Vulnerable Creatures

After listening to our podcast, a veterinarian comes forward to share details of her own run-in with animal law enforcement and the DA's office. An incident between her and her neighbor's dogs forces her into the legal system, where she too feels compelled to take a plea to "make it stop." (Episode utilizes voice distortion to maintain the vet's anonymity, for fear of employment retribution.)

Animal law enforcement officers lack oversight. Six months later, the DA’s office finally responds to our inquiry into the discrepancies in Christian’s charging document. We look deeper into the goings-on at their offices, after a suicide there sparks scrutiny. Corporal Cheney loses her job, can now speak openly with us, and wants to tell her side of the story, including how the system has failed her too. Christian’s family drags the DAs office into the court of public opinion. A final call for a better way forward. Christian gets the last word.

Christian struggles with a sense of justice (mis)served. His father decries the legal system’s coldness, and failures. A new attorney for the family takes up post-conviction relief, to undo Christian’s plea and reclaim his innocence. We learn what that is, and how it works. The prosecution, and court, respond. A systems thinker, who works to develop institutional empathy across public organizations, explains their (over)capacity problems. And we take the findings of our reporting to the DA’s office, for comment. They put it “under active review.”

“They shouldn’t be allowed to walk amongst us.” Prosecutors, judges and police officers lack sufficient training needed to make accommodations for autism inside the legal system. We examine why people take coercive plea deals. Christian struggles with a sense of justice (mis)served. Autism experts detail life in jail for someone on the spectrum. Society’s mixed messages on animal welfare, and call for humane community principles. A closed case gets reopened again, placing Christian back in harm’s way.

“It’s like a fingerprint, like a shadow.” We learn more about autism in general, and how it affects Christian specifically. Christian tells Andrea what he says really happened to Storm — is his explanation a possible, and believable one? Veterinarians weigh in. The backstory of Andrea and Christian’s relationship. Who was really running the show? Christian's lie haunts him. To plea or not to plea? That is the question.

Domestic violence experts introduce us to “the link” and outline the dynamics of control and manipulation. A private investigator goes searching for an elusive “director.” Andrea explains why she called animal law enforcement, and what she did, and didn’t say. Veterinarians recount their interactions with her, and her concerned mother, confirming that they never documented animal abuse. Corporal Cheney defends her fieldwork. Andrea and Christian defy legal counsel and keep communicating. She’s gained some clarity on their past relationship. He has too, but he’s been hiding a secret.

“We protect pets from people, and people from pets.” Matthew and Lauren go on a ride along with Animal Law Enforcement, learning what they do on an average day, how they’re trained, and the legal power they wield. Corporal Cheney investigates Storm’s injuries, documenting that they could “only” be human-caused. Multiple veterinarians contradict her report. Andrea seeks a restraining order against Christian. Discrepancies start to pile up.

Colorado Springs, 2018. Christian Breuer, 21, returns home from a Thanksgiving holiday out-of-state with his family, to find his apartment half-empty and his fiancée, Andrea, and their kitten, Storm, gone. There’s only a note, that reads “I love you, Chris.” The next day, he learns he’s being investigated for animal cruelty. We meet veteran Animal Law Enforcement Officer, Corporal Vicky Cheney and examine her early case notes: among them, an advisement from Andrea that “Mr. Breuer is autistic and becomes very upset over financial concerns.”

A true story of an autistic young man accused of animal cruelty.