You can help stop the ugly effects of animal hoarding

KATHLEEN MERRYMAN

For years, conditions were vile at a 7-acre property north of Eatonville.

The home and garage were crammed with animals. The stench was awful.

When Pierce County Animal Control officers responded to neighbors’ complaints in May 2009, they found more than 100 animals, mostly dogs, living in filth.

The county had two choices.

• It could seize the animals and overwhelm their stretched resources with dogs needing cleaning, veterinary care, housing, feeding, evaluation and, if possible, adoption. It could build a criminal case against the women who lived in the double-wide manufactured home. All that could cost taxpayers more than $200,000.

• It could give the women a chance to find homes for the animals and solve the problem on their own.

The county chose Door No. 2. The women promised to cooperate, and the officers said they would monitor their progress.

It made economic sense.

Trouble is, it was a classic situation of animal hoarding, and hoarders don’t get better on their own.

They need counseling and long-term monitoring.

When they hoard animals, they can slip into neglect and abuse, in addition to health code and building code violations.

That’s what happened north of Eatonville. The women locked the gate. They stopped dealing with officers. They hid the animals they’d collected – 51 dogs inside the house and more than a dozen miniature horses in a garage.

We can all be grateful to the animal control officer who stayed on the case, managed to get on the property legally, though briefly, and saw probable cause for a search warrant.

We can all be relieved that Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson is re-evaluating how the county responds to such cases.

Last week, the county worked closely with the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County and asked for help from Tacoma and Kitsap county animal control officers. It was a good response for the animals, but it left other issues hanging.

Joe Hunt, Tacoma’s animal control and compliance officer, was there Thursday. He noted the different way the city handles hoarders.

If this incident had happened in Tacoma, he said: “I would get a team ready, including a veterinarian. I would call code enforcement, the health department and human services, because something is wrong with the people. I would get the warrant prepared and set it up with the police department, have the vet examine the animals.”

In Tacoma, he said, “code enforcement would red tag the place and board it up.”

In the unincorporated area near Eatonville, he said, the women were offered – and declined – human services help. Their home, which had animal feces 2 feet deep in some spots last week, was left open and accessible..." More

Animals removed from Eatonville home due to unsafe conditions

MIKE ARCHBOLD

Pierce County Animal Control officials served a search warrant this morning at an Eatonville home to remove more than 75 animals from unsafe conditions.

Officers have been monitoring the animals at this home in the 8700 block of 330th Street East for more than a year. The animals include miniature horses, large horses, goats, a guinea pig, two cats and at least 55 dogs.

Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, who heads Pierce County Animal Services, is at the 7.5-acre property along with a state veterinarian and Pierce County Sheriff deputies.

They have begun to remove the dogs from the property. One of the owners of the dogs is assisting in the removal. The livestock are scheduled to be removed later today.

“We’ve had a watch on the property for a year,” said Anderson. “We’ve been monitoring the situation.”

She said they have been working with the owners to slowly reduce the number of animals, but that progress stopped and the living conditions for the animals deteriorated. “We ran out of patience,” Anderson said..." More

Hoarding Animals? 75+ Animals Seized From Residence, Some Found In Vehicles, Barn And Home

Too many animals says the Pierce County Animal Control. Officials took more than 75 animals from an Eatonville residence Thursday. They say the animals were found living inside a barn, cars, mini-vans and trucks. Even mini horses were living in the house..." More

Dozens Of Animals Seized From Squalid Living Conditions More & slideshow

Deer Park woman gets 500 days in jail for dog hoarding

McKay Allen

A Deer Park woman convicted and sentenced to 500 days in jail for animal cruelty for hoarding dogs still has dozens of dogs at her house and has until Friday to get rid of them all.

In a case that dates back to 2008 Stevens County authorities charged Pam Deskins with four misdemeanors and said her dogs were killing each other and roaming in vicious packs. Now she's in jail, but the dogs are still there.

“They were killing each other, packing up and killing each other and eating them,” Gail Mackie with Spokanimal said. “They were living in dugouts, dug outs in the yard, they were wild, they were injuring each other.”

In 2008 Deskins was charged with animal cruelty and unsafe confinement and Spokanimal took 39 of her dogs.

“Some of the dogs ate their babies, some were badly deformed and had to be euthanized,” Mackie said.

Last Friday Deskins was sentenced to over 500 days in jail and has to pay fines and restitution in excess of $30,000. Once she gets out of jail she can’t have another pet for two years after she gets out of jail.

However when Spokanimal went to the house earlier this week, after the sentence, there were still over 50 dogs there.“They just started breeding again, totally repopulated again,” Mackie said.

