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Case ID: 14438

Classification: Neglect / Abandonment

Animal: dog (non pit-bull), horse

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Child or elder neglect

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Nearly 400 sick animals seized from neglect
Denver, NC (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Aug 26, 2008
County: Lincoln

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» Vicki Rauch
» Michael Rauch
» Brandon Olsen

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

Lincoln County Animal Services has spent yesterday moving more than 150 dogs, cats, horses, a llama and other animals from a home to a rescue shelter for treatment.

Animal Services and Lincoln County Sheriff�s deputies served a search warrant to remove the animals from the home of Vicki Rauch at 3454 Petite Lane around nine o�clock on Tuesday.

The animals were moved to a central location where they will be examined and placed in proper care.

Lincoln County Animal Services Director Jack Kerley said, �the condition of the animals are in various stages. Some look malnourished, some look sick, some have skin problems possibly from parasites. The majority of the kennels had no cover, the ground was muddy and the water bowls were green with algae.�

A mobile animal vet hospital will travel to the scene to check on the animal�s conditions.

The animals were transferred throughout the day and into the evening.

The animals are being housed in an 80,000 square foot building and will be taken to the vet to determine their health status this week. Kerley said the investigation into the incident is continuing.

Kerley said, �The American Humane Association has brought in volunteers from all over the country and they are a big help and doing the majority of animal handling�.

Other help came from Lincoln County Emergency Management, Lincoln County Fire Marshal�s Office, East Lincoln and Denver Fire Departments, Lincoln County EMS, East Lincoln and Lincoln Rescue and Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Control.

Case Updates

Animal cruelty charges have been filed against three members of a Lincoln County family.

Nearly 400 pets including dogs, cats, ducks and horses were seized from their home last week.

Authorities say more charges are likely and the current charges represent the worst of the worst when it comes to some animals� conditions.

The nine cruelty to animals charges are for a combination of nine cats, dogs and horses taken from the Rauch family property that are still in such bad shape they require 24/7 care at animal hospitals.

"That doesn't mean the number over nine is OK because they are not," said Lincoln County Animal Services Director Jack Kerley. "We've got a lot of animals here that are sick and need attention."

But Kerley says the animals are getting better daily.

"We might see a tail wagging today that we didn't see yesterday," he said.

It's been a week and a half since the county seized them. Investigators say unhealthy conditions and lack of food warranted it.

Pictures taken during the raid show conditions at the Rauch home -- animals everywhere, some stacked in cages on top of one another. It prompted the Department of Social Services to remove two of the Rauch's children.

A judge has yet decide the animals' fate or the Rauch family's fate if found guilty.

Given what he's seen, Kerley says Vicki Rauch shouldn't be allowed to own animals again.

Vicki, husband Michael Rauch and son Brandon Olsen are due in court Monday morning. All have nine cruelty charges against them.

Vicki told NewsChannel 36 she expected to be arrested and charged, but says she was rescuing animals no one else wanted.

"To have that many animals here alive, how could that be neglected?� Vicki Rauch said.

The Animal Humane Society�s last day of caring for the animals is Sept. 9. After that care will be left up to the county, volunteers and donations.

Source: WCNC - Sept 5, 2008
Update posted on Sep 6, 2008 - 10:36AM

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Animal Control teams still need towels and bedding for nearly 400 animals taken from a Denver house Tuesday.

The animals are being cleaned and evaluated at a temporary animal hospital set up in an old factory.

The director of Animal Services for Lincoln County said the animals were taken from Vicki Rauch's home because many were diseased and malnourished.

A team from across the nation has joined local workers to help rehab the animals.

�This is a full-scale major operation to take care, wash and feed (the animals),� said Jack Kerly, the Animal Services director.

Rauch has not been charged in connection to the animals� conditions. But Eyewitness News has learned her children have been removed from the home.

Department of Social Services workers took her two small children out of the house when they saw the conditions there Tuesday. The children are now staying with relatives.

Anyone who wants to help is asked to bring bowls, blankets, towels or other bedding to the Denver Fire Department. Animal Services asks that people not donate food because some of the animals are sick or have special needs.

Source: WSOCTV - Aug 29, 2008
Update posted on Aug 29, 2008 - 10:20PM

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Nearly 400 animals rescued from a Lincoln County home are being treated for illnesses and malnourishment.

Animals include dogs, cats, rodents, horses, a llama, birds. The county and Animal Human Society are caring for 17 different species overall.

What happens to the animals and their owners hasn�t been determined.

