Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Jessica Little |
Hoarding - 39 dogs sized, 25 more dead in freezer
Sardinia, OH (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Oct 13, 2010
County: Brown
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged:
» Teri Lea Hamilton
» Richard Curtis Hamilton, Jr
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A Brown County, Ohio couple is facing charges after animal control officers found dozens of dead dogs in a freezer and dozens more abandoned in a home in Sardinia.
Teri Lea Hamilton and her husband Richard Curtis Hamilton, Jr. are facing misdemeanor charges for a case even animal control officers say is almost too tough to believe.
Brown Co. Humane Society volunteers said dozens of dogs were living alone inside a vacant house off Tri County Highway. Authorities said they rescued 39 living dogs, including 36 Chihuahuas, and 25 to 50 more dog bodies found stuffed in a freezer.
"They went in to get them and that's when one of them ran behind the freezer," said Ray Staubach, a volunteer with the Brown Co. Humane Society. "The warden tried to move it. He couldn't. It was covered with maggots. He put something over it, and then later on he had to try to move it again. He opened it up and he said 'I see dog heads in here.'"
Neighbors said the Hamiltons lived in the house for years, but had moved out months ago and left the dogs behind. The electricity had been turned off so the carcasses rotted inside the house all summer long.
Jim Ward lives feet away from the property. He said the smell was overwhelming.
"You couldn't sit on the front porch," said Ward. "If we had a little bit of wind or air, we would have to go in the house with air conditioning. We couldn't stand it."
Neighbors first reported seeing dogs roaming outside of the house on September 20th. Officers checked the property, but couldn't find any dogs. Weeks later, officers returned and rounded up a number of dogs that were running around outside the house. Officers said they smelled feces and urine through the windows of the home and heard barking. Authorities had to wait weeks to get a court order to enter the house. On Monday, animal control officers and members of the group "CART," County Animal Response Team, put on haz mat suits and went inside.
"Because of the feces of the floor, the smell of urine and the ammonia smell," said Staubach.
"These dogs had actually eaten holes in the dry wall so there were living within the walls of this house," said Jan Staubach, a volunteer with the Brown Co. Humane Society. "Neighbors are still reporting that they're now hearing two more dogs in the house."
The Staubachs said one dog is still on the loose. The others have been taken to a secret shelter.
Brown Co. Prosecuting Attorney Jessica Little said she's spoken with the Hamiltons on the phone, and they are cooperating. The couple is facing dozens of charges of cruelty to a companion animal.
Brown Co. Humane Society volunteers said the Hamiltons are known breeders in the area, and have been in the business for about seven years. According to their website, the couple breeds mainly Chihuahuas.
FOX19 called the Hamiltons on Tuesday night. No one answered the phone or returned our calls.
As for the dogs, there must be a hearing within 10 days to determine what happens to them. They could be given back to the Hamiltons or turned over to the county which would then mean they could be adopted.
Case UpdatesA local woman facing charges of animal cruelty after dozens of dogs were removed from her home last year failed to appear for a hearing in Brown County Municipal Court Wednesday on her motion to suppress a search warrant that rescue volunteers obtained before the animals were extracted.
Teri Lea Hamilton missed the suppression hearing on Wednesday because she is currently serving time in Butler County Jail for a probation violation. Her attorney, Aaron Maus, told the Municipal Court magistrate Wednesday that he was unable to locate Hamilton until the day of the hearing because she is incarcerated in Butler County under a different name, Teri Lea Colker.
An online jail roster provided by the Butler County Sheriff's Office indicates Teri Lea Colker was booked into the Butler County Jail on a probation violation on Nov. 24, 2010. The individual listed as Colker has the same date of birth as Hamilton and addresses listed for Hamilton and Colker are identical - 5685 Tri County Highway in Sardinia, the same location dozens of dogs were removed from last year.
Maus told the court Wednesday he had attempted to locate Hamilton after receiving reports that she was in the Butler County Jail, but was unable to verify her location because he did not know she was detained under a different name. He has now confirmed that Hamilton is being held under the name Colker, Maus told the court.
Magistrate Dexter Bastin issued a warrant Wednesday for Hamilton's arrest. Once Hamilton is returned to Brown County, the issue of her bond may be reconsidered by the court, Bastin said.
