Animal Abuse: Disbanded animal rescue raided - Berlin Center, OH

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Case ID: 18392

Classification: Hoarding

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Case #18392 Rating: 2.0 out of 5

Disbanded animal rescue raided
Berlin Center, OH (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Aug 10, 2011
County: Mahoning

Disposition: Convicted

Defendant/Suspect: Carol Dauberman

Case Updates: 3 update(s) available

A neighbor's complaint about a Berlin Center barn turned up more than two dozen dogs living in hot, feces-filled conditions with no food and little water.

Off Bedell Road in Berlin Center, this barn looks normal. But inside, detectives from the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office and officials with the Mahoning County Dog Warden found repulsive conditions.

"Inside the barn, it's well over 100 degrees. Lots of feces, lot of feces in there. Can't even hardly breathe as far as that goes," said Dog Warden Field Supervisor Dave Nelson.

Living there were some 17 adult dogs plus several puppies, including a dead one. Nelson said there was no food and little water for the dogs. Fleas, flies and ticks were feeding on the canines.

"We have four puppies inside the vehicles right now that have quarter-size holes in the side of them," Nelson said, noting all four were taken to his agency for treatment.

He said two adult dogs were taken to Animal Charity for treatment, and the dogs left at the scene with proper food and water will be rounded up on Thursday once Nelson figures out where to take them all.

The woman responsible for the situation is cooperating with authorities, but declined an interview with a reporter.

"The female advised me that she had a rescue service in cleveland. The animal rescue service disbanded and she took the majority of the animals and brought them here and this is to be better than trying to adopt them I guess," Nelson said.

Nelson said the woman admitted to only working four hours a day and not having enough money to get trash service. Inside her home, cats were in bad shape, running wild and multiplying.

Back in the barn, Nelson said the dogs also were adding up because they weren't fixed and were even in-breeding.

The owner faces 34 counts of animal cruelty and Nelson said he expects charges to be filed by Friday. She likely will appear in Sebring Municipal Court Aug. 18.

"Does she have an excuse for letting it get this out of control? She said that she ran this rescue organization and she does not want the dogs put to sleep. So I asked her, 'I understand you don't want them to be put to sleep but you have no money to feed them and you have no facility or way to take care of them other than this'," Nelson said.

"We are left with the problem," he said.

The investigation is continuing.

Case Updates

The Berlin Center woman charged with animal cruelty after the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office found 24 dogs and 12 cats in a barn and trailer got a suspended jail sentence.

Carol Dauberman, 40, represented by a court appointed attorney, pleaded guilty Thursday to two counts of cruelty to animals in Sebring Municipal Court, while six other counts of animal cruelty were dismissed.

The court ordered Dauberman to pay $100 in fines, $210 in court costs and $120 in probation fees. She will serve one year's probation and have to complete 40 hours of community service in an animal-related shelter. A 90-day jail sentence was suspended.

Dauberman could have been fined up to $750 for each count of animal cruelty.

On Aug. 9, the sheriff's department responded to Dauberman's Bedell Road address and found dogs housed with a large pile of feces and trash in Dauberman's barn.

Dog Warden Dave Nelson said the pile was 10 feet wide, 20 feet long and 5 feet deep. Water dishes were located in two of four pens, and some dogs had holes in their flesh and skin rashes.

At that time, Dauberman permitted agents to remove all but two dogs.

The court clerk said the probation did not stipulate whether Dauberman could own dogs.

Source: vindy.com - Sep 25, 2011
Update posted on Sep 25, 2011 - 5:10PM

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A Berlin Center woman who is facing 10 counts of cruelty to animals appeared in Mahoning County Court in Sebring Thursday morning.

Carol Dauberman, 40, pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Aug. 10, the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department found nearly three dozen animals, including a dead puppy, at a barn on Bedell Road after receiving a tip from a neighbor.

The animals were living in feces and had little food and water.

