Hoarding - 8 dogs, 1 cat living in filth Lowell, IN (US) Incident Date: Wednesday, Mar 1, 2006 County: Lowell Local Map: available Disposition: Alleged Case Images: 1 files available Alleged: Celeste Siurek

Case ID: 7529 Classification: Hoarding Animal: cat, dog (non pit-bull) View more cases in IN (US) Login to Watch this Case

Prosecutors charged a Lowell woman with nine misdemeanor counts of animal neglect after investigators found eight dogs and one cat living amid piles of feces and garbage in her rural Lowell home on March 1.

Celeste Siurek, 57, could face a maximum term of 4.5 years in prison if convicted of abandonment or neglect of an animal.

According to the probable cause affidavit, one of the dogs had a broken leg that had healed improperly, forcing it to walk on the joint. A veterinarian said the leg may have to be amputated, the report said.

None of the animals had access to food or water. The animals were covered in feces and urine and were so unhealthy they may have to be euthanized, according to Lake County Animal Control employees.

Siurek served jail time in 1997 for animal cruelty after authorities removed about 250 animals -- 41 of them dead -- from her father's former home at 3651 43rd St., Highland.

In 2001, authorities returned to the Highland home and removed nearly 70 animals.

Lake County Sheriff's Department officers with a search warrant arrived at the home at 6133 Belshaw Road to find piles of debris and pet food bags. In some spots, inches-thick layers of compressed dog feces covered the floor. Some of the flooring had rotted away from urine that had repeatedly soaked into it.

Veteran police officers said they were shocked by what they found.

Siurek, who was not home at the time, was apparently living in a car parked in the house's driveway. She was later arrested at a pet store in Hammond on preliminary charges of animal cruelty.

Four of the dogs and the cat were kept in the house. Four dogs were chained up in the garage.

Neighborhood Map

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References

	Post-Tribune - March 5, 2006
	Northwest Indiana News - March 3, 2006
	Northwest Indiana News - March 11, 2006

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