Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: 27 dogs seized from filthy storage trailer

27 dogs seized from filthy storage trailer
Yorkville, WI (US)

Incident Date: Sunday, Mar 25, 2007
County: Racine
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available

Alleged: Susan A. Ball

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

Case ID: 11127

Classification: Hoarding

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Suspect was in animal welfare field

Countryside Humane Society took in 27 new dogs on March 25 night after they were found crammed in a filthy trailer.

Most of the dogs were packed three to a crate; six were stuck in a small bathroom. Some had water dishes, but there was no water in any of their cages. All of them were covered with feces.

The Racine County Sheriff's Department found the trailer at The Storage Place, 19031 Spring St., and called for assistance from the county's humane officer at 7 p.m. Sunday. After receiving permission from the trailer's owner to go in, the officers opened the trailer and saw the animals.

The trailer was being leased to a Union Grove woman, who agreed to voluntarily surrender the dogs to Countryside. The voluntary surrender does not prevent the woman from being criminally charged; Countryside will be forwarding information to the District Attorney's office within the next few days.

Humane Officer Randy Lansbery met a deputy at the site and they used a pry bar to get into the trailer.

"The stench just came out," he said.

Once they got inside they found seven carriers, each with three dogs inside.

"There were about three to seven days of feces in there," he said. "Some had water bowls, but they were full of feces. There was no water. All the dogs were covered in feces. It was terrible."

The dogs were not the only problem in the trailer.

"There was one skinny walkway down the middle," Lansbery said. "There was debris, old clothes, cans, garbage stacked 6 feet high. The windows were closed. The stench was incredible. You couldn't even breathe."

They took photographs of the trailer, seized the dogs and brought them to Countryside.

Since Sunday, Countryside workers have been working to clean the dogs. The worst is over, but they will need multiple baths to get rid of the smell that lingers on their fur.

Maggie Skovera, an animal health care attendant at Countryside, has spent the past two days caring for the animals.

"They came in with dreadlocks of poop," she said. "There was a cocker spaniel that had a pound on each ear."

She said the dogs have eye irritation from the ammonia in the trailer. One dog is missing half its tongue; another will have to have an eye removed.

"Most are in pretty good physical shape now," she said. "But mentally, they've never walked on a hard surface. If you put a leash on them, they scream. None are house trained. The defecated where they lived."

Skovera expects the dogs to need significant rehabilitation through rescue homes before they could be adopted.

Case Updates

Susan A. Ball, accused of leaving 27 dogs in a filthy trailer, has made her first appearance in court.

Ball, 45, of Union Grove, is charged with failing to provide proper food to a confined animal, intentionally not providing an animal with sanitary shelter and two counts of bail jumping. All charges are misdemeanors. She could face up to $10,000 in fines and three years imprisonment if convicted on all charges.

The dogs were discovered late last month when the Sheriff�s Department investigated a report of animal mistreatment. Deputies heard dogs barking inside a trailer home at A Storage Place, 19031 Spring St. When they went inside they found small dogs packed three or four to a cage, without space to move around. The cages were very dirty, and many dogs were matted head to toe in feces.

Ball surrendered the dogs to Countryside Humane Society, and said she found strays and took in dogs people were getting rid of.

She is next due in court in June.

Source: Journal-Times - April 24, 2007
Update posted on Apr 29, 2007 - 7:24AM

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Not every touching story has a happy ending, and that was true for Krissie the mother cat's two foster puppies.

Two part-dachshund puppies that had been nursing with their foster cat mother didn't make it past their seventh day of life. They died Monday at the home of Jim and Joyce Bates, who were part of a chain of people trying to help 31 dogs recently seized from a Union Grove woman charged with animal abuse.

About two weeks ago, authorities discovered that Susan A. Ball, 45, had locked 27 small dogs in a Yorkville storage unit. The dogs were jammed three to a crate in filthy, inhumane conditions; they lacked food and water, were covered in feces and suffering eye damage from the acrid, ammonia-filled air.

That week Ball also surrendered four more dogs she'd had in her home.