Dauberman is not permitted to care for animals until the case is resolved. She is due back in court next month.

Source: wkbn.com - Aug 18, 2011
Update posted on Aug 19, 2011 - 3:01PM

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Carol Dauberman kept two of the 24 dogs that were found on her rental property, and neighbors wonder if she is capable of caring for them.

Dauberman, 40, of Berlin Center, faces 10 counts of cruelty to animals after the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department found 24 dogs and 12 cats in a barn and trailer Aug. 9 on Bedell Road.

She is scheduled for arraignment at 11 a.m. today in Sebring Municipal Court. If found guilty, she could receive up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine for each second-degree misdemeanor count.

"They are trying to make it worse than it was," said Dauberman. "The dogs were fed and healthy."

She said she took the dogs, from someone she met while working at a private-rescue group in Cleveland because she had the barn on her property.

"I thought I was going to have help, and it turned out to be just me," said Dauberman. "I did the best I could."

She said she tried to call other groups to help with the dogs, but no one would help her. She said she believes the problem looked worse because she didn't have trash service.

"It came to a point where you couldn't take it anymore," said Dauberman's neighbor, William McKlveen.

He said that during the more than two years he lived there, he would see Dauberman and her mother arrive on the property every two to three days, go into the barn, in the trailer and then sit in their car through the night. During the winter, he said, the car would stay running.

McKlveen said he knew Dauberman had four dogs. But on June 13, he said, Dauberman's mother approached him covered in dog's blood, saying she broke up a dog fight.

"She said she had 19 dogs," said McKlveen. "She told us that if one got loose, just shoot it."

He said the next day a humane agent was called.

"This could have been resolved months ago," said McKlveen. The humane agent "came, walked around, left a card and left."

Animal Charity humane agent Kyle Ziegler said he didn't get to view the animals when he visited the property the first time in June, but he couldn't imagine that the circumstances changed much between that visit and his second visit. He said from June to August he tried to find homes for the dogs.

Tim Chambers of Niles said he lived next to the Daubermans, in Berlin Center, more than three years ago and moved away in part because of five dogs on the property.

He said the animals were left unattended for two or three days.

"Water in their bowls would freeze in the winter," said Chambers. "I called anybody in the phone book to do something."

Court records show the dog warden cited Dauberman at the Bedell Road address for failure to register dogs in 2006.

"She has no business taking care of a hamster," said Chambers.

McKlveen said during the 100-degree days this summer, the dogs would whine in the barn because they didn't have food or water.

He said he decided to call the sheriff's department after he heard Dauberman yell to her mother: "What are we going to do with the one that's half eaten?"

When the deputy arrived, according to the incident report, Dauberman allowed him to enter the barn after she secured the dogs.

Upon entering, he said, he saw a large pile of feces and trash in the center of the barn.

He called the dog warden and humane agent.

Dog Warden Dave Nelson said the pile was 10-feet wide, 20-feet long and 4- to 5-feet deep and made of mostly feces. Water dishes were located in two of four pens and outside the penned area. Some dogs had holes in their flesh and skin rashes.

"Our first concern was to get the pups out," said Nelson. In total, 17 adult dogs, seven puppies and 12 cats were found on the property.

Mahoning County sheriff's detective Patrick Mondora said the 10 counts of animal cruelty were based on the dog's living conditions. He said the barn was very hot and offered the dogs no sunlight.

The Mahoning County District Board of Health sent a notice Aug. 12 to the property owner, Charles Kline of Kent, asking that he remove the solid waste located throughout the property.

Dauberman said she agreed to sign over all but two of her personal dogs.

"I want" the dogs "to have homes and have a chance," said Dauberman.

Source: vindy.com - Aug 18, 2011
Update posted on Aug 19, 2011 - 2:48PM

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Disbanded animal rescue raidedBerlin Center, OH (US)

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Disbanded animal rescue raided
Berlin Center, OH (US)