City crews board up rubbish-filled house

JONATHAN ELLIS

A long-running battle between the city and owners of a home in north Sioux Falls about rubbish and hoarding appeared to enter its final stages Monday.

City officials boarded up the home at 1122 N. Duluth Ave. and hauled away dump-truck loads of garbage and junk. The action came about a month after a circuit court judge ordered that the home either be brought up to code or demolished.

The city typically condemns several properties a year, but this case is more unusual because Donna and Royce Snook still were living in the home as of this past weekend. Usually, most condemnations occur on properties that are uninhabited, according to assistant City Attorney R. Shawn Tornow.

About 1 p.m., city crews arrived with dump trucks and a skid loader and began hauling away junk and garbage piled up in the garage and backyard. A strong odor of rotting garbage and musty furniture wafted through the neighborhood. Contractors were on hand to board up windows and doorways, and two police officers stood by to prevent conflict..." More

OPINION: Animal rescuers in denial about hoarding

By: Maryann Mott

Hoarding cases are once again making headlines.

This past week, humane officers with Second Chance Rescue Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, confiscated 22 cats and 15 dogs from squalid conditions at two properties in Yankton County. From the local TV station’s website:

Experts say pet hoarding is unique, because it starts out with someone who loves a pet so much, they want to bring it home. But when the situation gets out of hand, the very pets they love, are now put in danger.

It didn’t take long for humane officers with Second Chance Rescue Center to figure out what was going on inside the Yankton home.

Dana Wigg with Second Chance says, “It was a pretty awful hoarding situation is what it was. This person definitely loved all her animals, but she did not have the financial resources to be able to take care of them. it was pretty unfortunate.”

Via Behind Closed Doors: Hoarding Pets

Oh, please! Animal rescuers, like Wigg, are in serious denial when it comes to hoarding. Not only do I see quotes like this time and time again in other reported cases, I’ve interviewed way too many rescue people who make the same pathetic excuses as to why so-called ‘animal lovers’ are found with dead, and dying pets on their property.

It’s animal cruelty. Period. Stop defending them..." More