Stevens County's given Mike Benson, the man who lives with Desksins, until this Friday to find new homes for the dogs, or he could get arrested too..." More & video

New Law Gets Tough On Breeders

By Holly Zuluaga

Benton County Sheriff's Department seized 371 dogs from an alleged puppy mill back in May.

“Anytime there are stiffer punishments for people that are abusing animals then we're all for that,” Ed Dawson from the Benton-Franklin Humane Society said.

The new law in Washington not only limits the number of dogs you can own, it sets a standard care for dogs.

They must have enough time and space to exercise and be housed in proper sized cages.

“There's always going to be people out there that want to make a fast buck by breeding animals and some of those people are going to do it the right way and the humane way and there are those that aren't, so I don't know that law is going to deter those people, but where it helps is on the enforcement side,” Ed Dawson from the Benton-Franklin Humane Society said.

That's where it comes to people like Sheriff Larry Taylor.

He told me if a case like this one at Ella Stewart's home comes up again, his deputies are ready..." More & video

Twenty dogs seized, 100+ left at Wash. home

By Anita Kissee

Video

TOLEDO, Wash. - A local dog breeder is under suspicion for neglect. She had more than 150 dogs along with other animals all living in what the county called "appalling" conditions.

"I am not hoarding animals," said the woman under investigation. She said that she is a breeder, not a hoarder.

However, authorities said they found 20 of the dogs so sick that they were taken to the animal shelter. One of the dogs died.

But the other dogs all remain at the property in rural Toledo. It's a town north of Longview in Lewis County, Wash. - just off Interstate 5.

Hahn moved to Lewis County from Oregon's Clackamas County after being investigated there because of similar allegations. She was never charged.

Now, in Lewis County, neighbors want to know why the county won't do anything about it. KATU's research turned up that the county may not be able to do anything about it at all.

In Lewis County there is no limit to the number of dogs you can have. Breeders - including Hahn - know that.

That's something neighbor Jerry Hirsch is fed up about. He said he is so mad that he put up a sign outside his home, "advertising" the person he believes is being cruel to animals across the street.

"There are times where there's upwards of 200 dogs there," Hirsch said. "You can't hear anything at night, the crickets the frogs nothing … and the smell when the weathers just right and the temperature...."

The breeder admits she keeps dogs: "About 100 is all we have here now," she said.

But the Lewis County sheriff said Theresa Hahn has had that many just inside her Toledo home, with dozens more chained up in the yard.

Authorities also told KATU they found feces all over the home. "There is not feces on my furniture, not all over home," Hahn said. "That is going overboard."

Hanh breeds Pomeranians and Labradors, and would not allow us inside to see the conditions.

"Not today," Hanh said when we asked to come inside. "It's just too much. I don't want to put them through that. It is seriously traumatizing to the dogs."

The Humane Society will be back to check things out in two weeks. Hahn can petition to get the dogs back and said she will be doing that for two of them. The other 17 could go up for adoption.

Lewis County is working to change its law. They also are counting on Washington's new puppy mill law that kicks in next year..." More & video

Exotic animals seized from Yelm home

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Nine exotic pets, including alligators and bobcats, have been seized by Thurston county animal officers at a home in Yelm. And it's not the first time they've dealt with the owner.

Gloria Gilbert, has been in trouble with the county before. Gilbert is on probation after pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges. Last year, officials seized ten starving animals Gilbert featured at a petting zoo at the Thurston County Fair. Alpacas, goats and a llama were some of the ten animals seized last summer.

The latest seizure came last month as officers from Thurston County Animal Services seized two alligators, a “Bearded Dragon” lizard, three lynx, two bobcats and a lynx-bobcat mix..." More & video

Deplorable conditions found in animal neglect case

It happens all too often, officials are alerted to a case of possible animal hoarding or of an abusive situation and dogs are confiscated from a personal residence. King5 shared details of one such case in Bothell, WA just last week.

Concerned neighbors reported a possible case of animal hoarding to King County Animal Control officers. A search warrant was obtained and the dog owners turned their animals over to King County. After the residence was inspected by the fire department, the home was deemed unfit to be lived in.

The six dogs removed from the home have been taken in by Pasado's Safe Haven. Pasados reports that the small breed dogs are suffering from hideously matted fur, rotting teeth, painfully long nails and a variety of ongoing infections. Pasados is hopeful that the dogs will recover, but admits that it will be a long-haul for dogs suffering from such obvious neglect..." More

6 Badly Matted Dogs Removed From Bothell Home

BOTHELL, Wash. -- Six badly matted dogs were removed from a Bothell home after an investigation into a suspected case of animal hoarding, said Nancy McKenney of King County Animal Care and Control.

