Hoarding - 135 dogs
Greer, SC (US)Incident Date: Friday, Dec 1, 2000
County: Spartanburg
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Edna Fisher
» Victoria Fisher
Edna and Victoria Fisher's single wide trailer had 115 dogs living in the mobile home with them and another 20 dogs out in their yard at 157 Victor Avenue just outside of Greer. Edna and Victoria have been charged with 100 counts of ill treatment of animals and 90 counts of failure to provide their pets with rabies vaccinations.
There were 14 years of complaints from neighbors about the loud barking and foul odor. A search warrant revealed a total of 135 dogs living on their property. Don Arnold, director of the Spartanburg County Environmental Enforcement Department said, "The conditions inside the home were unhealthy for animals and people. There was feces 3 inches thick in parts of the house."
"When you find something this bad, it's not fair to the people or the animals."
Two animal control officers were bitten. When they entered the trailer home, they were surrounded by 115 dogs, the control officers had to wear masks to stay in the trailer to remove the dogs.
Edna Fisher said she kept the dogs for protection. "We had a lot of drugs around here at one time. I can't say anymore about it."
The mother and daughter were in and out of court several times in the last 14 years. Edna, 71, and Victoria, 32, said they had 13 dogs inside their 12 x 50 foot trailer. They had received 27 citations issued over that time.
They both face up to $33,750 in fines when they appear in Magistrate Court on Jan 15.
The animal control officers took about five hours removing the dogs and used five trucks to transport 113 of the animals to the Spartanburg Humane Society's Animal Shelter. The dogs appeared to be dachshund or beagle mix. 75% were female, none had been spayed or neutered. There were four litters of puppies found and 10 dogs were in heat.
Edna has paid $3,000 in fines for citations issued early this month. All the dogs will be evaluated by a veterinarian to determine if any dogs need to be euthanized.
Officers will return next week to the trailer to remove the remaining animals. Neighbors had complained all the barking from the dogs in the trailer made it impossible to sleep.
In 1991, Marsha Pressley took the Fishers to court claiming one of the dogs attempted to bite her son and niece. Pressley said, "It's been terrible here, I haven't sat on the porch in years because of the smell and children are afraid to play in their yard."
"Everybody in the neighborhood has complained at one time or another." Neighbors were shocked to find out how many dogs the Fishers really had living in their trailer. References- Spartanburg SC Herald-Journal - Dec 2, 2000
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