Hoarding - 39 dogs caked with feces Fort Myers Shores, FL (US) Incident Date: Monday, Jan 29, 2007 County: Lee Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: Robert Prince Tracey

Case ID: 11328 Classification: Hoarding Animal: dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

Robert Tracey and officials agree there's been a running battle between the county and him that has spanned years. His last trip to court was in February for violating an order that limited him to no more than five dogs in his house at 13308 Fourth St. in Fort Myers Shores.

Animal control officers said he had 39 dogs when they went there on Jan. 29. Tracey said it was 33.

The restrictions stemmed from a 2003 arrest in which Tracey was charged with animal cruelty for another houseful of dogs.

He bristles at the cruelty charge.

"I spent 62 days in jail because of the animal Gestapo," he said referring to animal control officers. "If anything, the county should be charged with animal cruelty for euthanizing perfectly healthy dogs."

According to investigators' reports, 39 animals taken from Tracey's house were in horrid condition, with fecal matter caked to their fur and parasites infesting them.

Enforcers are stuck with investigations that ride the gray area between civil and criminal laws, said Melody Bowers, an assistant Lee County Attorney who handles some of the cases.

That creates difficulties, Raiche said.

If it's a civil case, which most are, investigators cannot get search warrants, Bowers said. Their goal is to take custody of the animals.

That limits officers' ability to get in the suspected offender's house, Raiche said.

"We basically have to ask permission," he said.

Search warrants are issued in criminal cases, and those cases are prosecuted by the state attorney's office, said Samantha Syoen, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney.

In addition, most animal cruelty cases are misdemeanors because investigators cannot prove intent to harm the animals, Raiche said.

"If these people just don't realize the harm they're doing, there's no intent," he added.

Despite the health violations, code enforcement is also limited in what it can do, said Len McCabe, supervisor of Lee County code enforcement.

"We're restricted to the violations we can see from the outside of the persons property," he said. "A lot of the violations are inside the house, and we just can't walk in."

Animal control officers want to organize their attack on hoarders with code enforcement and the county attorney's office, Brown said.

"If we can coordinate our efforts we can do a better job," she added. "Many times these people mean well but don't realize the harm they do to animals."

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References

News-Press - April 25, 2007

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