Animal Control Officers and rescuers brought six dogs out of the home. Four of them had hair so badly matted that it was tough to even determine their breed.

“When the first dog came out I couldn't actually tell what side was the head,” said Brendan Brannen of Pasado's Safe Haven.

Firefighters entered the home after the homeowner cooperated with authorities, but they wore biohazard gear and could not open the front door all the way.

Neighbor Irene Anderson first alerted King County on Friday, July 31 about questionable conditions and a large number of animals at the home, McKenney said.

Anderson said she first filed a complaint four years ago and then again last week. Animal Control Officers then began collecting evidence, interviewing witnesses, and gathering a task force of government agencies to work cooperatively on the case.

Anderson described the scene, “Horrific, haunting, my worst nightmare. I've wondered what kind of condition the dogs would be in.”

No deceased animals were found..." More & video

Aug 6, 2009: Home investigated over allegations of animal hoarding

By OWEN LEI

BOTHELL, Wash. - Animal control officers say they have plans to serve a search warrant at one Bothell home over complaints of alleged animal hoarding.

People who live near the 9100 block of NE 141st Street say they hear animals like dogs inside the home, but have never seen one outside.

It's not the first time investigators have looked into this home. Dozens of cats were seized from the home in March 2002, but King County Animal Care and Control said they started getting complaints again starting July 30..." More & video

Dozens of cats found living in horrific conditions

EVERETT, Wash. -- Dozens of cats and several finches were found living in horrific conditions at a home in South Everett Friday night.

Medics were called to the home in the 11700 block of Center Road to treat a woman for a medical emergency.

When they arrived, they found 40 cats and kittens and eight finches covered in feces and urine amid piles of trash and urine-soaked walls. The woman was taken away for treatment, and her condition is not known.

Deputies and animal control officers were called to the home and said the odor was so overpowering, it could be detected well outside the home. They were required to use ventilators and protective suits to go in and rescue the cats.

Their investigation also uncovered nine dead animals -- six dead kittens were discovered in the oven wrapped in paper towels. Two kittens and a dead adult cat were decomposing amid the trash piles.

More cats were found running around the front yard and were captured by animal control officers..." More

Kennewick woman faces animal cruelty charges

May, 14, 2009:  Breeder Faces Animal Cruelty Charges (but, dogs returned to breeder

KEPR TV:  Video & reports

KENNEWICK -- More than 200 white dogs with matted hair living in "deplorable conditions" remain at an east Kennewick home after their owner was charged with animal cruelty because Benton County doesn't have the resources to rescue them...

Ella Stewart, 66, has pleaded innocent to one charge of second-degree animal cruelty in Benton County District Court. She was released from jail without bail and is due back in court in June...

Stewart sells American Eskimos from the house through a company called Sun Valley Kennel, according to information found online and a sign posted on her door...

The conditions the dogs are living in are deplorable...Some are living in 2-by-2-foot cages and apple crates...

Others were found inside shopping carts with lumber and scrap metal placed on top, truck beds and air conditioning frames.

Some dogs were found sleeping on concrete, wooden floors with holes in them and some just on dirt, Lusignan said. The water bowls in most cages were green and covered in algae, he said.

"The dogs had matted hair and were living in pens containing their own feces and urine," he added.

The sheriff's office didn't seize the dogs because it doesn't have anywhere to take them or the resources to care for them, officials said.

"Benton County doesn't have a facility big enough, or the manpower designated to care for animals, in order to be able to provide these animals a safe harbor," Lusignan said. "Unfortunately, we have to leave them where they are."

County officials have investigated Stewart and the condition of the dogs and the property before.

Sheriff's deputies and the health department were looking into her operation in fall 2007.

At that time, she said she was trying to reduce the kennel's population on the two-acre property.

She said she was trying to find a good way to get rid of dogs that aren't breeding stock, but she didn't want to unload the animals on the Humane Society or have them killed.

She told the Herald then that the kennel was started in 1959, and she took it over in 1967.

Sun Valley Kennel was in place long before permits were required by the county, so it's been grandfathered in and doesn't need a special permit to operate, said planning officials.

Stewart said she's been working over several decades to develop the world's smallest Eskimo dog.

She said the kennel maintains bloodlines for the small dogs, which have to weigh less than 11 pounds to be considered a Sun Valley Eskimo.

"I'm taking care of the animals the best that I can," she said..."  More

Bolding & color added by blog editor