"If you miss court dates, that's what happens," Bastin said.
Hamilton was released on an own recognizance bond after she was charged in October 2010 with cruelty to a companion animal, cruelty to animals, failure for dogs to be properly tagged and operating an unlicensed kennel.
Cruelty to a companion animal is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine, according to Assistant Prosecutor Steve Purtell, who is handling Hamilton's case.
Cruelty to animals is a second-degree misdemeanor and the dog tag and kennel registration charges are both minor misdemeanors.
Nearly 40 dogs, mostly Chihuahuas, were removed from a Tri County Highway residence maintained by Hamilton in October 2010 by volunteers with the Brown County Humane Society and Tri State CART, along with assistance from Adams County Dog Warden Paul Hughes.
Volunteers who participated in the extraction said the conditions of the residence were "horrific" and described signs of neglect, including areas of the house that were covered with feces. Volunteers also reported the discovery of a freezer containing the bodies of numerous dead animals. As there was no electricity in the home, so the freezer was not operational.
Complaints from neighbors and the discovery of a seriously injured dog on the property prompted the extraction, according to representatives of the Humane Society. The first dog taken from the property, a few weeks before the large-scale extraction, appeared to have been hit by a car and suffered severe injuries to its eye and leg, according to Jan Staubach, an officer???? of the Brown County Humane Society. That dog, named Baloo, was extensively rehabilitated and has recently been placed with a new family.
"He has just been placed in a foster (home) and is doing well," she said. "He's 16 years old and he needed a lot of attention."
Hamilton signed over ownership of more than three dozen of the extracted dogs to the Humane Society after an emotional court hearing in November, and nearly all of the animals were adopted to homes just a few days later. Several of the Chihuahuas found to have medical issues were examined and treated before their adoption, according to Staubach. Some of the dogs that needed extensive care were placed in specially-selected homes, and all of the adoptive families were pre-screened, Staubach said.
Staubach had obtained a search warrant before the October extraction took place, but Hamilton is challenging the validity of the warrant.
During a November hearing in Municipal Court, Hamilton contended that the warrant issued by Juvenile/Probate Judge Margaret Clark was not valid because Staubach was not an "agent" as the law requires. Purtell indicated Wednesday that prosecution and defense counsel will debate the term "agent" as it applies to the warrant.
Online court records provided by the Butler County Clerk of Courts indicate that Hamilton's current incarceration in Butler County stems from a 2006 conviction for attempting to pass bad checks. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail, but the sentence was suspended and she was placed on probation, according to court record. In December 2010 probation was revoked for violations of bond conditions including failure to pay fines and/or restitution and she was ordered to serve the remainder of her sentence, with credit given for time served.
The suppression hearing in the animal cruelty case will be rescheduled when Hamilton is returned to Brown County. | Source: newsdemocrat.com - Feb 6, 2011
Update posted on Feb 6, 2011 - 6:35PM |
More than 30 dogs rescued from a Brown County home are up for adoption.
The owner still faces animal cruelty charges but she agreed to give up the dogs.
The dogs were in legal limbo for a while, meaning that rescuers couldn't adopt them out even after healing them.
"Coming from a starving condition, you don't want to overfeed the animal," said Bonnie Morrison, of the Tri-State County Animal Response Team.
She said it took a lot of work to get the dogs healthy again. Morrison said it took multiple trips to a vet, medicine and a lot of food -- it cost about $28,000.
"They are in awesome shape, and their personalities -- they're little bubbly creatures and they're happy," Morrison said.
The dogs were originally found in a Brown County home that was covered in insects, feces and even dead animals.
"The legal process has been a nightmare. The laws in Ohio are not strong enough to help in these situations," Morrison said.
She said the Brown County Animal Shelter will hold an adopt-a-thon this weekend.
"What we've told people is, 'Come with an open mind, because the dog you've seen in a photograph may not be a match for your family,'" Morrison said.
The event will start Saturday and to attend, people will have to go through a Source: wlwt.com - Nov 3, 2010
Update posted on Nov 4, 2010 - 12:18AM |
Arraignment has been scheduled in November for a woman facing misdemeanor criminal charges including animal cruelty after dozens of dogs, some live and some deceased, were discovered in a Tri County Highway house that volunteers described as "filthy."
