Hoarding - 16 dogs seized
Des Moines, IA (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Sep 1, 2004
County: Polk
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Floyd Doddema
After a tip from neighbors who said they couldn't use their yard because of the odor, animal control found 16 dogs living in filth in a home just south of Douglas on 38th Avenue, covered in sores and feces. Half were kept in a makeshift pen under a porch, there were maggots and flies covering 10 inches of feces on the ground. The dogs inside were in conditions just as bad. The basement of the home has 5-6 inches of feces on everything. Animal control officers said the dogs, all some type of hound mix were aggressive, acting as if they hadn't had contact with humans before.
"As I went to the door to see if there was an owner, the odor was unbearable," says Animal Control Officer, Susan Stropes.
Their owner, 55-year-old Floyd Doddema, has been charged with 16 counts of animal cruelty among other charges. The dogs were taken to the Des Moines animal shelter where the city vet will be working into the night evaluating each of them, to figure out if there's any hope they can be rehabilitated as pets.
The owner has already put in a request to get his dogs back. In addition to the animal cruelty charges, Doddema has been charged with having too many dogs, owning animals without licenses, having dogs without up to date rabies shots, and not removing animal waste. All the charges are simple misdemeanors. References
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