Mountaintop Natural Pets

Source: OttawaCitizen.com, June 30, 2010

An Aylmer woman and her two grown children are in custody after police raided their home and found the bodies on nearly four dozen cats and dogs buried in the backyard.

The threesome — a woman in her 60s and her daughter and son, both described as in their 40s — have been charged with cruelty to animals, Gatineau police said Tuesday.

Executing a search warrant, police, accompanied by Gatineau firefighters and animal control staff, arrived at the family’s home at 22 Roméo-Gendron Street, between Front Street and Eardley Road. at 10 a.m. In the backyard, they uncovered the buried remains of 43 cats and dogs in garbage bags. Another cat and a dog were found alive inside the house.

Neighbors said police and animal control officers were wearing respirators and protective clothing when they entered the house. They expressed relief that authorities had acted after months of complaints. The house, they said, has been the scene of similar raids in the past, including one about two months ago in which numerous animals — “birds, ferrets, dogs, you name it,” as one neighbour put it — were taken away.

Neighbors said they regularly saw people dropping animals off at the house, and speculated that those who did so were looking for a quick way to get rid of unwanted pets without realizing what may await the animals.

Police did not release the names of those arrested, but said they were familiar with the family and had been to the house numerous times in the past.

Source: Dallasnews.com, May 22, 2010

The man at the center of the disappearance of more than 80 dogs from the city of Ferris’ animal shelter was arrested Friday on animal-cruelty charges.

James “Soaring Eagle” Vonda was arrested at his home in Leonard, where witnesses described squalid conditions and 65 emaciated dogs, 10 cats and a horse at the property.

Melinda Pappa, 45, Yolanda Duke, 46, and Cody Sims, 22, also were arrested at the home in the 800 block of Flanagan Road in Fannin County and jailed on animal-cruelty charges.

“The animal conditions here are very sad,” said Maura Davies, a spokeswoman for the SPCA.

Dogs nursing open wounds were left tethered, and sickly cats were running loose or cramped into pet carriers.

Piles of charred animal carcasses were found in burn barrels throughout the 6.5-acre property.

“In one you can see the top half of a cat. In one, there’s kittens,” Davies said.

The site is believed to be the headquarters of Vonda’s Domestic Animal Rescue Emergency Shelter Services, as well as a domestic violence shelter called Safe Harbor Foundation.

The animals seized Friday were taken to the SPCA’s McKinney facility.

Beginning in November, Vonda, 54, had operated a nonprofit no-kill animal shelter under a contract with the city of Ferris. In April, the city canceled its contract after learning that the dogs and cats kept there were underfed and living in crowded, filthy kennels.

Vonda, the manager of the nonprofit, said that when the contract with the city expired, he took 80 animals to an undisclosed Native American reservation in Oklahoma. He declined to give the exact location because he said he didn’t want to jeopardize the safety of clients at the domestic violence shelter.

Animal advocates grew concerned about the animals because of Vonda’s secrecy surrounding their whereabouts.

“They all are in very good health right now,” Vonda said in an April interview with The Dallas Morning News. “Every Native American wants to have a dog and a cat because it relates to their spirit guide.”

When authorities questioned Vonda about the animals found Friday, he said that about 40 of the dogs were once kept at the Ferris shelter, Davies said.

Alex Fender, the man who reported the Fannin County situation to authorities Friday morning, said he was horrified by the conditions he saw when he visited the property Thursday night.

“Several of the dogs I was able to get close to, they were severely aggressive, but you could see the wounds on their necks for being tied to the chains for so long,” Fender said.

When Fender looked inside the dilapidated ranch-style house, he saw it was no more than a kennel. He said the carpet had been stripped away to the concrete slab and the sheetrock had absorbed animal urine like a sponge.

“I walked into the house for just a second,” he said. “I couldn’t believe the smell.”

Fannin County Sheriff’s Lt. Daryl Parker said the house was so unlivable that residents were living out of one of three large camping tents.

It’s unclear whether anyone besides the four arrested were living at the property.

Fender said he had placed a horse trailer for sale on Craigslist and received a response from a woman representing Safe Harbor earlier that day.

The woman told him she was the animal caretaker for a private domestic violence shelter and safe house. She said in the e-mail that she needed to transport a mare from Leonard to Deming, N.M.

“She is not only a well-loved pet to our facility, but she also a plays a major role in therapy sessions for our residents who have suffered some of the severest cases of abuse,” the e-mail stated. “Because our secret location has been compromised, we need to move her ASAP.

