Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Hoarding 24 dogs, 12 cats

Hoarding 24 dogs, 12 cats
Hubertus, WI (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004
County: Washington
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted

Abuser/Suspect: Cynthia H. Neu

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 10659

Classification: Hoarding

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In September of 2004, she and a constable entered Neu's town of Richfield home and found 24 dogs and 12 cats. Neu had been warned, according to Kathy Jaster, humane officer from Richfield, by the town that she could only have three dogs in the home.

"She was hiding them," Jaster said. "She didn't want the neighbors to know she had them, so, for the most part, she was not letting them outside. The house was in horrendous shape."

Neu's elderly father and her brother were living with her at the time, Jaster said.

That home was full of feces and the odor of urine was so strong, Jaster said, that the building inspector refused to go inside.

Jaster said the animals were removed and misdemeanor charges of animal neglect were filed against Neu.

Neu, who goes by the nickname "CyNeu," is a classic hoarder, Jaster said.

She was under orders not to have any animals in the town of Richfield.

In July 2005, Neu was convicted in Washington County on a charge of intentionally failing to provide food for animals. She also violated several ordinances by allowing animals to run at large while she was living at a residence in Hubertus, a location about seven miles west of Germantown, according to court records. She was placed on probation.

Case Updates

A 37-year-old Hubertus woman was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to eight months in jail Tuesday for violating her probation in an 2004 animal abuse case in the town of Richfield.

Cynthia Neu and her brother, Anthony, 39, each face 40 charges of animal neglect in Fond du Lac County.

Those charges violate the conditions of Cynthia Neu�s probation in the 2004 Washington County case, which prohibited her from owning animals without a probation officer�s consent.

In that case, Neu pleaded guilty to intentionally failing to provide for animals at her father�s Richfield home. Neu was found to be keeping 25 dogs and 10 cats in severely inferior conditions, which violated an agreement she had made with the town of Richfield to only keep one dog at her residence. according to the criminal complaint. A doberman and a labrador mix were found in crates that were too small, several dogs were malnourished, no food or water was available, cats were covered in scabs and fleas, and feces, dirt and dog hair was strewn throughout the house, according to the criminal complaint.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Bensen asked for the maximum penalty for Neu on the parole violations.

"There was a number of animals there that were deceased, and a number of animals there that were in such bad condition that they had to be euthanized," Bensen said of the Fond du Lac case.

"Nobody�s denying that this isn�t just a blatant violation of probation," said Neu�s attorney, David Nelson.

Nelson instead argued that Neu believed she was helping the animals by keeping them away from the Humane Society, where she believed they would be euthanized.

Circuit Judge Andrew Gonring said it was impossible to reconcile keeping animals in such "atrocious conditions" and a "pretty disgusting situation" with the treatment they might receive at the Humane Society, which declares its compassion for animals in its name. He called Neu�s notion the animals were better off with her deplorable treatment "bizarre."

Neu is scheduled to appear in Fond du Lac County Circuit Court on May 1 for a plea and sentencing hearing. The combined charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and $400,000 in fines.

Source: GM Today - April 25, 2007
Update posted on Apr 29, 2007 - 7:36AM

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References

	Fond du Lac Reporter - Feb 1, 2007
	Fond du Lac Reporter - Feb 3, 2007

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Hoarding 24 dogs, 12 catsHubertus, WI (US)

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Hoarding 24 dogs, 12 cats
Hubertus, WI (US)