Hoarding - 41 animals removed from home
Beaufort, SC (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Feb 25, 2006
County: Beaufort
Disposition: Alleged
Abuser names unreleased
A veterinarian who responded to a report of animal neglect at a Scotts Street home in Beaufort said the roughly 41 animals removed from the home were living in the worst conditions he'd seen in 30 years. Cats, dogs, birds, ferrets, turtles, lizards, mice, a hedgehog and a flying squirrel were brought from the home on September 25, 2003 by animal control officers and city police. A strong stench of urine emanated from the home when the door opened.
Dr. Frank Murphy, the Beaufort veterinarian, said the animals were taken from "horrible" conditions, swimming and living in their own feces and urine at the 912 Scotts St. home. "The turtles were living in water that just wreaked of feces and they had no way to get out of it. They were barely able to get their head above it," Murphy said. "Some cages had a little food in it, the others didn't. The ferrets were filthy; they were all in their own feces and urine. The cats were horrible; they were in a six-by-six bathroom with 3 to 4 inches of feces and urine on the floor. The stench was so bad that you couldn't stay in there more than 30 to 40 seconds." Authorities at the scene would not say who the animals or the home belonged to.
The dogs, one a frisky Boston Terrier, were the first ones to be taken out the back door to cages, followed by about 15 birds, including an 2-foot-long blue and yellow macaw. Animal control took a total of seven turtles and five lizards. Authorities obtained a search warrant after investigating an initial complaint by a neighborhood association, the Old Commons Neighborhood Crime Watch, said Beaufort County spokesman Pete Nardi. Animal abuse charges could be filed after an investigation, Nardi said, although it was unclear against whom. The animals all will undergo examination, Murphy said, and a court could decide the animals' fate. "There was rat feces everywhere; it was horrible, that's the only way I can describe it," Murphy said. "I've been to some really bad cruelty cases and I thought I'd seen it all, but in terms of how some of these animals were kept, this is about as bad as I've ever seen."
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