“We have another facility in New Mexico where we will be relocating all the residents and the animals to and we are in need of a fast, discreet and speedy relocation to that location, but we have run into a problem and could use your kind generosity in this urgent matter.”

Fender said the woman told him the nonprofit had only $200.

“This is a very touchy situation, and we need your help urgently,” the e-mail continued.

When Fender went to the home, he spent about 45 minutes on the property taking mental inventory of the animals’ conditions for the report he’d later file with authorities.

“I drove out there to do a good deed for this lady,” Fender said. “There’s some crazy stuff going on over there.”

Source: Heraldonline.com, May 7, 2010

Chester County authorities seized 87 dogs from a woman’s house after finding the animals among mice, cockroaches and an overwhelming stench.

The 76-year-old owner, charged with ill treatment to animals according to an incident report, said she had been sick and in anguish over the loss of her daughter.

Officers on Wednesday found cages and playpens stacked inside the house. In the backyard, dogs were kept in three sheds and six kennels.

Authorities were tipped off by a woman who went to the house to buy a Chihuahua for her granddaughter. Jerry Shepherd said the odor almost knocked her over.

The smell of urine was so strong that officers had to wear masks, reports stated. One of the sheds had to be ventilated for several hours before authorities could go inside.

The dogs — Chihuahuas, poodles, Yorkies and mixed-breeds — appeared to have no food and water, and their cages were covered in feces, authorities reported.

When officers told owner Melissa Elizabeth Lyles they would have to seize the dogs, she asked for one more day to clean up the property, according to an incident report.

“I advised her that there was absolutely no way that we could leave these animals,” the commanding officer noted in a report.

Source: BostonHerald.com, Mar 25, 2010

After a Pekinese died ensnared in its own matted, ungroomed, overgrown fur, authorities are looking for the person who allowed the poor pooch to end up in that deadly state.

The dog was found at the end of a driveway in Waltham, unable to see or move because its coat was so severely matted. Vets say the unlucky dog had not been groomed in more than two years.

“It’s hard to imagine what his life was like,” said Dr. Susan Rosenblatt, chief of staff at Kindness Animal Hospital in Waltham.

“When he arrived, I thought he was dead until I picked him up. He was covered in feces and urine. He died of pneumonia, but that was probably because of the matts. He was breathing in feces and bacteria for years,” Rosenblatt said.

It took a team more than an hour to groom and shave the dog – which the staff named Matt after his condition. His claws had grown so painfully long that they curled and dug into his paws. More than 3 pounds of snarled fur was shaved off the dog. An X-ray revealed an open safety pin stuck in the dog’s coat.

Matt died a few days after he was brought to Kindness.

“It’s a sad ending to a tragic life,” Rosenblatt said.

Waltham Animal Control and the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are investigating the apparent abandonment and neglect case.

Animal control officer Ann Campobasso said she is following several leads. A $1,000 reward is being offered for information.

Source: Baltimore Sun, Mar 25, 2010

A dog who was severely burned as a puppy in a case that drew worldwide attention and led to tougher animal cruelty laws in Alabama has died.

Doug James rescued the dog named Gucci after it was hung by the neck, tortured and set on fire by a group of youths in 1994. James said the 16-year-old chow-husky mix had been in declining health in the past few months and was euthanized on Wednesday.

Passed in 2000, the Pet Protection Act, called Gucci’s law, made first-degree cruelty to a domesticated dog or cat a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Abuse and neglect of a cat or dog is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

James said Gucci turned 16 on Monday and his annual birthday party is scheduled Saturday at a local pet shop. He said the gathering will now be a memorial service.

Source: NJ.com, Mar 6, 2010

Animal welfare workers freed 90 dogs Saturday from what officials are calling a puppy mill on a Monroeville Road property, when the owner surrendered them to the New Jersey SPCA.

That agency was part of a joint operation that also involved the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Cumberland County SPCA and Gloucester County Animal Shelter.

“Many of the dogs were suffering from severe skin, eye and dental infections, and many were matted with feces,” an HSUS statement read.

The statement also said some needed “immediate veterinary attention” and were taken to an emergency veterinary clinic.

New Jersey SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton said his agency has charged 73-year-old Louanne Koval on several animal cruelty-related counts in running the puppy mill at 456 Monroeville Road.

Stanton described Koval as a “breeder turned hoarder,” one who may have thought she was doing right but allowed things to get out of hand.

He said he didn’t know if Koval’s operation had ever been licensed and legitimate.

The breeds being kept there “included dachshunds, hairless and powder puff Chinese crested, Yorkshire terriers and some mixed breeds,” the HSUS statement said.

