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Courtesy mug/Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Renee Baker, 30, an Oak Hill dog breeder, has been arrested on animal health fraud charges.
OAK HILL -- It started simply enough, with the theft of 13 animal tags from a veterinary clinic near DeLand. But after authorities spent about a month untangling the case, an Oak Hill dog breeder has been arrested on felony charges of animal health fraud.
The charges were filed after a joint investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office and Volusia County Animal Control revealed that the accused was selling dogs with stolen tags and forged vaccination certificates, said Gary Davidson, spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Arrest warrants were issued on Aug. 11, for 30-year-old Renee Baker charging her with four counts of tendering an official certificate of an animal's veterinary inspection to another animal. The charge is a third-degree felony.
Deputies who initially went looking for Baker last week to serve the warrants were told by a family member that she was out of town. Baker turned herself in at the Volusia County Branch Sunday afternoon.
The scheme was initially uncovered by Animal Control staff who were investigating complaints against Baker, who operates Rendach's Dog Breeders.
"During the investigation, officials discovered that the tags on 13 of Baker's dogs weren't registered in the county's system," Davidson said. "The 13 tags were assigned to the DeLand Animal Clinic, where Baker had worked as an assistant for about 15 months. Officials at the DeLand Animal Clinic said they had no record of the 13 missing tags being assigned to any animals."
When Animal Control staff questioned Baker about the tags, she initially refused to cooperate with the investigation and wouldn't allow animal control officers on her property, Davidson said. But she later produced licenses for the 13 tags that turned out to be forgeries, he added.
"Baker also produced rabies vaccination certificates for five of her dogs, Gamble, Monty, Mopsy, Stripes and Trinity," Davidson said, adding, "A records check revealed that the certificates also were counterfeits."
During a follow-up investigation by deputy Caleb King, officials discovered that Baker had created the vaccination certificates at Val-U-Vet, where she had worked for three months before being fired in May 2007, the Sheriff's spokesman said, adding Deputy King also has located records showing that Baker has shipped animals within Florida as well as outside the state.
After reviewing the findings of the investigation, Circuit Court Judge James R. Clayton issued four arrest warrants on Tuesday.
The Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate Baker. Anyone who has information or who bought a dog from Baker and may have gotten phony records from her in the transaction is asked to call Sheriff's investigator Trever Henderson at (386) 943-7866.