Hoarding 63 dogs, child neglect
Charleston, SC (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 19, 2007
County: Charleston
Disposition: Not Charged
Abuser names unreleased
Two teenage girls were living in a single-wide mobile home with moldy furniture and a spongy floor saturated with the urine and feces of 52 small house dogs, Dorchester County sheriff's deputies said.
Another 11 dogs living in a dirty pen outside the house on Plumbranch Avenue brought the total pet population to 63.
Deputy Rachel Parker discovered the conditions Jan 19 after school officials asked the Sheriff's Office to check on the welfare of one of the girls.
The odor inside the house was so pungent that a supervisor made it only as far as the front door before he turned around and went to call the state Department of Social Services and Animal Control, according to the sheriff's report.
DSS removed the girls, ages 13 and 16, and placed them in emergency protective custody. They are staying with a relative while DSS continues its investigation and detectives consider filing criminal charges of neglect against the mother, Capt. Tom Marshall said.
The owner voluntarily signed over the dogs to Animal Control. Officers herded the 52 small dogs and delivered them to the Francis R. Willis Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Most appear to be mixed-breed Chihuahuas and dachshunds, said Bob Jones, executive director of the SPCA. About half were adopted over the weekend, and the shelter had 22 phone messages Monday from people wanting to adopt or provide foster care for the remaining dogs, Jones said.
Animal Control went back to the home Monday for the other 11 dogs, which appear to be mixed-breed Labrador retrievers and spaniels, Jones said. They have to be evaluated and won't be up for adoption until later this week.
The large-breed dogs are the first ones Parker saw when she approached the home Friday afternoon. They were in a muddy pen that appeared to be full of feces, she wrote in her report. The deputy said she was overwhelmed by the odor of animal waste when the owner opened the front door.
Parker stepped inside and saw ripped-up carpet and urine-stained floors and walls. She wrote that she saw food and dirty dishes all over the kitchen counter. A DSS case worker later called to the home couldn't even get into some of the rooms to take photographs because trash blocked the doors, Parker said.
The owner claimed that the family is at the mobile home during the day but stays at a neighbor's house or in Wando at night, the report said, but interviews with three other people contradicted that claim.
It was the second time since November that children were found to be living in unsanitary conditions among a large number of animals. Berkeley County deputies found 60 small dogs and two cats living inside a Goose Creek home with a woman and her girls, 11 and 13, when a driver crashed through the front of the house after passing out at the wheel.
Jones said people often take in a few animals, but "a few becomes some more, and then it becomes impossible." He said he suspects hoarding is more common than people think, because it usually only comes to light by some other means.
There is even a Hoarding of Animals Research Consortium, founded by a professor and veterinarian at Tufts University's Center for Animals and Public Policy.
The consortium defines an animal hoarder as someone who accumulates a large number of animals but fails to provide them with adequate care. The person is in denial about the inability to care for the animals. The inside of the home is usually unsanitary because it is covered in animal waste and trash, but the person doesn't recognize the conditions or animal neglect, it said in a 2005 report. A study found most hoarders are women, the consortium said.
To help
To adopt: $120 fee includes micro- chip and registration, rabies shot, spay or neuter, and wellness visit at a local veterinarian's office. The dogs are available on a first-come basis.
To help the shelter defray the cost of animal care: Mail checks to FRWSPCA, P.O. Box 1116, Summerville, SC 29484. Drop cash donations at the SPCA at 136 Four Paws Lane in Summerville, off U.S. Highway 78. Make credit card donations by calling the SPCA at 871-3820. References« SC State Animal Cruelty Map
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