21 cats, 5 dogs seized from mobile home
Benbrook, TX (US)Incident Date: Friday, Sep 12, 1997
County: Tarrant
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Ellen Dale
Ellen Dale of Benbrook will have misdemeanor animal cruelty charges filed against her based on the 21 cats and five dogs seized from her property located in the 8000 block of Ben Day-Murrin Road (southwest Tarrant County). The animals were seized on Sept 12.
On Sept 8, a call placed by an area resident complaining about conditions of the animals and a stench coming from the mobile home led authorities to investigate. Reed Young, chief neglect investigator for the Humane Society of North Texas said, "This is a classic case of an animal collector from what I can see. Collectors have the opinion that any life is better than no life for an animal, even if they are living in conditions like this."
Young also added he might ask the district attorney's office to file a felon charge instead of a misdemeanor charge due to finding dead animals on her property. The case will go before a judge in Tarrant County on Sept 19.
While searching the mobile home the Humane Society staff found 21 cats and the skeletal remains of seven animals (5 cats, a turtle and a snake). All the dogs were located outside the mobile home.
The Humane Society said there were at least a dozen dogs on the property. Most of the animals were malnourished and covered in fleas, their ribs were visible. Three dogs were tied up in pens. A large black and white dog was in a rundown shed, it was about 15 feet from a pile of fresh and dried feces. Some of the dogs had dried food which showed Dale had fed and watered a few of the animals in the last few days.
The cats, including 16 kittens, were in worse condition. They were all located in the filthy mobile home where Dale used to live. The smell of the ammonia from all the urine was detected even before the door to the mobile home was opened. Neighbors had mentioned they could smell the odor from more than 50 feet away.
When the door to the mobile home was opened by the Humane Society, ropey pieces of dried cat feces spilled out of the door way. In some places the feces was 5 inches deep. Rescuers found it difficult to capture the cats and kittens due to all the litter inside the mobile home. There was boxes of children's toys, books, furniture, empty containers, a fur coat on the floor and mattresses. The mobile home also contained several sets of family pictures hanging on the walls. References« TX State Animal Cruelty Map
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