Cypress Arrow K9 Academy owner faces new charge of cruelty to animals, authorities say
The owner of the now-closed Cypress Arrow K9 Academy in Lena is facing a new charge of aggravated cruelty to animals.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Tina Brimer Frey, the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wednesday. Frey was booked in the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 just after noon and left less than an hour later, according to online jail records.
About an hour before, Alexandria defense attorney Mike Small approached 9th Judicial District Court Judge Greg Beard in his courtroom and spoke to him about setting bail. Beard set it at $5,000.
Small then waited for Frey on the courthouse's fourth floor so he could walk her to the sixth-floor jail for processing. Small issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon that said he was representing Frey, while attorney Bradley Drell would continue to represent her daughter, Victoria Brimer.
Drell initially represented both women.
No specifics on the new charge were immediately available, and no court dates have been set for either woman.
It's the latest twist in an investigation that started after videos circulated on social media of animals being handled at the academy.
Frey, 52, and Brimer, 21, were booked into Rapides Parish Detention Center No. 1 on Aug. 18, a week after the Sheriff's Office opened an investigation after receiving one complaint from a dog owner.
Frey and Brimer, who are mother and daughter, were booked at that time on two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals and were released after posting bonds of $10,000 each.
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Drell had released a statement on Frey's behalf two days before the initial arrests, saying the Sheriff's Office had gone overboard because of "the intense public pressure" after videos taken by a fired employee went viral on social media.
"Revenge for her firing seems to be this former employee’s primary motivation in releasing these videos and in contacting clients of Cypress Arrow," the statement reads.
Cypress Arrow closed Aug. 13, and the five remaining dogs either were picked up by owners or turned over to a veterinarian, Drell said in the statement.
Drell also released video that showed Frey and the owner of a dog in the viral video talking about the training while the dog, Fennix, walks around freely.
Frey is shown in the viral video hitting Fennix with a quirt, a riding crop. In the video released by Drell, the owner and Frey talk about the training while holding the quirt.
"While I understand that many people feel, and some quite strongly, that the use of the quirt is not what they would do to correct a dog, the use of the quirt is not inhumane under the law," reads Drell's statement. "Fenixx was in no way injured, as is shown in the video."
The former Cypress kennel manager who shot the video is Alicia Alsup, according to her attorney, Randall Hayes. In a Aug. 25 statement on his Facebook page, he said Alsup contacted him in early July about possible abuses at the business.
After discussing the situation with him and reaching out to other agencies, Alsup filed a complaint with the Sheriff’s Office. Four deputies went to Cypress soon after for a “welfare check,” Hayes says in the statement.
“During this welfare check, Alicia received a call from Tina Frey demanding that Alicia hide an emaciated puppy in Ms. Frey’s house, the statement reads. “Alicia refused. Before RPSO had left the grounds, Tina Frey fired Alicia.”
An investigation remains open, and more arrests could be possible, according to the Sheriff's Office.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Louisiana K9 Academy owner faces new animal-cruelty charge
