31 rabbits starved to death
East Greenwich Township, NJ (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008
County: Gloucester
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Deborah Bailey
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
A Gloucester County woman is being sought by New Jersey animal authorities, who claim she allowed 31 rabbits and possibly a horse to starve to death on an East Greenwich Township farm.
Deborah Bailey, who had rented a home in Logan Township a short distance from the farm, failed to appear in municipal court on July 28 to answer to 39 charges of animal cruelty leveled by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Authorities said today that they have not been able to find her at her rented home, which appears to have been recently condemned, and that a court warrant has been issued for her arrest.
"We want to find her, but our real concern right now is the care of animals that were found alive," said SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton.
Three horses, four ponies, five goats and a cat are still living on the West Cohawkin Road farm, which Bailey had been renting. Caring for the animals is costing the agency $350 to $400 a week, and the agency has set up a fund for donations.
The farm owner also has permitted the SPCA to continue housing the animals on the property.
The SPCA and county animal control officers found the animals when they visited the farm on July 9. The dead rabbits were found stacked in cages in a locked shed and hutch behind a barn, and the remains of a horse also were found.
"The animals were found to have died from lack of food and water. The rabbits were locked inside cages in various stages of decomposition," added SPCA Investigator Theresa Cooper, in a prepared statement.
Authorities said they are not sure what Bailey was doing with the rabbits. She disappeared after being charged, said Stanton. Bailey faces up to $1,000 in fines and a possible jail sentence if convicted on the charges.
Donations to care for the surviving animals may be sent in the name of the "East Greenwich Township Horses," and mailed to the NJSPCA at 1119 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, said Stanton.
Case UpdatesIt will be another month until Deborah Bailey has her date in court: the hearing for the Logan Township woman facing more than 50 counts of animal cruelty has been postponed.
The 45-year-old Bailey remains at Gloucester County Women's Prison in Clarksboro after officials from the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals asked to delay the proceedings.
Bailey, who is being represented by a public defender, will now go before the court Sept. 22.
NJSPCA Investigator Theresa Cooper said officials had another meeting scheduled earlier that conflicted with the court date.
Authorities were first called to a farm Bailey rented on West Cohawkin Road on July 9. There, authorities came upon dozens of dead rabbits and a dead paint horse named Mariah, as well as sickly horses and ponies, goats and a cat.
The rabbits were found in stacked cages within a locked shed and small barn. Some were found living among the ones that had perished from lack of food and water.
Authorities said Bailey admitted she chopped the tail off the cat after it was broken, resulting in a later charge of animal mutilation in addition to multiple charges of animal cruelty and abandonment.
Bailey missed a scheduled court hearing in late July and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
She was apprehended Aug. 6 at the farm. SPCA officials had been providing food and water to the animals in an attempt to nurse them back to health.
Her arrest came minutes after authorities were at the farm to tend to the animals and address the media. While she talked to a television news crew, neighbors called East Greenwich police, who took her into custody.
There is a bright side to the story Ð each of the creatures found alive at the farm has found new beginnings.
"All the animals have been adopted and all of them are showing incredible progress," Cooper said. "She did surrender custody of them the night she was arrested."
Cooper declined to reveal where the animals are now, but did say Licorice, a brown Shetland pony that was found with a severe an eye infection, has a home in Morristown on a farm that hosts therapeutic riding.
"Everything ended up absolutely wonderful for the abandoned animals in this case," Cooper said. "Now it's just a matter of getting (justice served for) Bailey." | Source: Gloucester County Times - Aug 28, 2008
Update posted on Aug 29, 2008 - 10:22PM |
For about a month, police had been looking for a Clarksboro woman accused of leaving animals to starve and die.
Dozens of rabbits were found dead last month in a barn near Deborah Bailey's home in East Greenwich Township. Three horses also died.
"It just like ripped your heart out. It was the most horrible, tragic thing I've ever seen happen to an animal," said a Clarksboro neighbor who didn't want to be identified.
But Fox 29's Shawnette Wilson was there Thursday when Bailey returned to the barn and was arrested by authorities.
A sign on the barn reads, "Welcome," but a look at the farm reveals there's nothing inviting about the place, Wilson reported.
Neighbors said that the animals, when they arrived on the farm about a year ago, were healthy and fine. But about a month ago neighbors found several of the animals were dead and the owner was nowhere to be found.
"I mean, you could smell the dead, decaying rabbits. As soon as you walked into the field it hit you in the face," the one neighbor said, adding that she saw the SPCA remove 31 dead rabbits and a dead horse.
Neighbors said the animals were locked behind a fence and couldn't get to water left in plain sight.
The rib cages on several horses remained easily visible Thursday. Goats and cats still on the property appeared malnourished, and one cat had half its tail cut off.
Sgt. Thomas Yanisko of the New Jersey SPCA said his agency filed charges a month ago against Bailey after finding the dead animals.
"Since that time, now she's facing animal abandonment charges because she never came back," Yanisko said.
Just before 5 p.m. Thursday, a pickup truck pulled up at the barn and Bailey was in it, along with her mother and a relative.
When asked why the animals were left in the condition they were, Bailey denied not being there or caring for the horses.
Bailey's mother, however, said she knew nothing about it and started crying during the interview.
"OK, so why haven't they been fed? Have you not been able to get here?" Wilson asked.
"Well, we've been walking back and forth. I've been up here taking care of them and everything else," Bailey said.
From inside the truck, the mother said to Bailey, "You told me you were up here every night taking care of these horses."
"I've been taking care of everything," Bailey answered.
"Get that out of my face," the mother said about the microphone.
"So, you were not aware, though, that this was going on?" Wilson asked.
"No, I wasn't aware. I've just come here today because I caught her in a lie, and that's what I'm here for," the mother said.
Soon, Greenwich Township police arrived to take Bailey -- for whom they had been searching for about a month -- into custody.
In the meantime, neighbors have been helping the SPCA care for the remaining animals. | Source: MyFox Philadelphia - Aug 7, 2008
Update posted on Aug 7, 2008 - 8:41PM |
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