Four days after one of Gov. Jared Polis’ appointees to the state veterinary board resigned, a contractor hired to look at her furnace contacted the Colorado Humane Society to report he would not step into the house again because of the smell and horrible conditions.

The report said the Ken Caryl area home was full of trash, with a “river of urine” running into a drain in the basement, where 13 birds were kept.

The Humane Society contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and on March 9, 2022, deputies cited Ellen Kessler on 13 counts of animal cruelty.

Kessler pleaded guilty last September to one charge of misdemeanor animal cruelty. She received a deferred sentence and was assessed fines of $1,413.50. That’s on top of impound fees of $515, plus attorney’s fees, veterinarian costs and the cost to clean up her home.

Polis’ office declined to comment on the record.

Kessler, an animal rights activist, was appointed to the state veterinary board in June 2020. During her time on the vet board, she was part of a vegans’ protest in the meat section of an Arvada Costco.

Her appointment almost immediately generated controversy because of derogatory statements she made, primarily on Facebook, about farmers and ranchers. In one post a month after her appointment, she said that “4-H clubs don’t teach children that animal lives matter.” She reposted a story in August 2020, also on Facebook, that alleged dairy farmers sexually abuse their cows, likely referring to artificial insemination, a routine practice in the industry for at least 60 years.

On Jan. 22, 2022, she called ranchers “lazy” and “nasty,” responding to a Facebook post by first gentleman Marlon Reis, a friend of Kessler’s. She resigned from the vet board two days later.

Records show she stepped down to shield Polis from blowback from her remarks about the ag industry. While she apologized to the governor, she doubled down on her comments about ranchers.

The visit by the furnace company came on Jan. 28, 2022. The employee said he had to wear a mask due to the smell. When he went into the basement, he said he walked through “a path of stuff” and, while working on the furnace, Kessler had told him she had birds down there.

The employee told the Humane Society “the condition in the home is deplorable. The home has trash stacked to the ceiling and a person must walk in paths amongst the refuse in the basement when servicing the furnace.”

The basement contained “caged exotic birds, with excrement polling [sic] below and the pool drains like a river to the floor drain.”

Another employee said he saw mice, both dead and alive, throughout the home.

When sheriff’s deputies showed up at Kessler’s home, she admitted she was a hoarder who doesn’t allow people into her home unless she needs work done. She claimed the company called in the complaint based on a review she had written of their work.

One deputy reported he had to step over trash bags and clutter just to get into the house. The house reeked of urine, with mice and dead flies, the deputy reported. The court records included 11 photos of conditions in the home.

Kessler also informed the deputies Reis wanted to speak with them. According to court records, one of the deputies explained the bonding paperwork and the summons.

“I also agreed to speak with Reis on speakerphone,” the deputy wrote. “Reis asked many questions about the bonding, the court process, and how likely it would be for the birds to be returned. I explained the living environment and that it would need to be cleaned up for Kessler’s welfare and the welfare of the birds, if any were returned … Reis seemed to to want to take responsibility for the bonding and attorney costs of Kessler.”

The initial cost for bonding was estimated at $7,000. Reis did not pay for Kessler’s bonding or other costs. 

Of the 13 birds, all doves and cockatiels, one died the night before they were removed by the sheriff’s department. Another had to be euthanized upon arrival at a veterinarian’s office. The vet reported all of the birds were stained with feces and in “rough” condition, caused in part by malnutrition and improper care by Kessler. Some birds were missing feathers, others had overgrown nails.

Kessler said the lack of vet care was due to her vet cutting back hours and COVID.

The sheriff’s office also talked to the Gabriel Foundation, a parrot sanctuary and welfare organization in Elizabeth. The foundation told the sheriff that Kessler had been “blacklisted” by the organization.

Kessler signed over 11 birds, but was allowed to keep one.

In an interview on March 14, Kessler told a sheriff’s deputy she sits in on meetings of the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act Board and “will soon be helping with the governor’s campaign, so she will be busy and having something to focus on now that she has no birds and it is so quiet.”

Kessler bought the Littleton home in 1989. Assessor records show she still owns it.