Deschutes County, OR. — Official Release: On 6/19/25 at 12:00 p.m., Detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office arrested William Griffiths in Bend. Griffiths had an active warrant for his arrest after a Deschutes County grand jury returned an indictment on 6/13/25 charging him with 25 counts of Animal Neglect in the First Degree.
The indictment stemmed from an investigation that began last October south of La Pine. On 10/6/24, a Patrol Deputy with Deschutes County was dispatched to a welfare check in the 50000 block of Deer St. south of La Pine. The caller reported to the Deputy that she had arrived at the house in question to retrieve property that originally came from a private business in Bend where Griffiths used to work, and she believed the property was most likely still at the house. She said when she went to the house, she discovered what she believed to be several dead reptiles in and around the house, and the house appeared to be abandoned.
The Patrol Deputy and an Animal Control Officer responded to the address and conducted a welfare check inside the residence to determine if there were any people or animals that were in need of medical care. No humans were discovered, but they discovered over 100 dead and rotting animal carcasses inside the house, including the carcasses of snakes, lizards, and turtles. There were also carcasses of rodents and tarantulas within the house. No live animals were located.
Oregon Revised Statutes specifically include reptiles in its definitions of animals as applied to animal neglect statutes.
Detectives with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office responded to the residence. They applied for and were granted a search warrant, which was executed the same day to search the residence for evidence of criminal activity.
A Detective later located and interviewed the owner of the house and animals, William Griffiths. During the interview, the Detective developed probable cause for the crimes of Animal Neglect in the First Degree listed in the indictment.
Griffiths was located in a trailer in the 63000 block of Dickey Road east of Bend. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Deschutes County Adult Jail on the warrant for his arrest.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Street Crimes, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with six K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today led by your duly elected Sheriff Kent van der Kamp, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves the nearly 190,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 230 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 187 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
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