A woman pleaded guilty Wednesday as the last of three charged in the case of animal cruelty at a Thornton reptile shop.
Lynn Denise Kubic, 55, was charged with 38 counts of cruelty to animals. On Wednesday, one day before she was scheduled to stand trial, court records show she entered a guilty plea to one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty while prosecutors dismissed the other 37.
Her husband, Kenneth Kubic, 61, and son, Brian Kubic, 22, also faced charges after Thornton police raided the family’s store, Jurassic Pets, in Thornton.
The department’s abuse investigation was prompted by an investigation first conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
In May, Kenneth Kubic was convicted of 18 counts of cruelty to animals following a two-day trial in Adams County. Their son, Brian Kubic, pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to animals and had 37 others dismissed.
During the elder Kubic’s trial, witnesses said kittens, hedgehogs, reptiles and rodents were confined in unsanitary conditions without food, water and veterinary care. Some of the animals died and others had to be euthanized after the shop was raided because of their condition.
Jurassic Pets continues to operate two stores — the one raided by police in Thornton and another location in Lakewood.
On Wednesday, PETA released a statement, calling on the Department of Agriculture to revoke the licenses for the Kubic family’s businesses.
“PETA is calling on the Colorado Department of Agriculture to terminate the Kubics’ licenses immediately as the result of their chronic failure to obey state and federal animal-care laws,” said PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch in a released statement. “PETA’s video showing appalling neglect and the Kubics’ three convictions make clear that they should not be allowed to possess, breed, or sell another animal of any kind, ever again.”
In a released statement, a department spokeswoman said now that the convictions and pleas have been entered, the department, “can move forward with revocation proceedings for all facilities licensed by the Kubic’s and Jurassic Pets LLC.” The department will conduct their own investigation as part of the process and then decide whether or not to revoke the license.
In addition to the two Jurassic Pets stores, Lynn Kubic also operated a business breeding and selling boas and python snakes. State business records show the license for that business expired in 2012.
Sentencing for Kenneth Kubic and Brian Kubic is scheduled for June 29. A sentencing for Lynn Kubic is scheduled for July 27.
