Case Details

Hoarding 25 dogs
San Mateo, FL (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Mar 23, 2007
County: Putnam
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Bonita Renee Reid

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 11048
Classification: Hoarding
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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Suspect was in animal welfare field
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Putnam County authorities seized 25 dogs and nine cats on March 23 morning in a case believed linked to a similar seizure in St. Augustine recently.

Sheriff�s Capt. Phil Alltice said several Maltese dogs got out of a lot at 111 N. Oakland Ave. over the weekend. On Monday morning, one of the neighbors called the sheriff�s office and asked if there was a puppy mill on the lot.

Knowing of a case in which more than 70 cats were confiscated in St. Augustine, Alltice called Paul Studivant, department manager of St. Johns County Animal Control.

�I asked what the last name was over there and he said Reid, which was the same name we had over here,� Alltice said.

Earlier this month, the St. Augustine residence of Bonita Reid, 52, and her mother, Rose Reid, 89, was raided by St. Johns County authorities and the animals taken into custody. Studivant said Friday afternoon that the Reids are expected to be charged on Monday with 73 counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty and two counts of felony animal cruelty by St. Johns County authorities.

Because the situations appeared that they might be similar, Studivant informed Alltice that St. Johns County was looking for the Reids to appear in St. Johns County court.

The summons was delivered to the PCSO on Thursday afternoon and Alltice went to the property at just after 8 a.m. on Friday to serve it.

�When I got there, it turned out there was no residence at all,� Alltice said. �I found a makeshift dog pen and makeshift cat pen. At the beginning, no one was there except the 25 dogs and nine cats.

�They arrived at about 10 a.m. � They did not want us to take their animals; they wanted them back. I told them what the investigation revealed and that the conditions were such that we had to take them back.�

By the time the Reids arrived, also at the scene from PCSO were Maj. Dwight Parker, head of special services; Deputy Jehonathan Peters and animal control officers Nikki Cavanaugh and Sheryl Nail.

The animals were taken to the Putnam County Animal Shelter and were to be examined by local veterinarian Dr. Perry Smith to determine their health on Friday night.

�It was terrible,� Alltice said. �There was a very small pen for the dogs, just pure dirt and fleas. Some dogs were covered with their own feces and had their eyes matted together. There was very little food and water.

�The cat pen was about 4-by-6 (feet) and made out of chain-link fence and dog wire. There were four in little cat carriers and several others just running around the pen. �

�It was just so filthy and nasty.�

Alltice said the Reids did not give an explanation for the conditions in which the animals were being kept.

�I don�t know if they know right from wrong. I think they thought they were doing the animals a big favor.�

Studivant said he has taken several courses in the last year that touched on animal �collectors� or �hoarders,� and said he concurred.

�It�s actually a mental illness, although I don�t know whether it has legally been classified that way yet,� Studivant said. �They really think they are doing right. They think the animals would be better off with them rather than on their own or out in the wild.�

Alltice said charges were pending and would be sent to the State Attorney�s Office early next week.

Parker, under whose division Animal Control falls, praised the officers.

�I feel Capt. Alltice�s actions short-circuited much-longer suffering and inhumane treatment for these cats and dogs,� Parker said.

Case Updates

A daughter and her elderly mother will be charged with 34 misdemeanor counts following the Putnam County Sheriff�s Office seizing 25 dogs and nine cats on Friday from property they were leasing in San Mateo.

PCSO Maj. Dwight Parker said Monday the charges against 52-year-old Bonita Reid and her 89-year-old mother, Rose Reid, will be for �confinement of animals with insufficient food, water or exercise.�

Parker said the charges would be forwarded to the State Attorney�s Office within the next couple of days.

The same two women were to be charged with 73 misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and two felony counts of animal cruelty Monday in St. Johns County, St. Johns County Animal Control Director Paul Studivant said Friday. Those charges stem from St. Johns County authorities seizing more than 70 cats from property the Reids were living on in St. Augustine earlier this month, Studivant said.

PCSO Capt. Phil Altice said four of the cats and two of the dogs seized will have to be euthanized early this week after being examined Friday night by a local veterinarian.

�Of the four cats, two will have to be put down because of illness and two because they are vicious,� Altice said Monday afternoon. �Two of them are just mean. Our people can�t even get into their cages to put food or water down for them.�

Altice said the dogs will be put down because the veterinarian said they were too sick to save.

On Friday around 8 a.m., Altice went to a property at 111 N. Oakland Ave., to serve a summons from a St. Johns County judge regarding the earlier case.

He discovered there was no residence, only a pair of small dog and cat pens. Finding the conditions to be unhealthy, Altice called in four other PCSO personnel. The Reids showed up around 10 a.m.

After a discussion with the women, PCSO seized the animals and took them to the Putnam County animal shelter. All but two of the dogs appeared to be Maltese, Altice said.

Altice said the future of the dogs and cats who will not be euthanized is uncertain, although he said they do not face the prospect of being put down.

�We will have to wait for a decision from a judge to tell us what to do,� Altice said. �It is possible they could be released back to these women.

�If not, we have had several phone calls and e-mails from people who would like to adopt them.�
Source: Palatka Daily News - March 27, 2007
Update posted on Mar 27, 2007 - 7:49PM 

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Palatka Daily News - March 24, 2007

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