 Hoarding over 70 rabbits
Louisville, TN (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Apr 10, 2001
County: Blount
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted
Abuser/Suspect: Kimberly Ann Chill
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Kimberly Ann Chill, 32, was charged with cruelty to animals after animal control officers found 70 live domestic rabbits living in unsanitary, unhealthy conditions in a rented mobile home.
General Sessions Court Judge Hugh E. DeLozier Jr. gave Chill an 11-month, 29-day sentence earlier this month after she entered a guilty plea to the charge.
As a condition of her probation, Chill was directed to release all her rabbits to Humane Blount. She was instructed she could have her two dogs and her cat as pets but no other animals. The judge ordered Chill to submit to unannounced monthly visits from animal control officers.
Maryville Animal Control Officer Eddie King attempted to make his first inspection Tuesday. He learned Chill had moved from the trailer where she had lived on Lakeview Way to Pinetrace Inn on Alcoa Highway.
When King arrived, Chill refused to allow him to come into her room. King learned why she would not cooperate when Alcoa police officers arrived and told Chill she had to let King in.
The animal control officer found Chill's two dogs and cat, but he also found 13 rabbits living in the motel room with Chill and her other pets.
King seized the rabbits, took them to the Maryville Animal Shelter and later released them to Humane Blount represented by Dr. Tonya Lawson, a veterinarian and director at Midland Pet Emergency Clinic.
Pinetrace Inn employees estimated damage to the carpet in the room at $500.
Chill was ordered to leave by Pinetrace Inn management. King said he is uncertain where she will relocate.
The animal control officer's first contact with Chill came April 10 when he responded to the trailer she was renting on Lakeview Way. Neighbors had reported an odor problem they believed might be related to Chill's pets.
Neither the neighbors nor King had any idea what would eventually be found in the woman's mobile home. King said Chill told him on April 10 that she had about 38 rabbits. King said the odor of rabbit urine and feces was strong, the interior of the trailer was cluttered and filled with refuse as well as animal feces, and the animals he saw seemed unhealthy.
Chill was given 30 days to remedy the situation by improving the living conditions for her pets and addressing their health problems.
When King returned to Chill's trailer on May 16, he was denied access to the residence but said the odor indicated conditions for the rabbits had not significantly improved.
King saw a judge and got a warrant to allow him to enter the residence. He and Animal Control Officer Marcus Walker spent an hour and a half capturing 70 rabbits loose inside the mobile home.
Evidence indicated the rabbits were being fed dog food rather than a ration tailored for their needs. The rabbits had no access to fiber or hay and no litter boxes, according to King.
In addition to the 70 live rabbits in poor to ``not too bad'' condition, King said he saw five dead rabbits in the trailer and the bodies of three other animals too badly decomposed to be certain they were rabbits. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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