Vancouver couple in court suspected of animal cruelty
May 19-A Vancouver couple accused of starving two dogs appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on charges of first- and second-degree animal cruelty.
Judge Derek Vanderwood granted supervised release for Omarion Joel Vital, 22, and Kuulei Lina Leialoha Debest, 20.
While Debest appeared in court in person, Vital appeared via Zoom, despite the in-person summons. Vital's defense attorney, Christopher Dumm, took responsibility for Vital not appearing in person but did not clarify the reason.
Vanderwood ordered the couple not be in possession of or around animals. Their defense attorneys noted the couple no longer have animals.
They are scheduled to be arraigned Friday.
According to court records, Clark County Animal Protection and Control received an email from a doctor at the Humane Society for Southwest Washington on Jan. 29. The doctor said the owner of a 10-month-old black and white border collie-mix named Bronny surrendered the puppy two days prior. The puppy was emaciated to the point of near death. He was later euthanized due to the severity of his condition.
Bronny's medical history included a broken jaw, fractured tail and lesions across his body from malnourishment. His weight had also dropped dramatically after being adopted by Debest - to 14 pounds. He weighed 22.3 pounds at 8 weeks old in May 2025, according to court records.
Animal control officers went to Debest's apartment and spoke with Vital. He reportedly seemed surprised to hear about Bronny's poor condition. He said Debest surrendered the puppy because the couple could no longer care for him, court records state.
While at the apartment, animal control officers saw another dog, a pitbull-mix named Bear. Officers noted Bear was very thin. Vital reportedly became argumentative over Bear's condition and said the dog recently visited the vet for vomiting from a suspected food allergy, court records state.
Animal control officers described Vital as being "very nonchalant and dismissive of concerns, saying 'I don't care' at one point and stating that he fed his dogs," according to court records. The officers returned the next day and seized Bear.
Bear was taken to the local Humane Society where he was noted as weighing 36 pounds, nearly half what he weighed when he was adopted from an Oregon shelter. His tail was found to be broken in the same spot as Bronny's tail, and he had skin lesions from malnourishment, according to court records.
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