Hoarding 53 animals
Belton, KY (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Apr 12, 2007
County: Muhlenberg

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Carl Rosen, MD

Fifty-three animals were taken from a doctor's home and the physician is now charged with animal cruelty.

Humane Society workers say they were shocked by what they saw inside the Muhlenberg County home of Dr. Carl Rosen.

Urine, garbage, and feces, up to four inches thick in some places; this is the scene Humane Society workers discovered in a Belton, KY home,after an anonymous call to their office last week.

Living inside were 40 dogs, six cats, exotic birds and iguanas. Excutive Director of the Humane Society, Kim Pennington says, "There was not enough water present for this amount of animals the other thing I was worried about was yes there was food present but if the food is mixed in with a bunch of feces and urine its not good quality food."

None of the animals were malnourished, but some suffered from ear mites, skin infections and were extremely aggressive. Kim Pennington was bitten by a cat in the home and spent more than three days in the hospital with blood poisoning. Kim Pennington explains, "Cats lick and clean themselves and they didn't have clean conditions basically what happened was they had feces urine in their mouth and when they bit me it went straight into my bloodstream.

And the man who stands accused of 46 counts of animal cruelty is Dr. Carl Rosen, a urologist with the Muhlenberg Community Hospital. Dr. Rosen is still working and accepting new patients.

Neighbor Lorene Free says, "Everybody don't know hardly what to think about it they're just kinda shocked."

Lorene says she'd seen some of his dogs out in the yard but says he kept to himself, "I think it's a sad situation I really do. They said he was really upset they said that was like his family. They say he didn't have any family or friends."

Now, the Humane Society is contacting animal rescue operations and asking for your help to give donations to this shelter to help them pay for the care of these animals, or come adopt some of them.

Only two terrier mixes are adoptable from the house, and they're looking for good homes.

Dr. Rosen pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty earlier this week, there is a pre- trial conference scheduled for April 23rd.

References

• WFIE - April 14, 2007

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