Hoarding - nearly two dozen dogs seized from filth
Ramapo, NY (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Dec 10, 2008
County: Rockland
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Karol O'Connell
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
Dozens of animals were rescued from a house in Rockland County Wednesday. Authorities say they were filthy, living in their own waste. The animals are now at a shelter in Pomona.
The animals were finally freed from their foul cages Wednesday afternoon. Nearly two dozen dogs were covered in waste that was matted to their fur.
Police were called to the house on Spook Rock Road by someone working outside of the property who was overcome by the stench.
Inside, police and animal control agents found a few dogs on the first level, but the majority were in the basement, in cages. The animals appear to be well fed, but had not been cleaned, certainly not for months, possibly years.
Police say the owner of the house told them she used to show the dogs, most of which are Shetland sheepdogs. The 73-year old woman, who lives alone, was taken for psychiatric evaluation.
Animal control officers say it's easy for people who breed or collect dogs to get in over their heads.
Case UpdatesKarol O'Connell is due in village court at 5 p.m. today where she's to decide whether to plead guilty to animal cruelty or go to trial.
Ramapo police charged O'Connell, 74, with two counts of misdemeanor animal cruelty on Jan. 14, after nearly two dozen dogs were removed from her home, many of them in feces-filled crates.
Agents of the Hudson Valley Humane Society participated in the Dec. 10, 2008, seizure of the animals from O'Connell's 76 Spook Rock Road home, but did not charge O'Connell.
Most of the animals were shetland sheepdogs. | Source: LoHud - June 30, 2009
Update posted on Jun 30, 2009 - 4:14PM |
A local woman accused of harboring 23 dogs, many locked in feces-filled crates, could see her case disposed of as soon as next month.
A village justice tonight told Karol O'Connell and her lawyer, F. Hollis Griffin, that they must work with the district attorney's office to come up with a plea bargain, or else prepare for a pre-trial hearing on June 30.
Ramapo police charged O'Connell, 74, with two misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty on Jan. 14.
Acting on a tip from a furnace repairman, police and agents from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals went to her Spook Rock Road home in December. There they found the dogs, most of them confined throughout the house in cages.
Village Justice Philip Schnelwar has forbidden O'Connell to possess any animals until the resolution of the case. | Source: LoHud.Com May 26, 2009
Update posted on Jun 30, 2009 - 4:13PM |
References- LoHud - Dec 10, 2008
- ABC 7 - Dec 11, 2008
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