A Cleveland woman is facing animal neglect and cruelty charges after hundreds of birds are found in her home living in filthy conditions. Animal officials began removing the birds on March 11 from the home of Maryann Alvarado, on Denison Avenue.
Officials from the Animal Protective League say anywhere from 150 to 300 birds had been living in the home before the APL was able to obtain a search warrant and enter the house.
The birds were found living in crowded, dark and dirty conditions, their cages filled with feces, their drinking water dirty, reported NewsChannel5.
Many of them were in need of veterinary attention, and officials say they are afraid that some of them may not survive.
Alvarado said she is a licensed vendor and breeder. The APL says they tried for months to get her to improve conditions for her birds, but Alvarado blames the APL for hassling her with violations.
The APL is continuing to remove the birds from Alvarado's home and hopes to bring animal cruelty and neglect charges against her. Case UpdatesMary Anne Alvarado of Denison Avenue will be sentenced Jan. 3, 2006 for failing to take proper care of her exotic birds. After a two-day trial, a jury found her guilty of animal neglect. She faces fines up to $1,000 and six months in jail.
Chief humane officer Jed Mignano said he will ask Municipal Court Judge Emanuella Groves to order Alvarado, 54, to compensate the nonprofit APL for the cost of veterinary care for the 16 birds it confiscated, restrict the number of pets she can have and allow humane officers to make unannounced visits to her home. | Source: The Plain Dealer - December 17, 2005
Update posted on Dec 17, 2005 - 7:06PM |
A woman who kept several hundred birds in her home, some ill and living in filth, will have a chance to avoid criminal conviction. Cleveland Municipal Judge Joseph J. Zone referred the case of Mary Anne Alvarado to the probation department Wednesday to be evaluated for "intervention" in lieu of prosecution. She would be monitored for a year and have the charges dropped.
Alvarado, 47, was charged with animal neglect after officers from the Animal Protective League confiscated 16 birds in March during a raid at her home on Cleveland's West Side. Alvarado had about 200 birds in the house. About 10 percent were dying, a veterinarian said.
After humane officers took the birds, Alvarado sent most of the rest to undisclosed locations. She said Wednesday that she has 25 remaining at her home.
The non-profit APL has spent more than $2,000 so far caring for the confiscated birds. Alvarado says she is indigent; two public defenders represent her.
Zone said he will hear from bird experts at a hearing July 5 to determine how many, if any, birds she will be allowed to keep at her Denison Avenue home and storefront.
Zone's decision angered the Animal Protective League.
"We are deeply disappointed," director Dori Villalon said.
Offering Alvarado a year of probation and avoidance of a trial "sends a message that animal abuse is not taken seriously," she said. | Source: The Plain Dealer - June 10, 2005
Update posted on Jun 12, 2005 - 1:03AM |
Bird breeder Mary Anne Alvarado said Monday that a sanctuary took her fine-feathered friends following the APL's raid of her home March 11.
But the Animal Protective League doesn't buy it. Jed Mignano, chief humane officer, said Alvarado is probably hiding her flocks of finches and macaws in one or two nearby places.
On Monday, Alvarado pleaded not guilty to a charge of animal neglect in Cleveland Municipal Court.
After the hearing, when asked where the bird sanctuary was, Alvarado said she didn't remember. "I lost the slip of paper with their name and phone number in all of this mess," she said.
Alvarado, 47, said she has raised birds since she was young and intends to prove she is a skilled caretaker.
She said breeding and selling the birds is a large part of her life, especially since she is disabled. Among other things, Alvarado said she has been in at least eight traffic accidents and two bicycle accidents and most recently broke her arm when she was trying to clean the house to satisfy APL concerns.
Now she particularly enjoys teaching young children about the hobby, Alvarado said. "They can breed their own and trade them like baseball cards," she said.
But the APL and a veterinarian who specializes in bird care contend Alvarado is ill-equipped to train anyone.
About 10 percent of Alvarado's birds were dying when they raided her West Side home. Others had respiratory infections and overgrown beaks and claws.
Mignano said the APL had tried to work with Alvarado for months. When officers finally served a search warrant and seized 16 of the birds this month, Mignano said he had hoped she would realize the seriousness of the situation.
"I was very surprised to return days after the warrant to find nearly all the birds gone," he said.
Alvarado, he said, is likely to face additional neglect charges. The APL will again ask her where the birds are at Alvarado's next court hearing on April 5. | Source: The Plain Dealer - March 29, 2005
Update posted on Mar 29, 2005 - 12:43PM |
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