailed Assistant District Attorney Paul Gero to inquire about the third dog in the case for whom ROBERTS was acquitted. If I receive a response, I will post an update.
Those of you who know Voice For Us, know that it is my priority to expose animal cruelty and those who commit it.
With this in mind, I disagree with law enforcement agencies not releasing mugshots of those arrested, convicted, and/or sentenced for animal cruelty, and wish to express my disappointment.
Voice For Us firmly believes that by not making public animal abusers’ full information and booking photographs, the WRONG PARTY is being protected!
ZACHARY JAY ROBERTS, of Napa, and whose date of birth was NOT disclosed by the Napa County Superior Court, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 30, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. in Department One of the Napa County Superior Court.
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Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.
