Hoarding, animal neglect
Muskogee, OK (US)Incident Date: Thursday, Oct 30, 2008
County: Muskogee
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Sharon Louise Stamps
A woman with residences in Checotah and Muskogee was arrested on a complaint of animal cruelty in Muskogee County, and her home here condemned.
Sharon Louise Stamps, 50, is free on $10,000 bond. She is accused of depriving a dog of medical treatment.
She also faces a city condemnation action on her home at 227 N. 13th St., confirmed Rudy Fuller, Muskogee code enforcement officer.
Stamps said that, to her, both the charge and the attempt to condemn her property are "bizarre." She also said the city kept calling the dogs pit bulls and that they are American bull dogs.
An affidavit filed in Muskogee County District Court states that when picked up by animal control officers, the pit bull terrier dog had open wounds and a dislocated or fractured leg.
''You could see bone and tendons torn open on one leg, and the dog had the mange," said Muskogee City Clerk Pam Bush. "The dog was in terrible pain."
The dog was taken to a local veterinarian who determined the dog should be euthanized, which was done by the city, Bush said.
Stamps said she was not allowed to continue to medicate her dog as prescribed by a McIntosh County veterinarian or given the option to have the dog's leg amputated.
The other dog taken from Stamps' Muskogee residence is in the animal shelter, officials said. It has cuts on its legs that have healed.
Muskogee animal control officers then went to Stamps' Checotah residence, where McIntosh County lawmen found 28 dogs. They brought two adult dogs and seven puppies to the Muskogee animal shelter because they had been residing at Stamps' Muskogee home, officials said.
The house on North 13th Street was rundown and filthy, Fuller said.
''It was unfit to live in," he said. "There was dog crap ground into the floor everywhere. Fleas were everywhere. The locksmith got sick when he opened the door because of the odor -- clothes, trash -- all of it was filth."
Stamps said that the dogs had pushed in the back door and had trashed the house but said she was able to clean up the dog "poop" within three hours. She said she believes the condemnation action was meant to embarrass her.
Stamps has appealed the condemnation action.
There was a $7,751.44 arrest warrant out for Stamps in connection with a July 2005 judgment to Voss Veterinary Clinic in Checotah. The warrant was issued on Sept. 22 when Stamps failed to appear at an asset hearing in Muskogee County District Court.
''Don't you think it is a little ironic I was sued for a vet bill if I am cruel to my animals," she said. References
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