She has since been charged by Racine County District Attorney Michael Nieskes with four misdemeanors: Failure to provide proper food for a confined animal; failure to provide shelter to an animal; and two counts of bail jumping.

If convicted, Ball could face up to $10,000 in fines and three years in prison. She is due in court April 23.

The story took a new and seemingly sweet turn last week when a female dachshund seized from Ball was found to be pregnant. Dr. Nicholas Juleen of Racine Veterinary Hospital removed two live puppies in a Caesarean section.

The next day, the pups were placed in their foster home with the Bateses and were accepted by a nursing mother cat named Krissie.

Both puppies were alive Monday morning, but in mid-afternoon, when Joyce Bates looked in on them, one was dead. The other died soon afterward as Bates drove them to Countryside Humane Society.

"It's a sad day today," she said.

Amazingly, the puppies had not one, but two, feline foster mothers during their short lives. Earlier Monday, Bates said, a second mother cat named Maud starting taking Krissie's kittens, apparently because she still had the nursing urge but her own kittens were older and romping around.

So the Bateses placed the two puppies with Maud, who happily took them in. The pups nursed for awhile but Bates said, "They were fussy most of the day."

Having the puppies die "was a surprise, at least to me," Countryside Humane Society President Marilyn Benson said. She surmised the deaths were related to the mother dog's dire condition.

Dr. Tom Mano at the vet hospital agreed. The mother dachshund was still very sick Monday, he said.

"We have moments when she seems better, and then she'll take two steps back again," he said. "You're always worried that whatever infectious conditions she came in with got into those puppies."

The puppies had reached full term when they were taken by Caesarean section, Mano said, so being underdeveloped was not an issue.

As a nearly constant foster home for Countryside, Joyce Bates and her husband have seen animals die before. "Unfortunately, yes," she said. "We did what we can, and if it did something in the public eye to treat animals better, let's hope it did something."

Source: Journal-Times - April 16, 2007
Update posted on Apr 17, 2007 - 12:54AM

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The woman accused of leaving dozens of animals in filthy cages, without food or water, allegedly told authorities the dogs were strays that she took in.

Charges against Susan A. Ball, 45, of Union Grove, have been filed with Racine County Circuit Court. The criminal complaint lists four misdemeanor charges: Failure to provide proper food for a confined animal; failure to provide shelter to an animal; and two counts of bail jumping. If convicted, she could face up to $10,000 in fines and three years imprisonment. Ball is due in court for these charges on April 23.

According to the complaint, sheriff's deputies went to A Storage Place, 19031 Spring St. (Highway C), on March 25, for a report of animal mistreatment. Deputies could hear dogs barking inside a trailer and asked dispatch to contact the property owner to find out why the animals were there.

Dispatchers contacted the owner who said Ball had the only keys to the trailer. He said she wanted to breed dogs, but that he had not known she was keeping dogs in the trailer. He gave consent for deputies to force their way into the trailer to get the animals.

The complaint indicates the dogs were packed three or four to a cage and they did not have enough space to move around. The cages had not been cleaned in a very long time, and many dogs were matted head to toe in feces. In all, 27 dogs were removed from the trailer.

While they were inspecting the trailer, deputies reached Ball, who was routed to a humane officer's cell phone.

Ball allegedly told the officer she had not been at the trailer in at least three days because she had lost the keys.

On the afternoon of March 26, Ball called the humane officer and surrendered all 27 dogs to Countryside Humane Society. Two days later she called again and said she would find strays or take in dogs people were going to get rid of. Eventually, she said, it got to be too much.

Source: The Journal Times - April 5, 2007
Update posted on Apr 6, 2007 - 7:51AM

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References

	Journal-Times - March 27, 2007
	Journal-Times - March 27, 2007
	The Milwaukee Channel - March 28, 2007
	Gazette Extra - March 28, 2007
	WKBT - March 28, 2007
	The Milwaukee Channel - April 4, 2007

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27 dogs seized from filthy storage trailerYorkville, WI (US)

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27 dogs seized from filthy storage trailer
Yorkville, WI (US)