Police descend on filthy Williamsburg home; about 30 sick and abandoned animals seized

Mark White

The scene wasn't pretty on Rains Street in Williamsburg Thursday morning.

There were numerous pins with animals inside ranging from dogs to chickens. If the animals had water, it was stagnant in nearly all cases. Some were standing in their own feces. At least two of the dogs had bloody feces indicating the presence of disease.

Then police got to the really bad part, the interior of the residence.

"It is by far the worst place I have seen in the city limits," said Chief Wayne Bird. "I had no idea that all that stuff was in the back yard.

"The smell when we made entry through the door was so bad, we had back out to get respirators. It was unreal. I don't know how anybody could live there."

Animals in bad shape

"One of the dogs was blind," Bird said. "One of them was eating a raw chicken. Another dog was standing in feces probably two or three inches deep. There was blood stool in some of the dog lots."

Officials seized a total of four dogs, two cats, four ducks, eight roosters and 12 hens.

Two or three cats and a few roosters were still loose near the residence that police were unable to catch.

Interior of home

There were a few cats inside the home when police went inside, but Bird said that it was mostly garbage from the floor to the ceiling.

"In my opinion, it was not livable for any form of life. It was that bad," said Public Affairs Officer Shawn Jackson, one of the officers who went inside the home.

"We had respirators on and the smell knocked us down. The feces was pretty much pilled up everywhere from animals."

There is no running water to the home, and Bird said that he doesn't think it had electricity hooked up either...." More

Real Life Dr. Doolittle Could Lose 178 Animals

By: Lidia Ryan

A Connecticut man with a record of animal abuse could lose his animals.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a motion Wednesday for custody of dozens of animals seized from Paul Novicki's farm.

Novicki was recently arrested for animal cruelty charges at Rambling Ranch Farm.

The state and the Department of Agriculture seized 178 neglected animals from Novicki’s property at 50 Doolittle Lane in Hamden over the last few years. They picked up two horses, two mules, two burros, three cows, two dogs, 15 chickens, 26 rabbits, three pheasants, six ducks and one cat on Jan. 14 and 22, according to a statement from Blumenthal.

The Attorney General, on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, wants permanent state custody of the latest seized animals. Blumenthal also wants to bar Novicki from owning any animals in the future, and is seeking restitution for the cost of caring for the animals.

“We are asking the court to stop a serial animal abuser -- someone who has repeatedly neglected animals and wasted state resources through numerous and large-scale animal seizures,” Blumenthal said.

In recent inspections, according to Blumenthal, animal control officers found that “Novicki’s animals had no food or water access, and some of the animals required veterinary care. At least one dead and decomposed rabbit was found in a dirty shed that was filled with feces and dirty hay and contained a loaded firearm.”..." More

1,045 Animals Seized from TX Home

Man who gave up 1,009 animals charged with cruelty

• By PEGGY O'HARE

  
  

  A man who gave up more than 1,000 animals found in deplorable conditions and forfeited his northwest Houston home to the county to pay for their boarding and care was released from jail Monday after being arrested on two charges of misdemeanor animal cruelty.

  Joselito Rivera Boado, 34, whose property became the site of the largest animal seizure in U.S. history last month, is scheduled to be arraigned in court Oct. 19, said Harris County animal cruelty prosecutor Belinda Smith.

  Investigators descended on Boado's property at 6519 Breen Drive on Sept. 23 and found 1,009 animals in filthy conditions, most crammed into tight cages, many without basic necessities such as food and water. Both live and dead animals were found.

  The animals — including birds, ducks, chickens, parakeets, parrots, iguanas, hamsters, rats, three dogs and a goat — were seized and taken to the Houston SPCA. The Houston SPCA continues to ask for donations to help care for them since so many animals were taken into their facility.

  Boado said he was keeping the animals to sell them at flea markets. He agreed to give up all of the animals to the SPCA, while authorities agreed to release two of the dogs to his ex-wife.

  Boado also agreed to forfeit his home and land to Harris County to satisfy the animals' boarding and medical care costs — $213,458 — which authorities sought to make him pay. Appraisal district records show the home and land is valued at more than $142,000..." More

  
  

  
  

  Sept 30, 2009: Houston man to forfeit animals seized by SPCA

  
  

  By PEGGY O'HARE

  
  

  The owner of more than 1,000 animals seized by the SPCA agreed today to forfeit all but two of them to the agency.