Teri Lea Hamilton appeared in Brown County Municipal Court without legal counsel Wednesday in relation to charges of cruelty to animals, failure to appropriately register dogs and failure to obtain a kennel license.
Of 38 live dogs that were removed from the Tri County Highway house Hamilton rented, 36 were chihuahuas, according to volunteers who participated in the rescue of the animals.
The removal was led by the Brown County Humane Society and Tri State CART, a non-profit organization that specializes in rescuing and caring for animals affected by major disasters and emergencies. Bonnie Morrison, executive director of CART, said the organization also helps with animal hoarding cases as well. Adams County Dog Warden Paul Hughes, who was off for the Columbus Day holiday, also volunteered to assist with the extraction of the animals, and a Brown County Sheriff's Deputy and an EMS squad were at the scene as well.
In addition to the live dogs that volunteers say were living in "deplorable" conditions that included several inches of feces in a house without electricity, "a large number of deceased dogs were found wrapped like sausages in a large freezer inside the home," according to a CART press release. Judging by dimensions of the freezer, volunteers estimated it contained the bodies of between 25 and 50 animals.
During the Municipal Court hearing Oct. 20, Hamilton reportedly asked the court to return some of the animals to her because they had already been sold.
Hamilton was reportedly a dog breeder who has been specifically involved with the Chihuahua breed and, according to online advertisements, sold dogs for hundreds of dollars each. A website attributed to Hamilton, Chihuahuasgalore.com, is no longer operational.
The animals are currently in the care of CART at an undisclosed location and their health has improved greatly since the extraction, Morrison said in a telephone interview after the hearing. Although volunteers suspected several of the animals may have been pregnant when they were removed, only one dog - one of two mixed-breeds taken from the home - is expected to give birth "any day now."
If the court does not return the dogs to Hamilton, they will be relocated and adopted into permanent homes. Morrison said the Brown County Humane Society would handle the adoptions as CART deals strictly with response and rescue activities.
Before the animals are adopted out, however, they will be spayed and neutered, and Morrison said the League for Animal Welfare has offered to perform that service once custody of the animals is decided. Based in Clermont County, LFAW is a voluntary non-profit animal shelter and a privately-funded, no-kill organization. More information about the group and how to donate toward the spaying and neutering can be viewed online at www.lfaw.org.
Donations toward the current care of the animals may be directed to CART, Morrison said. Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 158, Harrison, Ohio 45030. Information about donations and photographs of the individual dogs have been posted on tristatecart.com.
Morrison said spaying or neutering the animals would help to prevent future situations of this type, particularly considering Hamilton was an active breeder. Morrison said Hamilton claimed to specialize in downsizing breeds to make the already small chihuahuas even smaller. Although tiny dogs may be more attractive for potential buyers, downsizing of a breed can lead to serious medical problems, particularly with bones and organs, as well as personality and socialization issues, Morrison said.
"It affects their heart and health," Morrison said, adding that the danger of medical problems "becomes greatly increased as they are bred smaller."
"We want to prevent that," she said.
The animals were checked out by Dr. Meakin, with All Creatures Animal Hospital, after the removal and Morrison said the dogs have appeared to enjoy their stay at the facility where they are now located.
"Many are very sweet and good with other dogs," Morrison said in a media statement CART put out in regard to the extraction.
None had to be placed in quarantine and all the animals that required medical attention have been treated and are receiving checkups as needed.
If the court does not return the animals to Hamilton, Morrison said the Humane Society will handle adoptions. Anyone who is interested in adopting a specific dog should note the animal's number, as posted along with photos on tristatecart.com, and relay that number to the Humane Society. If and when the animals are completely released by the court, individuals who expressed interest in adoption will be contacted and interviewed, Morrison said.
Hamilton is expected to appear in Municipal Court for arraignment Nov. 3. The court has issued a $5,000 bond on Hamilton, CART reported. | Source: newsdemocrat.com - Oct 22, 2010
Update posted on Oct 22, 2010 - 3:03PM |
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