Hoarding - 19 animals seized
Urbana, IL (US)Incident Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011
County: Champaign
Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Judy K. Smith
An Urbana woman pleaded innocent Thursday to animal cruelty charges.
Judy Smith, 57, who listed an address in the 1200 block of Lanore Drive, pleaded innocent to four counts of failure to provide care to animals, a felony because of a prior animal cruelty conviction she had.
Judge John Kennedy scheduled her next court appearance for Aug. 23 and allowed Smith to remain free on her own recognizance. As a condition of her bond, she cannot have or house any domestic animals.
According to an Urbana police report, officers were called to Smith's home at 6:54 p.m. May 23 after neighbors complained about barking dogs and feces in the yard.
Urbana's animal control warden, Chelsea Angelo, said police then got a warrant to check what animals were at the home, what the animals' living conditions were, and whether the animals were vaccinated.
Angelo said police executed the search warrant on May 26.
"We observed a large number of animals, and the smell was overwhelming," Angelo said. "The house was overwrought with feces and urine. Some of the animals were in cages, and some of them were roaming free.
"We removed three adult dogs and five adult cats from the home, and a few of them were injured and sick. The ammonia in the air was so bad we had to call the fire department out to air out the house before we could finish removing the animals."
According to court records, Smith is still on conditional discharge after she pleaded guilty in September to misdemeanor violation of animal owner's duties.
In that case, State's Attorney Julia Rietz said six dogs and 13 cats in various states of declining health were found in the house in December 2009. References |