  Joselito Rivera Boado, 34, also will vacate his northwest Houston house at 6519 Breen in 30 days and forfeit his house to the county to satisfy $213,458 in medical and boarding costs for the animals that were seized, according to an agreement announced in court today.

  The property is appraised at about $235,000. He still owes about $85,000, so its net worth is $150,000. He has waived his right to appeal this civil action.

  The agreement, however, does not preclude or prevent any criminal charges from being filed in this case. No charges have yet been filed.

  SPCA employees seized 1,009 animals from his property on Sept. 23. About 100 to 200 of the animals have died, said assistant county attorney Linda Geffin. Numerous animal skeletons also were found on the property, she said.

  Two dogs seized will be returned to Boado's ex-wife, once the animals are spayed and neutered and get a clean bill of health, officials said.

  Boado has lived at the property for about eight years.

  Justice of the Peace David Patronella presided over today's agreement in Justice of the Peace Dale Gorczynski's court..." Link & video

  
  

  September 24, 2009: Man Accused in Record SPCA Seizure Wants Animals Back

  
  

  The man at the center of what the SPCA calls the largest animal seizure in U.S. history says he wants his animals back.

  
  
  By: Steve Simmon
  
  
  The homeowner, who only wants to called "Joe", says he did not mistreat the animals.
  
  He gave 39 News a tour of his backyard in northwest Harris County. There are a lot of empty cages; it's the quietest it has been here in nearly eight years.
  
  "This morning I woke up at 8:30, usually its much earlier," Joe said.
  
  On Wednesday, an anonymous tip to the SPCA helped lead investigators to the house in the 6500 block of Breen.
  
  Investigators seized 1,045 different animals. Most are birds and ducks, and it also includes 250 different species of turtles.
  
  Joe says the two acre property is his home and a business he's been involved with for ten years. He says he buys the animals and later sells them at local flea markets.
  
  He says he's never had legal trouble, and claims an investigator with the Harris County Health Department gave him a satisfactory report last month.
  
  "I'm not one of these people that's involved in cock fighting or dog fighting, I'm trying to make an honest living in a bad economy," said Joe.
  
  The SPCA doesn't see it that way..." More & video
  
  

More info on the Houston SPCA site

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• 1,045 Animals Seized from TX Home
• 
  
• By Alice Kalthoff

HOUSTON - SPCA investigators worked one of the largest animal rescue operations in U.S. history out of a small Houston house last night.

When they received an anonymous tip about animals in need of medical care, they were stunned to find hundreds of chickens, ducks, parrots, gerbils, iguanas, turtles, snakes, a pony, a goat, and more.

"Very few of the animals had the basic staples of life -- food, water and shelter," SPCA chief investigator Charles Jantzen told the Houston Chronicle. Some of the animals were dead.

The owners told investigators they were raising the creatures to be sold at flea markets.

The animals were immediately taken into SPCA custody, but there will be a court hearing in ten days to decide who will get final ownership of the animals.

So far, the unidentified owners have not been charged with anything..." Link

250 Sick, Dead Animals Seized From Ky. Garage

31 Animals Found Dead, 37 More Euthanized

CARROLL COUNTY, Ky. -- More than 250 animals were seized from a garage in Carroll County, including some dead and many sick ones, WLKY-TV in Louisville, Ky., reported.

They were found in the town of Worthville.

The animals included chickens, rabbits, ducks, a quail, a peacock and two turkeys.

"They were pretty horrific -- feces everywhere. We did find more dead animals when we got there laying around," said Carroll County Animal Support director Tammie Crawford.

Among the problems the team found were chickens with maggots in their feathers, ducks crowded together in cages, animals with respiratory problems, underfed and live animals in the same unclean cages with dead animals, many of them badly decomposed.

“As we got the birds out, we would find one laying there that they were just trampling all over,” said Crawford.

Thirty-one of the animals were found dead. Thirty-seven more had to be euthanized and many of the rest of them were underfed or ill.

The local health department said the owner of the animals, Donnie Cannon, has been issued a citation.

Police said Cannon had an auction service and he would acquire the animals for resale.

Crawford said this incident isn't the first time there's been a complaint about Cannon..." More

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