Stanton said the property also contained a bison and several llamas, but they were not involved in the alleged cruelty case.

Col. Frank Rizzo, New Jersey SPCA Superintendent, was quoted in the statement as saying officers from his agency had visited the property several times over the past month and “attempted to work with the owner to improve the welfare of the animals.”

Rizzo said that “despite charging the owner with eight counts of animal cruelty, the situation just never improved.”

The dogs are being taken to area animal shelters, which will work with HSUS to help them recover and prepare them for adoption.

Stephanie Shain, Senior Director for the HSUS Puppy Mills Campaign, said such sites are far from uncommon.

Puppy mill populations can range from 50 to 1,000, she said, and about 10,000 puppy mills are operating in the United States at any time.

Shain reminded people purchasing dogs to research the breeder’s or owner’s credentials and see what conditions are like on site.

Source: wowt.com, Feb 19, 2010

An Omaha woman is facing a felony charge of animal cruelty. The Nebraska Humane Society released the disturbing details Friday Morning.

NHS says 32-year-old Yolanda Y. Glover of 4040 Curtis Avenue was arrested Friday morning by the Metro Fugitive Task Force. Thursday afternoon a judge set her bond at $10,000 meaning she’ll have to come up with $1000 cash to get out of jail.

Mark Langan with the Nebraska Humane Society says, ” We had to dismantle the dog house to get the dog out.”

The German shepherd found frozen to the floor of his dog house. An examination showed the dog named ‘Tramp’ died of starvation and hypothermia.

“Obviously, the two weeks the dog was outside did not treat him well. Dogs need to be fed, given water and properly sheltered and this dog didn’t have any of those resulting in a very grisly death for this animal.”

A conviction for felony animal cruelty could put her in jail for five years but rarely does this charge lead to that. In the last five years, only one person in the metro, Anthony Schepis, has received substantial jail time for animal cruelty according to the Nebraska Humane Society. Schepis received two years in prison for beating to death his German shepherd puppy in 2006. He died in prison.

The Humane Society had seen the German shepherd before. It was back in November of 2009 and he was healthy. That’s when the same owner was ticketed for not having a license on either of her 2 dogs.

“She does have another dog,” says Langan. “It was checked today by Omaha Police who served warrants. The dog appears to be in good shape. It looks like an indoor dog so weather conditions don’t come into play with that dog.”

Investigators learned of the frozen dog from an anonymous tip on February 1.

Source: wreg.com,Feb 4, 2010

A tip led investigators to a rural home where they discovered one of the worst puppy mills they’ve ever seen.

A Mississippi couple faces dozens of misdemeanor counts of Animal Cruelty. Investigators with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found 95 dogs living in what they call “deplorable conditions” early Thursday. Animal experts say the type of matted hair found on some of the dogs took years to grow. It’s proof, they say, of neglect and abuse of 95 dogs found on the property. Investigators think the operation had gone on for a while, even though neighbors say they never suspected anything. It’s possible the couple took in animals, but then just had too many to care for. At some point, authorities say they started to breed more — for profit.

“I think she’s probably a very nice person and she’s trying to help these animals out,” says Mary Champlin who lives next door.

Neighbors watch in shock, as one by one the animals are tagged and evaluated. Most have disease and malnutrition. Marshall County Prosecutor Shirley Byers says she found carcasses all over the property, skeletal remains inside pens, and a pile of ash where she thinks the homeowners disposed of dead animals.

“It’s very difficult and very time consuming to take care of 100 animals. If you don’t have a staff… this is typically what you end up with,” says Tim Rickey with the ASPCA.

It’s possible they just had too many dogs to handle, but it’s the females that prove to investigators the problem goes beyond hoarding.

“She was a breeder,” says Kelley Wier with the American Humane Association as she holds an adult Chihuahua. “You can clearly see the teats, they’re elongated, so she’s been bred more than once.”

As the workers with the AHA trim lumps of matted hair from a shivering dog, they place it in bags that will entered into evidence that will eventually help charge the couple with animal abuse. The prosecutor says the Sheriff’s office knew of a problem back in 2008, but nothing happened. Byers says the woman responsible used to work at the Sheriff’s office, and her husband is the Assistant County Coroner. Charges could come in the next week.

In the meantime, the neglected dogs will stay at the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic in Byhalia. They are not up for adoption until the court process gets underway, however cash donations are needed to help care for the animals. Contact the Marshall County Humane Society Clinic, the American Humane Association at www.americanhumane.org or the ASPCA at www.aspca.org.