Hoarding 66 cats and dogs
Cheshire, MI (US)Incident Date: Friday, Jan 26, 2007
County: Allegan
Disposition: Not Charged
Case Images: 3 files available
Person of Interest: woman
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
Allegan County Animal Control responded to a house in the rural parts of Cheshire Township outside Allegan. Inside the small home there were 66 dogs and cats all living in filth.
Lt.Scott Matice with the Allegan County Sheriff's Department said, "There was no running water and 2 inches of feces throughout residents. It was an unbelievable environment."
It took two trips to remove all the animals. The dogs were all taken to Mapleview Animal Hospital in Holland and the cats were taken to Allegan County Animal control.
The top priority has been giving the pets a good bath. Veterinarians spent time checking each one for diseases, but overall they say the pets are relatively healthy. They are in good weight and good body score. Not overweight and not too skinny, said Doctor Jim Bader.
Most of the dogs are little breeds and young. There are 16 puppies. The youngest is only 10 days old.
"Yes they were in a bad situation but now they are safe and cleaned up medically they look in pretty good shape," said Bader
A 68-year-old mother and her adult daughter were living there.
The owner admits she's embarrassed. She said the animals kept breeding and the situation just got out of hand.
"That's one reason why I ended with so many animals I didn't want to see them put down."
She says even though things got bad she still loved her pets and is thankful other people will too.
"There won't be a day when I don't think about them I love them so much please take care of them thank you," she said.
Investigators say they don't expect any charges to be filed against the owner at this time.
The animals are being vaccinated and spade and neutered. The healthy ones will be adopted.. If you're interested call Mapleview hospital or log onto http://mapleview.petfinder.com.
Case UpdatesSixty-six feces-covered dogs and cats are looking for new homes after being left in deplorable living conditions.
Animal control officers in Allegan County say earlier this week they went to a home on an anonymous tip. That is where they found the animals living in a doublewide mobile home with their owner - a 68-year-old woman - and her 22 year-old daughter.
The owners voluntarily gave the pets over to an animal rescue group in Holland, which is cleaning and taking care of the animals.
A veterinarian who has examined the pets says it is too early to tell what kind of shape they are in.
"Physically, it's hard to tell right now because they have so many mats and so much feces in their hair. So yesterday and today, the job is to get them looking pretty, and then we'll be able to look at them a lot closer medically, and that what's we'll be doing this afternoon," said Dr. Jim Bader of Mapleview Animal Hospital.
The 39 dogs, 14 puppies and 13 cats will be put up for adoption. If you are interested in giving one of them a home, call New Start on Life at 1-866-716-9393. | Source: WOOD-TV - Jan 26, 2007
Update posted on Jan 26, 2007 - 11:10PM |
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