Dog neglect, 13 seized Watsonville, CA (US) Incident Date: Monday, Oct 30, 2006 County: Santa Cruz Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Abuser names unreleased

Case ID: 10051 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: dog (non pit-bull), horse, chicken View more cases in CA (US) Login to Watch this Case

Thirteen dogs confiscated from a home on Hughes Road are searching for new homes. It's the second time animals have been removed from the rural residence in little more than a year.

County Animal Services officials said that 13 dogs of various breeds were taken from the property where they were found kept in a 8-by-3-foot pen, covered in feces, having no place to lay down and without clean water and food.

"I've been doing this almost four years, and it's one of the worst conditions I've seen," said Todd Stosuy, animal control manager.

Stosuy said the dogs were "being fed hominy and beans covered with maggots," adding that the water the dogs drank was contaminated with mosquito larvae.

The discovery came Oct. 30 when animal control officers went to the property to follow up on a dog license, said Susan Pearlman, interim general manager of the Santa Cruz County Animal Services Authority.

"When they got there they discovered the hideous situation," Pearlman said.

A horse with a leg injury and a rooster that appeared to have been involved in a cockfight also were on the property, officials said.

Stosuy told the owners to have the animals treated. When he returned days later, he found the horse had been treated but not the rooster. It was confiscated Thursday, Stosuy said.

It is not the first time animals have been rescued from the home, Stosuy said.

Last year about a half-dozen dogs were confiscated when it was discovered they were not being fed and were neither spayed nor neutered as county ordinance requires, Stosuy said.

The dogs taken last month had not been spayed or neutered either, Pearlman said.

Most of the dogs have since been fixed though one female delivered eight pups, which are staying in a foster home until they are old enough to be adopted.

Others are being housed at animal shelters in Watsonville and Scotts Valley.

"With a little care and attention they are for the most part adoptable, which is just a great outcome," Pearlman said.

On Nov 10, four of the younger dogs, were playing in cages outside, showing few signs of neglect.

Stosuy said he will meet with county prosecutors to determine if the animal owners will face charges of animal neglect.

If charges are filed and there's a conviction, the sentence could prohibit the owners from keeping animals for a specified period, Pearlman said.

Anyone interested in adopting a rescued dog or any other animal can see them 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at the Watsonville shelter, 580 Airport Blvd., or from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week at the Scotts Valley shelter, 27 Janis Way. Animals also can be seen at www.scanimalservices.us.

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Santa Cruz Sentinel - Nov 11, 2006

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