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A dog trainer who allegedly attempted to substitute a Palo Alto resident’s German shepherd with another dog after failing to return the pet to its owner will face charges, the Palo Alto Police Department has confirmed.
A Santa Clara County Superior Court judge issued a felony warrant for Josephine Marie Ragland, 28, on Nov. 10 charging grand theft of a companion animal and grand theft after the https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2023/01/15/missing-dog-mystery-sparks-police-investigation disappearance of Scott, a pure-bred German shepherd she had been hired to train.
Ragland, who currently resides in Connecticut, is also facing criminal charges in a Massachusetts case after a dog she took to train died in her care.
Scott’s owner, Carolina Bruchilari, gave the dog to Ragland to train in December 2022 after seeing an ad for her services on Thumbtack, a home services app.
After being interviewed by Bruchilari and her husband, Ragland took the dog on Dec. 18, 2022, saying she would bring him back on Jan. 2. Bruchilari received updates on Scott’s progress along with photographs from Ragland.
But on Jan. 2, the trainer called to say she had a family emergency and would bring the dog back on Jan. 4 instead, Bruchilari said during a January interview.
Ragland returned with an imposter instead, Bruchilari said. The substitute was wearing Scott’s Apple tag tracker, but it didn’t have the same coloring or body shape as Scott.
Ragland told police that Scott had been left with a person in Humboldt County while she was out of town. She claimed no responsibility for the dog. She also told Bruchilari that Scott had died.
“There’s no return to facilitate,” Ragland wrote in a text message to Bruchilari. “The dog is most definitely dead. Broke through a window screen in the middle of the night, and (the dog sitter) didn’t see until the morning.
“It was during the big storm, he searched all over and found blood streaks and clumps of the dogs (sic) fur, as well as part of a paw/arm, so we can only imagine,” the text stated.
But as police continued their investigation, Ragland apparently moved out of California and set up another listing, again on Thumbtack, allegedly using a false name and claiming to be a dog trainer.
A Massachusetts family gave their French bulldog, Charlie, to Ragland, paying her $1,500, North Reading police Chief Mark Zimmerman said in a statement. The dog was not returned on the designated date, Sept. 16.
Ragland allegedly claimed the bulldog had been struck and killed by a car and that she had buried him in her backyard in Connecticut. Investigators found the dog’s remains more than 35 minutes from her home, in Norwich, Connecticut, according to documents obtained by Massachusetts news outlet WFSB 3.
A necroscopy performed by the University of Connecticut determined the bulldog was emaciated at the time of its death, Zimmerman said.
Ragland faces felonies in the Massachusetts case: larceny over $1,200 by false pretense and intimidating a witness, according to court documents. She has pleaded not guilty.
Palo Alto police Capt. James Reifschneider said the warrant hasn’t yet been served since Ragland remains in custody on the East Coast facing multiple felony charges there.
“It is unlikely Ms. Ragland would return to California until the Massachusetts case resolves,” he said in an email.
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