 Hoarding - 60 dogs
Gladewater, TX (US)Date: May 20, 2004
County: Gregg
Local Map: available
Disposition: Convicted
Abuser/Suspect: Vonda Duke Henderson
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Police arrived at 1500 Viola St. and allegedly discovered 60 neglected dogs Chihuahuas, Pomeranians, Peek-a-poo, Rat terriers, Huskies, Cocker-poodle mixes and other dogs malnourished and living in their feces. Their owner was breeding them.
Gladewater Police Department officers told Vonda Duke Henderson on May 20 that she was in violation of several city ordinances, including cruelty to animals, nuisance animals and vaccination requirements.
On Dec 14, Gregg County Justice of the Peace Talyna Carlson ordered the 60 dogs be permanently placed at the Humane Society of Gregg County to be adopted.
The case took months to reach Carlson because a district judge had ordered that Henderson be sent to the Rusk State Hospital for three months for treatment and evaluation before standing trial on an assault family violence charge, said Gregg County Assistant District Attorney Billy Byrd, who received the animal cruelty case in October.
Henderson was held in the Gregg County Jail from Dec. 1 to Dec. 10. She pleaded guilty to the charge of cruelty to animals on Dec. 8.
Eleven of the 60 dogs were taken to the Humane Society of Gregg County on June 7, but they weren't able to be adopted until after Monday's hearing.
Roxanne Hutson, executive director at the Humane Society of Gregg County, said Henderson had moved many of the dogs to other locations by the time her agency arrived to remove them. She said others were loose in the neighborhood.
"They were living in filthy, filthy conditions," Hutson said. "We are just ready to place them in loving homes, so they can feel the grass under their feet and cuddle on someone's lap at night.
On May 20, Gladewater authorities gave Henderson 10 days to comply with city ordinances.
Henderson signed an agreement with the city, ordering her to clean the property, sanitize the residence, feed and give the animals water regularly and to have all dogs at least four months old vaccinated.
When Gladewater Police Officer Les Dolbow went to Henderson's residence on June 1 to follow up, he found "there was still dog (feces) still in the house and in the garage area that was there when the agreement was signed," he wrote in his report. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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