Photos taken by authorities show nearly 400 animals on Vicki and Michael Rauch's property. Almost 100 of them were inside the family�s house.

Kennels were stacked on top of one another.

"I think they all were in some sort of distress,� said Lincoln County Animal Services Director Jack Kerley.

More images of the rescued animals

Kerley says the animals are unhealthy and malnourished and that is why the county rescued them Tuesday.

The animals are now housed in a warehouse, getting better slowly with medical treatment, vaccinations and food.

"They're not having to compete, they're not having to fight for food. The food is there,� Kerley said. "They're dry. They're warm. They're being cared for, being handled, being fed regularly."

Vicki Rauch says they were getting fed and some were treated for illnesses.

"That's news to me,� Kerley reacted.

Rauch says some animals were doing better at her place than when she "initially" rescued them. She says other places wouldn't take them or planned to euthanize them. She denies mistreatment.

The Department of Social Services removed two of the Rauch's children due to the conditions. She has not gotten the children, who are 3 and 10 years old, back yet.

Vicki Rauch says the whole thing is appalling. The county says each of the pictures is worth a thousand words.

Rauch says she plans on suing the county. She alleges they broke the law by not giving her a detailed list of everything they took.

No one in the family has been charged with a crime although Rauch says she expects that to happen.

A judge is expected to decide the animals� fate. That could be a few weeks.

Meanwhile, Rauch says the stress has put her 19-year-old son in the hospital. Rauch says some of the animals were his and he planned to open a pet store.

Source: WCNC - Aug 29, 2008
Update posted on Aug 29, 2008 - 10:14PM

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Officials say they've removed 375 animals from a Lincoln County residence.

Lincoln County Animal Services said the final total is almost twice what they expected to find at the residence on Petite Lane in Denver.

On Tuesday, officials had reported the total to be 140 animals.

According to Animal Services, the final count included 160 large and small dogs, 40 cats, 100 rodents, 65 fowl and exotic birds and 10 livestock including horses, ponies, a llama and goats.

Animal Services director Jack Kerley said many of the animals were either malnourished or unhealthy. He said the animals will be examined and placed in proper care.

County employees, fire fighters, rescue personnel and a number of volunteers were caring for the animals at a large warehouse facility in the Denver area.

No charges have been filed. Investigators are still trying to determine if the home was a puppy mill, or a rescue shelter gone horribly wrong

Source: WCNC - Aug 28, 2008
Update posted on Aug 29, 2008 - 10:13PM

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Vickie Rogers cried tears of joy as she watched an Animal Control team take about 170 animals from her neighbor's home in Denver.

"We can't believe this is happening," she said.

Rogers and other neighbors said for about 18 years they have lived next door to an out of control collection of animals on Petite Lane. They said the sound was awful and the smell unbearable.

"It's like being around a sewer plant," said neighbor Lee Beacham.

Complaints from them and other neighbors drew attention to the former rescue. The Lincoln County Animal Control director said a recent visit by state agriculture officials led them to launch Operation Noah's Ark. It is a name that comes from the fact that owner Vicki Rauch said she had about 150 dogs, cats, goats, birds of all kinds, mice, gerbils, horses and a llama.

Director Jack Kerly said the animals were pinned or tied down outside with no cover and their drinking water was green with algae or brown.

"It's a sad thing that an animal in this condition has to live in this environment," Kerly said.

Dozens of officials and firefighters began taking the animals Tuesday morning. Between 40 and 50 of them lived in the house with Rauch, her husband and children. Rauch said some of the animals were diseased and injured before she took them in.

Rauch told Eyewitness News the surprise raid stressed her 19-year-old son so much that he had to be taken to the hospital.

"I'm being punished for taking in dogs that need help," she said.

Rauch said since 1993, her neighbors and Animal Control have harassed her for helping animals that would otherwise be put to sleep.

Animal Control workers set up a mobile animal hospital Tuesday near the home the animals where seized. It's similar to the kind of hospitals that were set up to help stranded and wounded animals on the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Animal Control officials said the mobile hospital was needed because there were more animals at the Denver home than they have at the county's shelter, so there simply wasn't enough room to hold the animals.

Kerly couldn�t say if the animals may be adopted to new homes. He said there is a chance that some of them may be returned to Rauch if a judge allows it.

Rauch has not been charged. She is still under investigation for animal cruelty.

Source: WSOC-TV - Aug 26, 2008
Update posted on Aug 27, 2008 - 7:04PM

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Nearly 400 sick animals seized from neglectDenver, NC (US)

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Nearly 400 sick animals seized from neglect
Denver, NC (US)