Previous coverage in video aboveA Papillion man will serve time in prison for animal cruelty charges after more than 650 animals were seized from a home in December 2021.Edward Luben, 57, was sentenced Tuesday in Sarpy County court to three years in prison for felony animal cruelty and neglect, as well as 9 months of supervised release.Luben also received a 15-year ban on “owning, harboring, or residing with any animal.””Prison time is more than justified in this case given the extent of the neglect and cruelty that was taking place. Several animals had extensive, chronic medical conditions that were not being treated. Several animals were deceased,” said NHS Director of Field Operations Ronald Schlabs. “While in the home, we witnessed animals cannibalizing each other. So the state of neglect and cruelty taking place was just off the charts.”In March, the 57-year-old was charged in Sarpy County Court with seven counts of abandon or cruelly neglect an animal (serious injury or death) and five misdemeanor cruelty charges.In October, Luben pled no contest to three of the abandonment/cruelly neglect charges, and nine of the charges were dropped.Schlabs tells KETV the internet makes it easy to buy, sell and trade animals, with not a lot of reporting required about the transactions. All the surviving animals rescued in this Papillion case have since been re-homed. In December 2021, the Nebraska Humane Society seized and removed 665 animals from a Papillion home on Kilkinny Circle near Shannon Road, including exotic birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Around 70 animals were found dead, and two animals had to be euthanized due to the extent of their injuries, according to Sarpy County.”Cages were filthy, some (animals) appear not to have been fed for quite some time,” Steve Glandt, Nebraska Humane Society vice president of field operations, said in December. “Many of the animals appeared to have been in poor health.”Nebraska Humane Society said it was called to the home in 2008 and removed around 250 animals then. Nebraska Humane Society’ Field Operations Officer Ronald Schlabs said the organization does have an internal database, but he said there’s not a good way to keep track of offenders years later.
Previous coverage in video above
A Papillion man will serve time in prison for animal cruelty charges after more than 650 animals were seized from a home in December 2021.
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Edward Luben, 57, was sentenced Tuesday in Sarpy County court to three years in prison for felony animal cruelty and neglect, as well as 9 months of supervised release.
Luben also received a 15-year ban on “owning, harboring, or residing with any animal.”
“Prison time is more than justified in this case given the extent of the neglect and cruelty that was taking place. Several animals had extensive, chronic medical conditions that were not being treated. Several animals were deceased,” said NHS Director of Field Operations Ronald Schlabs. “While in the home, we witnessed animals cannibalizing each other. So the state of neglect and cruelty taking place was just off the charts.”
In March, the 57-year-old was charged in Sarpy County Court with seven counts of abandon or cruelly neglect an animal (serious injury or death) and five misdemeanor cruelty charges.
In October, Luben pled no contest to three of the abandonment/cruelly neglect charges, and nine of the charges were dropped.
Schlabs tells KETV the internet makes it easy to buy, sell and trade animals, with not a lot of reporting required about the transactions. All the surviving animals rescued in this Papillion case have since been re-homed.
In December 2021, the Nebraska Humane Society seized and removed 665 animals from a Papillion home on Kilkinny Circle near Shannon Road, including exotic birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Around 70 animals were found dead, and two animals had to be euthanized due to the extent of their injuries, according to Sarpy County.
“Cages were filthy, some (animals) appear not to have been fed for quite some time,” Steve Glandt, Nebraska Humane Society vice president of field operations, said in December. “Many of the animals appeared to have been in poor health.”
Nebraska Humane Society said it was called to the home in 2008 and removed around 250 animals then. Nebraska Humane Society’ Field Operations Officer Ronald Schlabs said the organization does have an internal database, but he said there’s not a good way to keep track of offenders years later.