Hoarding - 43 animals seized Dunnellon, FL (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003 County: Marion Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Alleged: » Vanessa Lynn Mellott » Mable Doyle Mellott

Case ID: 2089 Classification: Neglect / Abandonment Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull), bird (pet) View more cases in FL (US) Login to Watch this Case

Dunnellon Police Officers, along with Marion County Animal Control officers, took away 43 animals from the home shared by a mother and daughter and charged the residents with animal cruelty.

Dunnellon Police Sgt. Joanne Black and Officers Jennifer DePue charged the mother, Mabel Mellott, 69, with 22 counts of animal cruelty. The daughter, Vanessa Lynn Mellott, 27, was charged with 20 counts of animal cruelty.

The younger Mellott was also charged with abuse and neglect of the elderly.

According to Dunnellon Police Chief Bob Jackson, the deputy was following up on a complaint of a dog bite from one of Mellott's dogs on her Romeo property. Wanting to talk to the older Mellott, the deputy had gone to her Dunnellon home and tried to contact her. When Mellott didn't answer the front door, the deputy had walked around to the backdoor and found the cages of animals in the backyard. Those cages were not visible from the sidewalk or highway.

The arrest reports for the two women said that animals in the backyard - 18 cats, four dogs and a rabbit - were confined to cages, crates, pet taxis and pens. Several of the cages were covered with plastic in way that didn't allow fresh air into the pen, reports said, and another pen had no top to protect the animal from the weather.

The report noted that the animals had food and drink but were lacking room to exercise in their cages and that the cages were littered with feces and dirty newspapers. The animals were also covered with feces and urine, according to the report.

The older Mellott said caring for the animals in the yard was her responsibility, according to the arrest report, and that she lets the cats out of their cages each day to exercise.

However, the arrest report said the cages had to be cut because the cats were too large to exit through the opening of the cages.

The older Mellott told officers that she had taken in the animals in her backyard to make them healthy and then find good homes for them.

The Marion County deputy who brought the matter to Dunnellon's attention was also at the scene Friday afternoon.

In her report of the incident, she wrote of having to tuck her pants into her boots and then had to tape the top of her boots to stop cockroaches from crawling up her legs while they were looking for animals in the backyard.

Before entering the home, law enforcement officers had to pick up the younger Mellott from her job, because she had the keys to the home and her mother didn't have any keys.

In the deputy's report, she writes that the entry to the home had to be made through the backdoor because the front door was blocked with bags of debris, clothing, garbage and a china hutch.

An emotional Mabel Mellott urged animal control officers not to hurt her dogs, as they were removed from her home. She said that one of dogs, a Shar-pei she had paid $800 for as a puppy, was her favorite pet and that she had had him for 12 years.

In all, officers removed eight dogs, six cats and six birds from inside the home.

The living conditions inside the home were described as deplorable in the arrest report by Dunnellon police officers.

The report said the older Mellott told Dunnellon police that her daughter didn't allow her to have food in the home and that she had to cook outside.

Left on the property were some puppies that were scared off by the arrival of the officers and could not be found, plus three pigs, estimated to be 200 to 250 pounds each.

The two women posted bail and were home on Saturday, Jackson said.

Bond for the mother was set at $11,000, and bond for the daughter, Vanessa, was set at $15,000.

At least one dog was found to have Provo and a cat bit one of the animal control officers during the removal of the animals from the property.

This case is still open with the daughter requesting a pre-trial set for April 15, 2004.

And the mothers changed plea and jury trial is set for March 29, 2004  These animals are still being housed and cared for at the County facility awaiting custody for disposition of adoption.

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